More than 13,000 unaccompanied alien children (UAC) lost during the open-border policies of the Biden administration have been located in the first six months of the Trump administration, Health and Human Services told NewsNation on Thursday.
Further, 422 sponsors tabbed by the Biden administration to house minors have been arrested and charged with allegedly abusing migrant children in their care, according to the report. Local police, Child and Protective Services, and federal agencies are combining on those investigations, according to the report.
The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general previous reported that 320,000 UACs crossed the border under the Biden administration. However, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said Thursday that number was likely closer to 450,000.
In a post to X, Miller said that "90% of the addresses the Biden Administration recorded for half a million UACs is fake, false or abandoned."
In all, 13,061 UACs have been located to date.
CNN reported Wednesday that teenage minors who are located are being asked if they want to leave the country voluntarily. Minors who do are turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation; the rest are turned over to HHS, according to the report.
"The safety of children and ensuring they are reunited with their parents or safe guardian is (the) top priority of the Trump Administration, which stands in stark contrast to the nearly 300,000 migrant children that were lost under the Biden Administration," Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told NewsNation in a statement.
McLaughlin added that giving migrant minors the opportunity to leave the U.S. voluntarily is part of the Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2022, adding that minors can now be returned to countries other than Canada and Mexico thanks to additional funding via the "Big, Beautiful Bill" that Trump signed into law earlier this month, according to the report.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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