The Trump administration has notified administrators at shelters nationwide that have unaccompanied immigrant minors in their care to expect visits from interviewers who will review the circumstances of how the children got into the U.S.
CNN reported the administration notified the shelters this week of the enhanced administration review of the status of the children, in addition to how they arrived without family or a guardian.
Questions surrounding who helped bring the minors across the border have been a hot button for many Republican lawmakers.
The New York Post reported in July that Biden administration reports showed that from 2019 to 2023, as many as 448,000 kids without family or apparent guardians were "encountered" by government agents at U.S. borders and allowed entry. The report said many of the children, even those younger than age 5, were taken into government custody after arriving at the border with as little as a phone number written on clothing or even their body.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, reported in late May that he had information surrounding as many as 65,000 unaccompanied migrant children who were reported to the Biden administration for being at risk of personal danger or criminal treatment, including more than 7,000 believed to have been involved in human trafficking, which Grassley claimed was all ignored by the Biden team.
Grassley wrote to Trump administration Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that "thousands of children may have been placed in harm's way nationwide."
CNN reported that the Trump administration has put strict controls on who can take custody of the minor children now in government care.
Still, some who have been involved in support for the children have asked about the Trump administration's motives. Jennifer Podkul, a child advocate with Kids in Need of Defense, told CNN that advocates already notify the government when they discover information that might indicate a child had been trafficked or harmed. She said government interviewers "might cause harm [rather] than mitigate harm."
Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told NewsNation in a statement in late July that, "The safety of children and ensuring they are reunited with their parents or safe guardian is 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."
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.