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The Trump administration says it has located more than 13,000 unaccompanied minors who illegally entered the United States and were previously unaccounted for by federal tracking systems.
The development comes as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under President Donald Trump has arrested over 400 sponsors of unaccompanied minors for alleged mistreatment or other criminal offenses, according to a Health and Human Services official who spoke to NewsNation.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General reported that more than 300,000 unaccompanied children entered the country under former President Joe Biden’s administration and were subsequently lost to government oversight.
In response, the Trump administration has directed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to begin offering older unaccompanied minors, ages 14 to 17, the option to voluntarily return to their home countries. If minors choose to self-deport, they are transferred to ICE or HHS to begin the process, CNN reported.
“This is a long-standing practice that was used by previous administrations to prioritize getting children back to the safety of a parent or legal guardian in their home country,” a Homeland Security official told CNN. The policy is based on the Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2022.
“The only change pursuant to the Big Beautiful Bill is expanding this option to return home to UACs from additional countries beyond Mexico and Canada,” the official added.
Earlier this month, Trump announced progress in locating children missing under Biden-era border policies.
“Something that you should have that you haven’t reported – as you know, 300,000 children are missing, 300,000 under Biden. We’ve already gotten back 10,000, and we have a lot more planned to get back. We’re getting them back by the thousands,” Trump said on July 11.
The administration has also modified the CBP One mobile app, originally introduced under Biden to manage asylum claims. Now renamed the CBP Home app, it includes features encouraging self-deportation. Migrants who opt to leave voluntarily are offered $1,000 in return, while those who refuse may face fines of up to $1,000 per day.
Officials say tens of thousands of adult migrants have already self-deported since Trump returned to office in January.
