Border Czar Tom Homan said during a February 15 interview that federal authorities have located more than 145,000 unaccompanied alien children who were previously unaccounted for following their release to sponsors under the prior administration.
In a clip from the interview that circulated Sunday morning, Homan confirmed that ICE has accounted for 145,000 children out of what he described as more than 300,000 cases involving unaccompanied alien children released during the Biden administration.
🚨 BREAKING: Tom Homan stuns the Democrats by confirming 145,000 THOUSAND missing migrant children were found after the Democrats lost track of 300,000
This should be a FRONT PAGE STORY in the fake news! 👏🏻 🇺🇸
pic.twitter.com/qQM7vEpFdh— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) February 15, 2026
Homan did not provide additional detail in the brief segment regarding how the figure was calculated or the legal status of the children located.
In a separate January 30 statement posted on X, Homan wrote:
“The dedicated, talented, and compassionate men and women of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Office of Refugee Resettlement at U.S. Department of Health and Human Services continue to tirelessly to run down hundreds of thousands of leads and work numerous investigations to locate more than 300,000 unaccompanied alien children that the Biden Administration turned over to unvetted sponsors, lost track of, and weren’t looking forward. Through their outstanding efforts, they have so far been able to locate more than 145,000!”
“President Trump promised that we would find these children, and under his strong leadership and with his unwavering support, the patriots at these, and other partner, agencies have been—and will continue to do—just that.”
What The 2024 DHS Inspector General Report Found
The issue gained national attention in August 2024 when the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General issued a management alert titled, “ICE Cannot Monitor All Unaccompanied Migrant Children Released from DHS and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Custody.”
According to the report:
- ICE transferred 448,820 unaccompanied children to the Office of Refugee Resettlement between Fiscal Years 2019 and 2023.
- More than 32,000 unaccompanied children failed to appear for immigration court hearings during that period.
- As of May 2024, ICE had not served Notices to Appear (NTAs) on more than 291,000 unaccompanied children.
Without NTAs, those children did not yet have immigration court dates scheduled.
The Inspector General wrote that without the ability to monitor their location and status, “ICE has no assurance UCs are safe from trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor.”
The report did not conclude that all unaccounted-for children were trafficked. It found ICE lacked automated systems and consistent procedures to monitor children once released from federal custody to sponsors.
Congressional Reaction At The Time
Following the release of the report, U.S. Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) criticized the findings.
“With the release of this DHS report, the pressing question remains: where are these missing children?” Latta said in an August 2024 statement. He cited the report’s finding that ICE had “no assurance” the children were “safe from trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor” and called the situation “completely unacceptable.”
ICE Welfare-Check Initiative
In November 2025, ICE launched what it called a “UAC Safety Verification Initiative” in coordination with state and local 287(g) law enforcement partners.
The agency said the initiative focused on conducting welfare checks on approximately 450,000 unaccompanied children placed with sponsors.
In that release, DHS cited examples of administrative immigration arrests involving sponsors accused or convicted of criminal conduct, including assault, drug trafficking, attempted homicide, and in one Texas case, alleged human trafficking and statutory rape involving a 14-year-old unaccompanied child.
ICE stated in November that more than 24,400 children had been located in person through visits and welfare checks.
What Is Known — And What Is Not
Homan’s February 15 statement did not provide additional details regarding:
- The immigration status of the 145,000 located children
- How many remain unaccounted for
- Whether those located were found in unsafe conditions
- How the 145,000 figure was calculated
The 2024 Inspector General report documented monitoring and data gaps within ICE systems but did not state that all affected children were abducted or trafficked.
