The Biden administration placed thousands of illegal alien children in the care of unvetted sponsors, according to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley.
The Iowa Republican has released Department of Health and Human Services data showing that during President Joe Biden’s administration, over 11,000 unaccompanied alien children were placed with unvetted sponsors who were not the children’s parents or legal guardians. Additionally, no home visits were conducted for over 79,000 illegal immigrant children.
Moreover, some children were “allowed to be placed with sponsors who were actually smugglers and sex traffickers,” according to the Department of Homeland Security.
“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 said in a statement.
“It’s appalling to prioritize speed and optics over the safety and well-being of children,” the senator continued.
Grassley requested the HHS data during the Biden administration but did not receive the data until President Donald Trump returned to the White House, according to the senator’s office.
“I appreciate the Trump administration’s efforts to undo the damage caused by the last administration’s failed border policies, and I’ll continue my oversight of the issue to ensure abuse like this never happens again,” Grassley pledged.
According to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which operates under HHS, the office “cared for” 468,000 unaccompanied alien children between October 2020 and September 2024, until they were placed with sponsors. From October 2024 to June 2025, the office cared for over 21,000 unaccompanied alien children.
The largest percentage of children who have entered the U.S. alone and illegally in recent years are from Guatemala and Honduras.
Since Trump returned to the White House, his administration has located over 13,000 children who crossed the border unaccompanied under Biden, the Department of Homeland Security announced in July.
During a recent House Oversight subcommittee hearing, DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari told members of Congress that between fiscal years 2019 and 2023, more than 448,000 unaccompanied alien children were transferred from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody to the custody of HHS.
Among those 448,000 minors, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement failed to issue more than 233,000 notices to appear in immigration court, according to the inspector general. Furthermore, more than 43,000 migrant children who were given a notice to appear in immigration court failed to do so.
