The Trump administration is moving to fix the gaps in the current unaccompanied minor sponsorship program that contributed to former President Joe Biden’s administration losing track of 320,000 migrant children.
According to a Tuesday Federal Register notice, the Department of Health and Human Services has updated its Unaccompanied Children Program Foundational Rule to comply with statutory requirements.
HHS ‘will no longer be complicit in endangering the lives of children by allowing adults to exploit our immigration system.’
When children enter the U.S. without a parent or guardian, they are turned over to HHS’ Office of Refugee Resettlement. The agency is responsible for placing the minors in homes by finding and vetting U.S.-based sponsors who may or may not be related to them.
Gaps in the program contributed to the Biden administration losing track of 320,000 unaccompanied minors placed with sponsors. A disturbing August 2024 report from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General found that the federal government could not monitor the children’s location or status.
Tuesday’s Federal Register notice stated that the new interim final rule removes a provision that previously prohibited the ORR from “shar[ing] any immigration status information relating to potential sponsors with any law enforcement or immigration related entity at any time.”
The Trump administration contended that the provision conflicted with federal statute.
“Accordingly, the information-sharing provision of the Foundational Rule must be removed,” it declared.
At the time the previous provision was adopted, commenters expressed concerns that placing children with unrelated sponsors would lead to trafficking and exploitation.
The ORR countered that safe placements were a top priority, claiming that sponsors are “thoroughly vetted.” Critics, including HHS whistleblowers, have long blasted the prior administration’s vetting as rushed, claiming it often skimped on thoroughness to place children quickly.
Additionally, the administration’s update will enable the ORR to reject a sponsor based on immigration status, reversing a prior policy that barred disqualification solely on that basis.
“Consistent with its statutory responsibilities, ORR must, among other things, conduct safety and suitability assessments of potential sponsors for the child,” it read. “As explained in the preamble to the Foundational Rule, in the process of vetting potential sponsors for unaccompanied alien children, the potential sponsor’s immigration status is one factor that bears on the potential sponsor’s suitability to care for the child.”
An HHS spokesperson told the New York Post that the agency “will no longer be complicit in endangering the lives of children by allowing adults to exploit our immigration system.”
“For too long, individuals have arranged for children to be smuggled in the United States, knowing they will be released to an adult, often without adequate vetting, creating a dangerous incentive that puts vulnerable young children at risk,” the official stated.
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