Imagine thousands of vulnerable children handed over to strangers with barely a background check—shocking new data reveals this was the reality under the Biden administration’s watch over unaccompanied migrant kids.
According to Fox News, new reports highlight a troubling failure by the Biden administration to properly vet sponsors for tens of thousands of unaccompanied alien children (UACs) between January 2021 and January 2025, raising serious concerns about their safety.
According to data presented to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, a staggering 79,143 sponsors for these children skipped home studies—evaluations meant to assess living conditions and custodial risks, akin to foster care vetting. Only about 7,000 such studies were conducted during this period by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). That’s a drop in the bucket when you consider the scale of nearly half a million kids under HHS care.
Even more alarming, over 11,000 of these children were placed with sponsors who weren’t blood relatives and faced no vetting at all. Federal law demands criminal background checks and fingerprinting for non-parent or non-guardian sponsors, yet HHS under Biden neglected this for roughly 10% of such cases. It’s a bureaucratic shrug at child welfare that’s hard to stomach.
Sen. Grassley didn’t mince words, calling out the prior administration for being “stonewalled” on his requests for transparency. If accountability is this hard to come by, one wonders if the priority was ever on the kids or just on clearing the backlog with reckless speed.
“It’s appalling to prioritize speed and optics over the safety and well-being of children,” Grassley added. And he’s got a point—rushing to place kids without proper checks isn’t progress; it’s a policy failure dressed up as efficiency.
From October 2020 through September 2024, HHS took in 468,736 UACs, a massive responsibility that demanded airtight oversight. Yet, only about 10% of children recommended for home studies got one under Biden’s HHS. That’s not just a statistic; it’s a systemic breakdown.
Data shared with Grassley also shows around 65,000 “notices of concern”—issues like sponsor address changes, abuse, or even missing children—were left unaddressed during the same term. These notices, which must be reported to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within 24 hours, are critical red flags. Ignoring them isn’t just negligence; it’s a gamble with young lives.
“My oversight continues to expose disturbing evidence that the Biden-Harris administration turned a blind eye to tens of thousands of kids who needed proper supervision and care,” Grassley stated. His frustration is palpable, and frankly, it’s hard to argue when the numbers paint such a grim picture of misplaced priorities.
Fast forward to the current Trump administration’s HHS, and there’s a clear pivot to clean up the mess. Under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the ORR has rolled out a “whole of government approach” to tackle sponsor fraud, child exploitation, and trafficking within UAC programs. Collaboration now spans the Justice Department, Treasury, Labor Department, and Social Security Administration—a stark contrast to past inaction.
New vetting protocols are also in play, including expanded identity checks, mandatory background screenings, and even DNA testing to curb fraud and protect kids. A Trump HHS spokesman affirmed, “ORR is fully committed to the safety and well-being of every unaccompanied child in its care.” That’s a reassuring shift, though the damage done will take time to undo.
The same spokesman noted their focus on placing children with “fully vetted sponsors in the safest and most appropriate setting possible.” It’s a common-sense standard that somehow got lost in the progressive push for rapid releases over rigorous safeguards.
Fiscal Year 2024 saw ORR report 1,600 allegations of fraud involving sponsors, children, or even parents in the child’s home country—a troubling sign of deeper systemic vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, a November House Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing dug into how HHS and ORR operations under Biden may have fueled a rise in trafficked children. The dots aren’t hard to connect when vetting is treated as optional.
Then-Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., put it bluntly: “The Biden-Harris administration placed political aims above the welfare of unaccompanied migrant children.” His critique stings because it rings true—when ideology trumps safety, the most vulnerable pay the price.
