Trump administration says it has located 25,000 missing illegal migrant children so far

The Trump administration recently confirmed that approximately 25,000 illegal migrant children have been located so far, out of approximately 300,000 missing children. 

Trump border czar Tom Homan last week told reporters that he was called back to service with three main goals: Securing the border, running President Donald Trump's deportation effort, and finding the missing children who were brought into the United States illegally under the Biden administration. 

"They’ve already located just under 25,000," Homan told Fox News. "Some of these children were fine, with parents just hiding because they didn’t want to be deported. But many were in sex trafficking. Many we found in forced labor, slavery. I mean forced to work ungodly hours, not going to school. [They were] not getting paid, being abused.”

Homan added that he remains committed to following every lead until all the children are found, and 27 children have died.

"This is the main priority for the Trump administration," he said. "We'll keep going at it."

The news comes after Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley released a report last month that found the Department of Health and Human Services from January 2021 through January 2025 placed 11,488 unaccompanied migrant children with unvetted sponsors who were not their parents or legal guardians. 

During the same period, the department also refused to conduct home studies for over 79,000 migrant children under the age of 12, including in homes where a study was recommended.

The Trump administration has since moved to reform the unaccompanied minor program, including launching an interagency initiative and investigation in February into the suspected fraud and trafficking of the program.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.