A recent report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has revealed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has lost track of over 32,000 unaccompanied migrant children over the past five years.
🚨 In a stunning DHS report (released in the middle of the DNC), the Harris-Biden admin admitted HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of smuggled children are now missing — likely sold into sex and labor trafficking.
That’s dramatically higher than the 85K number previously reported. pic.twitter.com/AZYbOzpMhK
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 20, 2024
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The report, titled “Management Alert – ICE Cannot Monitor All Unaccompanied Migrant Children Released from DHS and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Custody,” was sent to Congress on Tuesday by the DHS’s internal watchdog.
The interim report highlights a significant issue in ICE’s ability to monitor the whereabouts and status of unaccompanied minors after they are released from government custody.
Why did Border Czar Kamala Harris release almost 400,000 unaccompanied minors to traffickers? Perhaps they would have been better off in cages than lost – they can’t find over 290,000 of them… pic.twitter.com/ta3YHFKi1S
— @amuse (@amuse) August 20, 2024
“ICE must take immediate action to ensure the safety of UCs residing in the United States. Based on our audit work and according to ICE officials, UCs who do not appear for court are considered at higher risk for trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor. Although we identified more than 32,000 UCs who did not appear for their immigration court dates, that number may have been much larger had ICE issued NTAs to the more than 291,000 UCs who were not placed into removal proceedings. By not issuing NTAs to all UCs, ICE limits its chances of having contact with UCs when they are released from HHS’ custody, which reduces opportunities to verify their safety. Without an ability to monitor the location and status of UCs, ICE has no assurance UCs are safe from trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor.” – Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Between fiscal years 2019 and 2023, ICE transferred more than 448,000 unaccompanied children to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
However, ICE has been unable to account for the location of over 32,000 of these children, who failed to appear for their scheduled immigration court hearings.
“During our ongoing audit to assess ICE’s ability to monitor the location and status of UCs [unaccompanied children] who were released or transferred from the custody of the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), we learned ICE transferred more than 448,000 UCs to HHS from fiscal years 2019 to 2023,” the report states. “However, ICE was not able to account for the location of all UCs who were released by HHS and did not appear as scheduled in immigration court.”
The report further emphasizes the challenges ICE faces in tracking unaccompanied minors once they are released from custody. Many of these children, after being released, do not appear at their immigration court hearings, leading to a significant number being unaccounted for by the agency.
The internal watchdog pointed out that despite ICE’s responsibility to oversee these minors through the immigration process, the agency has struggled to fulfill this duty effectively.
“Despite its responsibilities for overseeing UCs [unaccompanied migrant children] through the immigration process, we found ICE cannot always monitor the location and status of UCs once they were released from DHS and HHS custody,” the report notes.
The report also criticizes ICE for not consistently following new guidance issued by the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA), which was intended to improve the tracking of unaccompanied children.
This guidance was supposed to help verify the location of children who failed to appear in court and enhance coordination with HHS.
However, the report indicates that ICE often did not follow this guidance or issue corresponding instructions to its officers in the field.
The report, issued by DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari, was addressed to ICE Deputy Director and Senior Official Patrick Lechleitner.
The findings raise concerns about the effectiveness of ICE’s current procedures and the broader implications for immigration enforcement.
The numbers presented in the report could potentially be even more alarming.
The watchdog’s findings suggest that approximately 291,000 unaccompanied migrant children have not yet been scheduled for removal proceedings, partly due to ICE’s routine failure to assign court dates and serve notices.
This report comes amid growing scrutiny of the DHS and ICE, particularly regarding their handling of the surge in migrants from South America.
The inability to effectively manage the influx of unaccompanied minors has led to significant gaps in the system, with thousands of children slipping through the cracks.
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