129,000 ‘Lost’ Migrant Children Found: Trump Administration Launches Sweeping Search to Account for Every Missing Child
The Trump administration says federal agencies have identified more than 129,000 unaccompanied migrant children who were previously missing or insufficiently tracked after entering the United States.
According to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services, a total of 129,143 children have been located during 2025 through coordinated federal efforts. Many of the children had entered the country without parents or legal guardians and were later released to sponsors.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced the development in a statement posted on X, saying the administration would continue its efforts until every child was accounted for.
“Too many of these children were exploited, trafficked and abused,” Noem wrote. “We will not stop until every last child is found.”
A source familiar with the effort told Newsweek that the previous administration did not place sufficient emphasis on long-term follow-up after the children were released from federal custody. The source said the renewed accounting effort involves multiple federal agencies conducting daily address verifications, data reviews and in-person welfare checks through partner agencies and HHS field specialists.
The source also said the sharp rise in reported figures does not reflect a sudden surge in enforcement activity. Instead, it stems from newly compiled court records from the Executive Office for Immigration Review and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which provided updated information on children whose cases were still pending.
Why It Matters
Unaccompanied migrant children became a major issue during the 2024 presidential campaign. Donald Trump repeatedly accused the Biden administration of losing track of large numbers of children after they crossed the border and pledged to locate them and return them to safe homes.
Children who enter the United States without parents or legal guardians are initially held by DHS before being transferred to HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement. ORR is responsible for placing the children with vetted sponsors, often relatives, while their immigration cases proceed.
Oversight Failures and Audit Findings
Concerns about the government’s ability to track these children were detailed in a March audit by the DHS Office of Inspector General. After interviewing more than 140 officials across DHS and other agencies, investigators found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement could not effectively monitor the location or status of all unaccompanied children once they were released from federal custody.
The audit showed that between fiscal years 2019 and 2023, ICE transferred more than 448,000 unaccompanied children to HHS. While most were released to sponsors, more than 31,000 had addresses that were blank, incomplete or undeliverable. Missing apartment numbers and outdated contact information often prevented follow-up.
The report also found that ICE was not consistently informed when children fled HHS custody, further complicating tracking efforts.
New Enforcement and Welfare Checks
In response, DHS announced on November 14 that ICE had launched a new initiative with state and local law enforcement to conduct welfare checks on unaccompanied children placed with sponsors. DHS said the program is intended to verify the children’s safety and well-being, not to conduct immigration enforcement against them.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a November news release that some children had been placed with sponsors who were later found to be smugglers or involved in sex trafficking.
“Many of the children who came across the border unaccompanied were allowed to be placed with sponsors who were smugglers and sex traffickers,” she said.
Civil Rights Concerns
Immigrant rights groups have raised alarms about the scope of the government’s actions. In September, the advocacy group Al Otro Lado said it obtained a leaked ICE memo describing cooperation between Homeland Security Investigations agents and ORR.
According to the group, the memo authorized agents to question children in ORR custody without attorneys present and without Miranda warnings. ICE said the goal was to support family reunification and investigate potential trafficking.
Cassandra Lopez, litigation director at Al Otro Lado, warned that the approach could have serious consequences for children.
“Children currently face increasingly long stays in immigration custody, which negatively impacts their health and well-being,” Lopez said. She added that interrogations of children and sponsors could discourage families from coming forward and interfere with children’s ability to be released while their cases remain pending.
What Happens Next
The Trump administration says efforts to locate unaccounted-for children will continue, particularly those released to sponsors whose addresses were unclear or outdated. Federal agencies are expected to expand data sharing and on-the-ground verification as part of the ongoing initiative.
DHS officials say the goal is full accountability for every unaccompanied child who entered the country, alongside measures they say are necessary to prevent exploitation and trafficking.
