30,000 Missing Illegal Immigrant Children Located: Tom Homan

Under this administration there is ‘less fentanyl killing Americans, less sex trafficking of women and children,’ border czar Tom Homan said.

Illegal immigrants await processing by U.S. Border Patrol agents outside of San Diego, Calif., on Dec. 5, 2023. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

More than 30,000 missing illegal immigrant children have been located by the Trump administration, border czar Tom Homan said in a Fox News interview clip published on Nov. 18.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson recently said the Trump administration’s policies were similar to restarting the Civil War. Responding to the accusation, Homan said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “is out there enforcing the law. We’re taking really bad guys off the street.”

He said the left wants “to attack ICE. They want to throw all these false narratives.”

“Where were they when half a million children were smuggled into this country, and they lost track of 300,000? You know what President [Donald] Trump has done? I was with HHS today. We’ve already found over 30,000 of these kids. Three weeks ago, we were at 24,000. Now, we’re over 30,000. And we’re gonna keep working till we find every one of these kids,” he said, referring to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Under Trump, America has seen the “most secure border” in the country’s history, Homan said.

According to a Nov. 5 statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), border encounters nationwide in October were 30,561, the lowest for the month in history and the “lowest start to a fiscal year” ever recorded by the Customs and Border Protection.

In his interview, Homan said there is now “less fentanyl killing Americans, less sex trafficking of women and children. And we’re finding children that Biden administration wasn’t even looking for. And we’re the bad guys? It’s disgusting.”

Democrats have criticized the Trump administration’s policies on handling illegal immigrant children.

On Sept. 29, a group of lawmakers led by Rep. Delia C. Ramirez (D-Ill.) wrote a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem expressing “deep concern” over reports that the department was allowing illegal, unaccompanied children aged 14 and above to self-deport back to their home nations.

Such actions go against requirements of the bipartisan Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, under which DHS is obliged to transfer illegal immigrant children into the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and place them into proceedings before immigration courts, the lawmakers said.

“We expect that DHS’s new policy will deprive children of due process and place them in grave danger of trafficking and other harm,” said the letter.

On Oct. 3, HHS informed migrant shelters that some of the illegal, unaccompanied children aged 14 and older who are in federal custody have expressed interest in leaving the United States, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

The DHS “will provide a one-time resettlement support stipend of $2,500 ... to unaccompanied alien children, 14 years of age and older, who have elected to voluntarily depart the United States as of the date of this notice and moving forward,” the letter said.

The payments are aimed at supporting “reintegration efforts following departure,” it said.

ICE spokesperson Emily Covington said in a statement that the offer would initially apply to children aged 17 years. Moreover, the payment would only be approved once an immigration judge approves the child’s voluntary departure and the individual arrives in their home nation, she said.

“Many of these UACs [unaccompanied alien children] had no choice when they were dangerously smuggled into this country,” she said.

“ICE and the Office of Refugee and Resettlement at HHS are offering a strictly voluntary option to return home to their families. This voluntary option gives UACs a choice and allows them to make an informed decision about their future.”

Meanwhile, Homan’s comments on rescuing missing illegal immigrant children follow ICE’s launch of an initiative last week aimed at protecting unaccompanied children illegally smuggled into the United States and placed in the care of unvetted sponsors during the Biden administration.

The key focus of the initiative is to conduct welfare checks on the children to ensure they live a safe life, free from any exploitation, DHS said.

The department blamed the open border policies of the Biden administration for having “empowered” human traffickers and sex traffickers. The Trump administration is taking a “sledgehammer” on such trafficking activities, it said.