Recent Congressional hearings have brought to light a distressing oversight by the Biden administration: a hotline established to address safety concerns of unaccompanied migrant children went unanswered for 65,000 calls from August 2023 to January 2025. The House Committee on Homeland Security delved into this issue during a session focused on border operations and the involvement of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the welfare of these children.
The hotline was intended as a crucial safety measure, allowing both the children and the public to report problems, ranging from minor grievances to severe instances of abuse. Ali Hopper, the founder and president of GUARD Against Trafficking, testified before the committee, offering a damning assessment of the system's failures. She asserted that criminal networks had infiltrated government and NGO operations, leading to gross mismanagement.
One of the most harrowing examples Hopper provided was of an unanswered call from a child reporting nighttime abuse by adult men, which was only acted upon after a significant delay, resulting in the child's rescue and the arrest of the sponsor. This case exemplifies the grave consequences of the hotline's mismanagement.
The hearing also addressed concerns over the number of unaccompanied minors who have fallen through the cracks of the system. Republican Representative Eli Crane of Arizona highlighted reports indicating that hundreds of thousands of minors have been lost to follow-up, with tens of thousands missing court dates and many never receiving notice of their hearings.
Hopper's testimony contrasted the policies and practices under the Trump and Biden administrations. Although the previous administration's methods were not without issues, such as limited follow-up calls, the current administration's neglect of the hotline has led to substantial lapses in child safety.
Lawmakers grilled Hopper on the vetting process for adult sponsors, which she criticized as dangerously inadequate. She compared the lax standards for sponsoring a child to the more stringent requirements for adopting a dog.
The committee raised serious questions about the prolonged inactivity of the hotline and the apparent lack of a system for consistent monitoring or accountability. Reports from late 2024 had already begun to surface regarding the federal agencies' struggles to monitor the placement of migrant children, pointing to overwhelmed systems within Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Health and Human Services.
With the testimony shedding light on the scale of the problem, the committee discussed potential legislative reforms. These could include more rigorous sponsor screening, enhanced accountability for NGOs involved in migrant care, and a mandate for round-the-clock staffing of safety hotlines for vulnerable children.
In conclusion, the hearing underscored the urgent need for a reassessment of the systems designed to protect unaccompanied migrant children. The stark reality of tens of thousands of unanswered calls for help serves as a wake-up call for immediate action to prevent further harm to these vulnerable individuals.
