Chuck Grassley: Biden Admin Ignored 65,000 Troubling Reports About Unaccompanied Alien Children

The Biden administration ignored tens of thousands of concerning reports involving unaccompanied migrant children, according to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA).

Grassley looked into Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) records at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and found over 65,000 ignored or dismissed reports concerning migrant children. Nearly 7,000 of those reports were cases of suspected human trafficking and nearly 2,000 others were related to fraud.

Since President Donald Trump assumed office on January 20, HHS has worked through over a quarter of those cases left over from the Biden administration and made dozens of arrests, according to Grassley.

“My oversight exposed the Biden-Harris administration for placing unaccompanied migrant children with dangerous sponsors and actively obstructing law enforcement and Congress’ efforts to rescue vulnerable kids. I applaud the Trump administration for its swift action to protect unaccompanied migrant children by addressing the concerning reports the Biden-Harris administration shelved,” said Grassley in a statement. “I look forward to working with Secretary Kennedy to ensure justice is served.”

Back in April, HHS confirmed that tens of thousands of cases had been ignored and that it was working to clear the “backlog” left by the previous administration.

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“ORR is digging through nearly 65,000 reports of concern about unaccompanied alien children — most ignored, many dismissed — each one a missed chance to protect a child. This isn’t just paperwork. This is a systemic failure of the Biden administration. It is children’s lives put at risk,” HHS said in a statement posted to social media.

ORR is digging through nearly 65,000 reports of concern about unaccompanied alien children — most ignored, many dismissed — each one a missed chance to protect a child. This isn’t just paperwork. This is a systemic failure of the Biden administration. It is children's lives put…

— HHS.gov (@HHSGov) April 22, 2025

At least 500,000 children entered the United States during former President Joe Biden’s tenure. Those children were often flown in or bused to the homes of strangers after the Biden administration relaxed rules on background checks for sponsors of the children.

At least 85,000 of those children who crossed as unaccompanied minors were lost by the administration. HHS officials under the Biden administration failed to locate the children again after leaving them with sponsors.

Grassley wrote a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. ripping the previous administration for stonewalling the senator’s demands for information on unaccompanied alien minors (UAC).

“The purpose of my inquiry is clear: to determine the scope and severity of child trafficking and exploitation through the UAC program nationwide. After I made this urgent inquiry, HHS under Secretary Becerra obstructed my investigation and instructed contractors and grantees not to answer, and to instead send my inquiry to the Assistant Secretary for Legislation, who of course also failed to provide any requested information,” Grassley wrote in a Tuesday letter.