Washington, July 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) Republican members of a US House oversight panel said tens of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children may still be unaccounted for, as witnesses urged tighter sponsor checks, better data sharing and stronger action against trafficking networks.
The House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement held the roundtable to examine the handling of children who crossed the southern border without a parent or legal guardian during the Biden administration.
Chairman Congressman Clay Higgins said the Trump administration had located 146,000 children since taking office. But estimates of how many remain missing varied sharply during the discussion. Retired Border Patrol chief Chris Clem put the figure at about 80,000, while other Republican members cited much higher totals.
“It’s difficult to know the exact number,” said Jarrod Sadulski, vice-president and co-founder of Guard Against Trafficking. He said the available data did not establish how many younger children remained outside government contact.
Participants blamed the Biden-era border and placement policies for weakening oversight. They said children were released to sponsors without adequate checks and that delayed immigration documents made later investigations harder.
Clem, who served as a senior adviser at the Department of Health and Human Services in early 2025, said the current administration had tightened sponsor verification. He said government identification, DNA testing for claimed biological relatives, FBI fingerprint checks for adult household members and home suitability studies were now being used.
He also called for changes to the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorisation Act, saying smugglers had exploited protections intended for children.
“No exceptions should be made when it comes to protecting children,” Clem said.
Sadulski told the panel that criminal organisations had used vulnerable children for forced labour, sexual exploitation and fraudulent sponsorship schemes. He urged better post-placement oversight and closer coordination among local, state and federal agencies.
Julio Rosas, a reporter who recently travelled to Tapachula in southern Mexico, warned that migrant groups were still moving north through Mexico. He said some migrants told him they would wait for a future change in US political leadership before trying to enter the country.
No Democratic members attended the roundtable, Higgins said. The supplied material contained no response from Democratic lawmakers or former Biden administration officials to the accusations made during the session.
Under the 2008 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorisation Act, most unaccompanied children arriving from countries other than Canada or Mexico must be transferred from the Department of Homeland Security to the Department of Health and Human Services within 72 hours.
Responsibility for these cases is divided among Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Office of Refugee Resettlement and the immigration courts. Congress has repeatedly debated sponsor screening, inter-agency data sharing, service of court notices and possible changes to the 2008 law.
Source: IANS
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