Homan says government has located more than 30,000 missing immigrant children

More than 30,000 migrant children who had been reported missing have been located by the Trump Administration, border czar, Tom Homan said in an interview with Fox News broadcast this week.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the launch of an initiative, along with state and local law enforcement, to find some 450,000 "unaccompanied alien children" who were smuggled into the country during the Biden Administration and placed with unauthorized sponsors.

The former acting ICE director gave these statements also in response to recent criticism from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who compared federal immigration policies to "resuming the Civil War."

In the interview with Fox, Homan defended ICE's performance and assured that the agency is focused on detaining "the most dangerous criminals." He argued that political sectors seek to attack the agency through "false narratives," while ignoring the flow of minors who entered without authorization in recent years.

"Where were they when half a million children were smuggled into this country and 300,000 were lost track of?" said Homan. "I was with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today. We have now found more than 30,000 of these children. Three weeks ago we had 24,000. Now we're over 30,000. And we will keep working until we find them all."

The official attributed these gains to what he called "the most secure border" in the country's history under the current administration.

Border encounters on the ground

According to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Nov. 5, border encounters in October totaled 30,561, the lowest number on record for that month and the "lowest fiscal year start" for the Border Patrol.

Homan also claimed on Fox that "there are fewer fentanyl deaths, less trafficking of women and children," and accused the Biden Administration of failing to look for missing or out-of-welfare checkpoints for minors.

The statements come amid criticism from Democratic lawmakers, who question new policies related to unaccompanied minors. A Sept. 29 letter to DHS expressed concern over reports that some teens were being allowed to self-deport, which lawmakers said would contravene the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

HHS confirmed in October that some minors 14 and older in federal custody expressed interest in voluntarily returning to their home countries, and detailed that the DHS will offer a one-time stipend of $2,500 to support their reintegration, once approved for voluntary departure by an immigration judge.

In a related effort, ICE last week launched an initiative to conduct welfare checks on unaccompanied children placed with unvetted sponsors during the previous administration, with the goal of ensuring they are not at risk of exploitation, DHS said.