President Donald Trump’s government has launched a broad, multi-agency effort to examine the cases of around 450,000 migrant children who entered the U.S. alone during President Joe Biden’s tenure. Officials say the goal is to locate these children and check their well-being. Many arrived during recent spikes in border crossings and were later placed with adult sponsors such as parents, relatives, or family friends. However, immigrant rights groups are sceptical of the move. They’re concerned about the methods used, including visits by Homeland Security and FBI agents. Given Trump’s past hardline immigration policies, such as deporting even young children, advocates fear this review could be used to remove undocumented sponsors or children from the country. 

Officials from the Trump administration have admitted that some adults who took in migrant children weren’t thoroughly screened, which may have left those children vulnerable to abuse or exploitation. In one such case, a man has been charged by the Department of Justice for allegedly luring a 14-year-old girl from Guatemala to the U.S. and then pretending she was his sister to take custody of her.

Authorities believe more questionable sponsors will be identified as the administration conducts home visits and interviews tied to ongoing investigations. Since 2023, around 65,000 complaints have been lodged. So far this year, roughly 450 of those cases have been forwarded to federal law enforcement, according to a senior official from Health and Human Services who spoke anonymously. 

“We’re thoroughly reviewing every report, every detail — because protecting children isn’t optional,” the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) stated in a post on X. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seemed to mention the ongoing review during a Cabinet meeting with Trump on Wednesday, saying his agency was working to “find the children.”

For over a decade, the federal government has permitted adults to apply to care for migrant children who crossed the border alone. However, the program faced significant issues under the Biden administration, as officials struggled to manage many children. In some cases, federal authorities failed to carry out proper background checks on sponsors before placing children with them. Additionally, some sponsors submitted false identification, according to a report by a federal watchdog last year. Following the release of that report, the Biden administration stated that it had already taken steps to address the issues through “training, monitoring, technology and evaluation.”

Many children were also placed with legitimate families. Still, now some of these families worry they could be caught up in the Trump administration's review and face deportation, according to Mary Miller Flowers, policy director at the Young Centre for Immigrant Children’s Rights. The centre works with some of the most vulnerable children who cross the border. Flowers explained that many children have been placed with family members such as parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins. In some instances, children may have arrived at the border individually from their parents, who were already residing in the U.S. and later been reunited with them through the program.  “Now you have a situation where the government is checking on the wellness of children and encountering their undocumented parents and deporting their parents," Flowers stated. "I don't know what about that is good for children.”

In the last two months, around 100 children have been taken from their sponsors and returned to federal custody, usually in private shelters, according to a health department official. In Cleveland, federal prosecutors accuse a man, living illegally in the U.S., of helping a 14-year-old girl by providing a copy of his sister's birth certificate and confirming her journey from Guatemala to the U.S. He asserted that he was her brother. Still, no fingerprinting or DNA testing was accomplished to confirm his identity, as revealed by a senior Justice Department official, who spoke anonymously due to the ongoing case. The man was found guilty of sexually assaulting the child in Ohio state court in 2024 and was behind bars for eight years. He now encounters federal charges, including facilitating illegal entrance for financial profit and identity theft. His lawyers have refused to comment. 

According to a Justice Department official, the Trump administration is working to locate every child placed with a sponsor as part of a review. Investigators are examining suspicious sponsorship applications, including those from "super sponsors" who claim family ties to multiple unaccompanied children, sometimes over a dozen.

Across the country, there have been reports and videos showing armed law enforcement officers arriving at the homes of unaccompanied minors and their sponsors to carry out wellness checks. In an emailed report, the FBI said it is carrying out “nationwide” welfare checks, stressing that “protecting children is a critical mission.” The agency also stated that it will keep working with its “federal, state and local partners to secure their safety and well-being.” 

Advocates have questioned whether children will feel safe enough to report abuse or problems with their sponsors when the people they’re expected to confide in are armed federal officers also involved in widespread deportation efforts. 

Homeland security agents in Hawaii have been searching the Kona area for unaccompanied minors and their sponsors. According to a report by the Honolulu Civil Report, this has led to the deportation of two families and one child being returned to federal custody. Last month in northern Virginia, a lawyer shared a video showing five federal agents conducting a welfare check at the home of his client, who is currently waiting for a green card. In another case in Omaha, a 10-year-old who arrived in the U.S. alone about three years ago and has been living with his uncle was recently visited by armed agents wearing “black, tactical gear.” His lawyer, Julia Cryne, said the child was questioned about his immigration case and his sponsor’s location. 

“They’re using this as a way to go after the kids,” Cryne expressed, noting that her client’s green card application was recently approved. 

The Trump administration has significantly changed how the migrant child sponsorship program operates. It reduced funding for lawyers who helped the most at-risk migrant children, leaving even very young kids without government-funded legal support.

Additionally, new policies now require adults who want to sponsor a child to provide fingerprints, undergo DNA testing, and show proof of income, according to guidelines reviewed by the Associated Press. These stricter requirements could make it harder for some sponsors, especially those without stable income or legal status, to qualify, said Flowers. Until a sponsor is approved, the children must remain in federal custody. “They have put in a trifecta of policies that essentially make it impossible for them to leave federal detention,” Flowers stated.