(Texas Scorecard) – According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the total number of unaccompanied minors encountered at the southern border who are subsequently released to sponsors inside the country remains in the tens of thousands.
The most recent numbers, published on July 29 by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, show that 10,720 unaccompanied minors were released to sponsors in Texas in fiscal year 2024. During the last fiscal year, 2023, that number was 16,394.
Fiscal year 2022 saw the highest number of unaccompanied children released to U.S. sponsors in Texas—19,071. In fiscal year 2021, 15,338 were transferred to sponsor care in the state.
Despite the tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors who are still being encountered at the southern border and transferred to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Refugee Resettlement for release to U.S. sponsors, the number of overall illegal border crossings has plummeted.
Former ICE special agent and president of the Border Patriot PAC Victor Avila told Texas Scorecard that this is due, in large part, to a secret immigration-related deal struck between President Joe Biden—who has announced that he will not be running for reelection—and Mexico as the November election season nears.
“The Biden administration never shared the details of this deal they made with the government of Mexico,” Avila said. He also posited that the unshared details of the deal involved increasing enforcement on the Mexican side.
“I don’t believe it’s for the advancement of the public safety or national security of the United States. I think it’s for the advancement of their politics on both sides of the border,” Avila continued.
The Center for Immigration Studies’ Todd Bensman has also suggested that President Biden has “bribed” Mexico to help his administration get control of the southern border. “The Mexican president will want Biden to win so he can keep releasing immigrants in ant operations — and get paid U.S. tax dollars to do it,” Bensman wrote.
Meanwhile, Avila asserted that while the HHS and the ORR are supposed to be looking out for the well-being of unaccompanied children who are transferred to U.S.-based sponsors, there is no enforcement of these policies.
Further, “that person that is receiving the child is not a vetted individual.” According to Avila, “Just a year ago, we were at 85,000 unaccompanied children that have been lost.”
That number is reportedly nearing 100,000 due to the inability of the HHS and ORR to keep track of unaccompanied children transferred to the care of sponsors.
Drawing from his experience investigating human trafficking, Avila suggested it is quite possible that innocent children are being placed in the hands of traffickers and people who want to exploit them.