One of the most talked about issues throughout the 2024 election season was immigration and border control. Social media posts online claim thousands of migrant children have gone missing during Joe Biden’s term as president.
During the vice presidential debate in October, Vice President-elect JD Vance claimed there are “320,000 children that DHS has effectively lost.” President-elect Donald Trump made similar remarks throughout his campaign, including at an Arizona rally where he claimed “325,000 migrant children are gone, they’re missing.”
Multiple VERIFY readers have asked us if that statistic is accurate.
THE QUESTION
Did 320,000 migrant children go missing under the Biden Administration?
THE SOURCES
U.S. Department of Homeland Security report published in August 2024
Michelle Mittelstadt, director of communications at the Migration Policy Institute told VERIFY.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director of the American Immigration Council
An Immigration Impact article
THE ANSWER
The Department of Homeland Security reported in August that it was unable to monitor the locations of approximately 320,000 migrant children who were released from federal custody, but the report did not declare the kids were missing.
WHAT WE FOUND
The 320,000 number that Vance and others have referenced comes from a Department of Homeland Security report published in August 2024. The count also includes children who were released during Donald Trump’s presidency, in addition to Biden’s administration.
That report said federal authorities may not be able to monitor the locations of about 320,000 unaccompanied migrant children who had been released from federal custody between 2018 and 2023, due in part to poor communication between agencies. But the report did not say that all of the children are lost or missing.
Experts also attribute the number of unaccounted for children to missing paperwork – not children who are actually endangered or missing. Instead, the report is referring to the government being unable to track the children after being released from custody.
The DHS report “explains that 32,000 unaccompanied children were ordered deported for missing a court hearing from 2019 to 2023,” and that Immigration and Customs Enforcement “had not filed charging documents to start the removal process for 291,000 unaccompanied children who entered the country over that time period,” Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director of the American Immigration Council explained to VERIFY.
The claims online combine the 32,000 and the 291,000 counts that appear in the report.
Although DHS has stated its inability to monitor the approximate 320,000 migrant children in the United States who did not appear for a hearing or receive a notice, it has not declared them to be missing.
There are many factors as to why a child may not have appeared for a hearing or received a notice, including a lack of communication between government agencies to secure the correct mailing address or a guardian’s inability to take them to court.
“The issue is a paperwork one – both with ICE not having contact with these minors since their release from HHS custody and lack of communication between ICE and the Justice Department or by a federal agency with the child’s sponsor,” Michelle Mittelstadt, director of communications at the Migration Policy Institute told VERIFY.
“The lack of a current address on file does not mean that the children have been trafficked, are lost, or that their parents or sponsors are purposely evading immigration proceedings. Quite the contrary, a majority of the children may be residing in loving homes, attending school, and acclimating to their new surroundings after being reunited with family members in the United States,” an Immigration Impact article explains.
Many of the unaccounted for children may have been separated from their parents under Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy, which required children to be separated from their parents during Trump’s first administration.
“Upon separation from their families, children are officially labeled ‘unaccompanied alien children,’ before being sent into government custody or foster care, a City of Philadelphia Action Guide explains.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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