Over 300,000 unaccompanied migrant children disappeared from federal tracking during Joe Biden’s presidency. Now, President Trump’s administration is actively finding them, reforming the system, and helping many return home.
Key Facts:
- Over 300,000 unaccompanied minors went missing from government tracking under former President Biden, according to DHS’s Inspector General.
- The Trump administration has already located more than 13,000 of these children and arrested over 400 so-called sponsors linked to abuse or legal violations.
- Officials are now asking minors aged 14–17 if they wish to voluntarily return to their home countries, expanding a policy rooted in the 2022 anti-trafficking law.
- Trump announced on July 11 that 10,000 children had already been recovered, with “thousands more” underway.
- The CBP One app has been renamed CBP Home and modified to encourage self-deportation, offering $1,000 incentives or threatening fines of up to $1,000/day.
The Rest of The Story:
The Trump administration is taking aggressive action to reverse what it views as a humanitarian and national security crisis caused under President Biden.
After revelations that the government had lost track of over 300,000 unaccompanied minors, federal agents began tracking and locating children across the country.
So far, more than 13,000 children have been recovered, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arresting over 400 adults who were acting as sponsors—many for reasons including child mistreatment.
By the time Biden left office the number of missing trafficked children was closer to 450,000. Approximately 90% of the addresses the Biden Administration recorded for half a million UACs is fake, false or abandoned. https://t.co/eaUQUwnjht
— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) July 24, 2025
Older children are now being asked whether they want to self-deport, a practice that has long existed but is now being expanded beyond Mexico and Canada.
“This is a long-standing practice…to prioritize getting children back to the safety of a parent or legal guardian,” a Homeland Security official told CNN, noting it falls under the 2022 Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act.
Commentary:
There’s no getting around it: the federal government, under the Biden administration, failed a generation of vulnerable children.
Over 300,000 unaccompanied minors entered the U.S. and were effectively lost—vanishing into a system plagued by weak oversight, political negligence, and inadequate safeguards.
That number alone is staggering.
What makes it worse is the horrifying reality behind it. Thousands of these children were handed off to adults who were never properly vetted.
Reports surfaced of abuse, neglect, and forced labor. And yet, 65,000 hotline complaints about their mistreatment went unanswered.
This wasn’t just bureaucratic mismanagement—it was state-enabled child trafficking.
Now, under President Trump, there’s a real effort to fix the damage.
His team has already recovered more than 13,000 children, arrested abusers, and is actively expanding policies to help these kids get home safely.
Trump isn’t just pointing fingers—he’s taking direct action.
The self-deportation offer to older minors is a smart, humane solution.
It gives children the power to choose to return to family members instead of being trapped in limbo—or worse.
By updating and renaming the CBP One app to CBP Home, and tying in both incentives and consequences, the administration is reshaping immigration tech to work for enforcement, not loopholes.
Some critics may scoff at the $1,000 offer or call it coercive, but the truth is: it works.
Tens of thousands of adults are self-deporting. And now the focus is on the children Biden’s policies left behind.
This is not just about fixing bad policy—it’s about ending the era of government-sanctioned exploitation.
Trump’s moves signal the end of DHS practices that handed off kids to strangers with little to no follow-up.
It’s a moral imperative. These children deserve better. And the United States has a duty to stop being a trafficking route disguised as an immigration system.
The Bottom Line:
The Trump administration is locating thousands of missing migrant children who were lost during the Biden years.
With arrests of abusive sponsors, offers for voluntary return, and tech-driven reforms, the focus has shifted to restoring safety and accountability.
The era of ignoring migrant child welfare is over—and a new strategy to bring them home is well underway.
Read Next
– Gavin Newsom, California Democrats Plot Illegal Gerrymander To Increase Number of Dem House Seats
– Soros-Funded Groups Throw Support Behind GOP Bill Offering Legal Status to Millions