Over 290,000 unaccompanied illegal alien children have not been issued notices to appear in court by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which limits the chances of evaluating their safety.
The news broke in a report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General.
The report asserts that ICE, having not issued notices to appear in court to illegal alien children, is unable to monitor the whereabouts of the minors once they are released from custody. Further, ICE allegedly has no process in place to address unaccompanied minors if they fail to appear in court.
As immigration court hearings are often the only opportunity to evaluate a child’s safety from human trafficking efforts, the risk of malicious exploitation has skyrocketed.
Between fiscal years 2019 and 2023, more than 448,000 unaccompanied illegal alien children were transferred to HHS. As the report shows, many did not appear in court as directed. HHS was able to identify 32,000 minors who did not appear in court.
However, as of May 2024, the number of unaccompanied illegal alien children who have not been served notices to appear in court by ICE has exceeded 290,000.
Additionally, ICE habitually did not inform HHS when minors failed to appear in court following the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement’s release of the children to sponsors—many of whom are allegedly unvetted.
“ICE must take immediate action to ensure the safety of UCs residing in the United States,” Inspector General Joseph Cuffari wrote in his report. “Based on our audit work and according to ICE officials, UCs who do not appear for court are considered at higher risk for trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor.”
Cuffari also wrote that although 32,000 have been identified as not appearing in court, that number would have been much higher if the more than 290,000 unaccompanied minors had been placed in proper removal proceedings.
“By not issuing NTAs to all UCs, ICE limits its chances of having contact with UCs when they are released from HHS’ custody, which reduces opportunities to verify their safety,” he continued.
Thus, ICE has no assurance that unaccompanied children are protected in any way from trafficking or exploitation.
