DHS inspector raises alarms about border management and warns that more than 290,000 children are unaccounted for

A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspector set off alarm bells about theBiden-Harris administration's border management, particularly about illegal entry of unaccompanied children. Republicans were quick to take aim at the White House, arguing that the situation is a product of its ineffective policies.

According to Joseph V. Cuffari, the whereabouts of at least 290,000 unaccompanied minors who illegally entered the United States are unknown. In turn, he assured that there is "no guarantee" that these children "are safe from trafficking, exploitation or forced labor."

"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) failed to monitor the location and status of all unaccompanied migrant children or initiate necessary removal proceedings," Cuffari began in his brief, then moved on to the numbers of the crisis.

His audit focused on assessing the aforementioned agency's ability to "monitor the location and status" of unaccompanied migrant children (UC) who were "released or transferred from DHS and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) custody."

According to its findings, ICE transferred 448,000 children to HHS between 2019 and 2023. However, ICE "could not account for the location of all unaccompanied children who were released by HHS and did not appear as scheduled in immigration court."

For example, more than 32,000 unaccompanied children did not appear for their court hearings in this period, so their whereabouts are unknown.

When it came to apportioning responsibility, Cuffari remarked that, although HHS is responsible for the care and custody of the children, ICE "did not always inform the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) when these children did not appear in immigration court after being released from HHS custody."

In turn, he highlighted that ICE also failed to serve all of the unaccompanied children they released from HHS custody with a Notice to Appear (NTA). "As of May 2024, ICE had not served NTAs on more than 291,000 UCs who therefore do not yet have an immigration court date," he added. The difference with the previous 32,000 is that they had an appointment and did not attend, while the 291,000 were not even scheduled for an appointment in the first place.

"The largest human and child smuggling ring in U.S. history with its border crisis."

Republicans did not let the report go unchallenged and took aim squarely at Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. "The southern border is a national security disaster and a humanitarian catastrophe, and Kamala Harris cannot be trusted to fix it. All of this has happened on her watch," House Speaker Mike Johnson said at a brief news conference Tuesday night.

"This afternoon, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General released a stunning report that found that, under Border Czar Kamala Harris, nearly 300,000 illegal immigrant children are unaccounted for." The stunning report goes on to say that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has "no assurance" that these unaccounted-for illegal immigrant children are "safe from trafficking, exploitation or forced labor," House Republicans said in an official statement.

"Kamala Harris created the largest human and child trafficking ring in U.S. history with her border crisis," the Senate Republicans stated in a separate message.