Of the hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied alien children the Department of Health and Human Services transferred to sponsors between fiscal year 2019 and 2023, the majority were sent to 10 states, according to a new report.
More than 63,000 unaccompanied alien children were released to sponsors in Texas, according to a March Department of Homeland Security report, and more than 46,000 were sent to California. Sponsors in Florida came in third, receiving 43,811 children.
- Texas—63,039
- California—46,293
- Florida—43,811
- New York—33,582
- New Jersey—23,075
- Maryland—21,976
- Virginia—21,431
- Georgia—17,769
- North Carolina—17,032
- Tennessee—16,355
Following extensive reporting and multiple congressional hearings on missing migrant children during the Biden administration, DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari conducted an audit “to determine [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s] ability to monitor the location and status of [unaccompanied alien children] once released or transferred from DHS and HHS’ custody.”
The Inspector General’s Office found that the location of thousands of illegal alien children remains unknown, and ICE cannot monitor the status of these children after they are released from government custody.
From the start of fiscal year 2019 to 2023, “ICE transferred more than 448,000 UACs to HHS,” according to the report. Most of those minors were then transferred to sponsors, but “more than 31,000 of the 448,000 children’s release addresses were blank, undeliverable, or missing apartment numbers.”
As of January, ICE had not delivered Notices to Appear for asylum hearings to over 233,000 unaccompanied alien children, and, as of October, an additional 43,000 minors did not appear for their scheduled court hearing, according to the DHS inspector general.
“Finally, ICE was not always notified of UACs’ status and safety unless an allegation or tip was reported,” the report found.
Nearly 5,000 unaccompanied migrant children were encountered at the southern border in December 2020, the last full month of the first Trump administration. By July 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported nearly 19,000 encounters with unaccompanied migrant children for the month.
Encounters with unaccompanied alien children at the southern border more than doubled under the Biden administration. In all, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports nearly 235,000 unaccompanied alien children encountered at the southern border under the first Trump administration and over 530,000 during the Biden administration.
The DHS Inspector General’s Office has provided ICE with four recommended changes to ensure unaccompanied immigrant children are not lost in the U.S.
Recommendations include improving information sharing between ICE and HHS, establishing a review process to “identify inaccurate and incomplete addresses for unaccompanied alien children,” developing a plan to “address the backlog of unserved Notices to Appear for unaccompanied alien children,” and updating guidance on how officials should “elevate concerns regarding the safety or circumstances of unaccompanied alien children.”
“ICE concurred with all four recommendations,” according to the inspector general’s report.
Virginia Allen is a senior news producer for The Daily Signal and host of “The Daily Signal Podcast” and “Problematic Women.”
Reproduced with permission. Original here: The 10 States That Received Most Illegal Alien Children
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