Reports Indicate 85,000 Unaccompanied Minors Lost After Biden Administration's Release to Sponsors

WASHINGTON — The Department of Human Services (DHS) has lost track of at least 85,000 children who crossed the border illegally as “unaccompanied minors” and were placed with so-called “sponsors” who may be trafficking them into prostitution or forced labor. This revelation came from multiple government whistleblowers who testified before a Senate panel on Tuesday.

• Children were placed with individuals who were not their relatives, with evident signs of abuse and trafficking.

• The Biden administration's DHS Office of Refugee Resettlement retaliated against whistleblowers who reported these abuses.

• A staggering 500,000 children were sent to potentially unsuitable homes, with DHS oversight limited to a single phone call 30 days later.

One whistleblower, tasked with processing minors near the border, recounted that after reporting the placement of children with non-relatives and evidence of sadistic abuse, she faced retaliation from the Biden administration instead of seeing corrective action. "The Biden administration’s priority was avoiding the optics of ‘kids in cages,’ leading to a rush to place children with poorly vetted sponsors," noted Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

This desperate move has had tragic consequences. Whistleblowers described how the administration’s hasty placement efforts ignored proper background checks and led to numerous children being exploited. Tara Lee Rodas, with a 20-year federal career, recounted her experience at the Pomona Fairplex Emergency Intake Site. She revealed harrowing details, such as a 16-year-old Guatemalan girl sent to a man posing as her brother, only to be advertised on social media in drugged and compromising states.

Rodas’ attempts to flag these dangers were met with resistance. Despite providing evidence of gang affiliations among sponsors, she was removed from her position rather than the dangerous individuals she identified. “What keeps me up at night is wondering if Carmen is safe,” Rodas lamented, referring to the Guatemalan girl.

Deborah White, another whistleblower, underscored the systemic failure, describing an environment where fake documents were rampant and staff were ill-equipped to identify human trafficking. “Children were not going to their parents. Children were being trafficked with billions of taxpayer dollars by a contractor failing to vet sponsors and process children safely, with government officials complicit in it,” she said.

Secretary Xavier Becerra’s claims that no children have gone missing from HHS custody were debunked by whistleblowers who clarified that once children were handed over to transportation companies, they were no longer considered in HHS custody. This bureaucratic loophole allowed the administration to downplay the severity of the situation.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) highlighted the gravity of the crisis, emphasizing that Biden’s policies are enabling a multi-billion dollar human trafficking business. Johnson noted that information about human trafficking brought to DHS went unanswered, even as mainstream media reported on the missing children.

The Biden administration’s approach to handling unaccompanied minors has resulted in a humanitarian disaster, with children falling prey to trafficking networks. The callous indifference to their fate, masked by bureaucratic maneuvering, underscores a grave failure in governance. The American public deserves transparency and accountability to prevent further exploitation of these vulnerable children.

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