A recent report from a child trafficking prevention organization has unveiled alarming findings regarding the safety of unaccompanied migrant children in the United States. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed that over 13,000 children were placed with unvetted sponsors, raising serious concerns about their welfare and the effectiveness of current safeguarding measures.
This revelation comes on the heels of a congressional hearing where Allie Hopper, the founder of Guard Against Trafficking, testified about the critical gaps in support for these vulnerable children. During her testimony, Hopper highlighted a concerning statistic: from August 2023 to January 2025, a staggering 65,000 calls to a designated safety hotline remained unanswered. This hotline was intended to provide a lifeline for children in distress, allowing them to report incidents of exploitation or abuse.
Hopper recounted a particularly harrowing case during her testimony, where a child reported that grown men were entering his room at night. Thanks to a new administration’s efforts to address these issues, that specific call was investigated, leading to the child’s rescue and the arrest of the sponsor involved. However, Hopper expressed outrage that many other calls went unaddressed, emphasizing that without the current administration’s intervention to improve oversight, these children would have continued to be at risk.
The deficiencies in the sponsorship process have drawn sharp criticism as well. Hopper pointed out that becoming a sponsor for a child was less rigorous than the process of adopting a pet from a shelter. There were no meaningful background checks, and identity verification protocols were alarmingly lax, raising concerns about who was approved to care for these vulnerable children. In some instances, agents described the quality of identification documents submitted as laughable, likening it to amateur photo editing.
Additionally, Hopper criticized political resistance to implementing DNA testing for sponsors, which could have served as a vital tool for verifying familial relationships. She noted that some children were placed with individuals linked to violent gangs, including MS-13, putting them in further danger. In one tragic incident, a child was murdered by a gang member posing as a sponsor.
The findings underscore significant gaps in the safeguarding processes for unaccompanied migrant children, prompting urgent calls for reform. Advocates are pressing for more robust measures, including thorough background checks and immediate responses to hotline calls, to better protect these children from exploitation and harm.
As the conversation around child trafficking and the protection of unaccompanied minors continues, the need for a reevaluation of current policies and practices has never been more pressing. Organizations like Guard Against Trafficking are working tirelessly to bring these issues to light and advocate for vulnerable populations caught in the crossfire of migration and trafficking. The revelations from the DHS and Hopper’s testimony are a stark reminder of the challenges that lie ahead in ensuring the safety and well-being of unaccompanied migrant children in the United States.