Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently accused the Biden administration of prioritizing speed over safety in the processing of unaccompanied migrant children, alleging that over 476,000 minors were ‘lost’ due to rushed procedures. During a Sunday interview on *Fox & Friends Weekend*, Kennedy cited new data detailing how officials focused on ‘getting the kids out of the cages’ without conducting essential safety checks, such as DNA testing and fingerprinting for parental verification. He argued that these lapses in security allowed unvetted sponsors to claim custody of children, creating a significant risk.
In contrast, Kennedy claimed Trump-era reforms have improved tracking, with federal agents recovering 22,000 children through door-to-door searches and other investigations. He pledged to continue efforts for the next three-and-a-half years to locate missing children, highlighting the administration’s alleged negligence in the process. The remarks resonate with ongoing Republican criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of unaccompanied minors, including a recent DHS report that found systemic lapses in tracking and follow-up for many children released under previous policies. However, some experts have cautioned that the findings may reflect administrative failures rather than evidence of missing or trafficked children.
According to an August 2024 report from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) transferred more than 448,000 unaccompanied migrant children to HHS between fiscal years 2019 and 2023. The report found that ICE was unable to fully monitor the whereabouts of many of those children after release and noted lapses in tracking and follow-up, including failures to ensure court appearances.
However, an Associated Press report from last October noted that the findings did not mean the children vanished or were trafficked but rather reflect systemic breakdowns in record-keeping and follow-up processes. The controversy underscores the broader political debate over immigration policy and the balance between expedited processing and humanitarian safeguards, raising questions about the long-term consequences of these policies on both migrant communities and U.S. institutions.