The Department of Homeland Security acknowledged Thursday that under the Biden administration, some unaccompanied migrant children were placed with sponsors who later impregnated them.

In other cases, minors who arrived at the border without parents were released to adults with serious criminal histories, including possession of child pornography or involvement in forced labor, the department said, the Washington Times reported.

Hundreds of thousands of these unaccompanied children entered the U.S. during a surge at the southern border. The administration, overwhelmed by the volume, expedited their release from overcrowded and unsafe detention facilities. Officials now acknowledge that this action put some children in unsafe situations.

“Children’s safety and security is non-negotiable,” said Laszlo Baksay, a spokesperson at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “The previous administration’s failure to implement meaningful safeguards has allowed vulnerable kids to fall into the hands of criminals.”

Homeland Security Investigations, a division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has spent recent months conducting welfare checks on unaccompanied migrant children. The findings released Thursday stem from that ongoing effort, the Times reported.

Investigators found some children living in conditions described as “neglect,” while others had been placed with sponsors who had criminal histories, including charges for assault, drug trafficking, prostitution, and attempted murder.

ICE identified the fathers as the “alleged sponsors” in what they called the “most disturbing cases,” revealing that some of the girls were pregnant.

Unaccompanied migrant children have long presented complex challenges for the U.S. immigration system, with risks and responsibilities at every stage of the process.

These minors often endure harrowing journeys to reach the U.S. border. Once in custody, they are intended to be placed with vetted sponsors who can care for them while they pursue legal immigration status, the Times report noted further.

Under the Biden administration, the number of sponsor placements surged, at times exceeding 18,000 per month, making it difficult for the government to thoroughly vet each sponsor under protocols originally established during the Trump administration.

In response, the Department of Health and Human Services relaxed some of those requirements. However, analysts say the changes led to more unsafe and potentially harmful placements.

Federal watchdogs have previously reported that the government lost contact with tens of thousands of children and failed to adequately monitor hundreds of thousands more.

The Trump administration pledged to locate missing children, but conducting effective welfare checks has remained a persistent challenge, said the Times.

Jarrod Sadulski, a child trafficking expert who has testified before Congress, said investigators made 100,000 welfare check attempts but were able to locate only about 5,000 children—a success rate of just 5%.

Among the cases reviewed, more than two dozen showed potential signs of human trafficking, said the outlet.

Sadulski also noted that the Department of Health and Human Services failed to respond to over 65,000 calls to its abuse hotline for unaccompanied alien children.

Meanwhile, border czar Tom Homan shared some tragic news when he spoke at the Republican National Lawyers Association’s annual policy conference last month.

He told the story of ICE agents who recently rescued a pregnant 14-year-old girl who had been trafficked.

“We just found one two days ago. A 14-year-old little girl. Living with two adult males. Who trafficked her,” he said.

“We found her, she’s pregnant. From trafficking being forced into prostitution. 14 years old. We are taking care of her. Both physically and mentally,” Homan said.

“Despite what the media says, we are not heartless. We care about these kids. I am a father,” he said.

“That s**t (human trafficking) is happening every day. We are going to put an end to it. Everything we can do,” he said.

Acting AG Blanche Fires Back at Obama’s DOJ Criticism

Posted July 21, 2026

Former President Barack Obama sharply criticized the Trump administration this week over what he described as growing political influence inside the United States Department of Justice, prompting an aggressive response from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defending both the administration’s prosecutions and President Donald Trump’s authority over the executive branch.

The escalating public dispute comes as the Justice Department faces mounting scrutiny over a series of criminal investigations and indictments involving several longtime Trump critics and political adversaries, including former FBI Director James Comey.

Obama raised the issue during an interview with Stephen Colbert on CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that aired Monday night.

“The White House shouldn’t be able to direct the attorney general to go around prosecuting whoever,” Obama said during the interview. “The idea is that the attorney general is the people’s lawyer. It’s not the president’s consigliere.”

Obama suggested the principle of DOJ independence may ultimately need to be codified into law by Congress, arguing that the justice system risks becoming politicized if presidents are perceived as directly targeting political opponents through federal prosecutions.

The comments immediately triggered pushback from the Trump administration.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson accused Obama of hypocrisy, arguing that his administration played a central role in the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation.

“Barack Hussein Obama is the king of weaponization,” Jackson said in a statement, referencing declassified documents related to the FBI’s Russia probe.

But the administration’s most extensive response came Wednesday from Blanche during an interview with CBS News in Phoenix.

Blanche forcefully rejected accusations that the DOJ is engaged in political retaliation and defended the president’s constitutional authority over the executive branch.

“Article Two says, ‘the executive power shall be vested in the President of the United States of America,’” Blanche said while holding a pocket copy of the Constitution during the interview. “It does not say that the Attorney General stands off to the side.”

Blanche emphasized that the attorney general serves within the executive branch and argued that presidents are fully entitled to direct priorities involving law enforcement, immigration, drugs, and national security.

“To the extent that President Trump calls me and says that he thinks we have a problem in this country, whether it’s the scourge of drugs, illegal immigration, every American wants him to do that,” Blanche said. “And he should.”

The acting attorney general also dismissed accusations that the DOJ is pursuing politically motivated cases against Trump critics.

“We are absolutely doing nothing but what we should be doing at the Department of Justice,” Blanche said. “I wake up with a very clean conscience every morning.”

The public clash comes amid multiple high-profile investigations involving Trump adversaries.

Most notably, Comey was recently indicted after prosecutors alleged a 2025 Instagram post featuring seashells arranged to form the numbers “86 47” constituted a threat against Trump, the 47th president. Prosecutors argue “86” is commonly understood slang meaning “to eliminate” or “get rid of.”

Blanche defended the case, arguing threats against the president must be treated seriously given recent assassination attempts and escalating political extremism.

Last year, Trump publicly urged then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue prosecutions against Comey, James, and Sen. Adam Schiff, writing on social media that “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED.”

Blanche declined to discuss private conversations with Trump when asked whether the president personally directed prosecutions.

“But rest assured,” Blanche said, “he has much better, bigger and important things to do than to worry about me doing my job.”

Blanche also turned Democrats’ criticism back against them by pointing to the multiple criminal prosecutions Trump himself faced before returning to office, including cases brought by state prosecutors in New York and Georgia as well as federal investigations overseen by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

“So I welcome criticism. Let’s go,” Blanche said. “But if you’re sitting in a glass house, you ought not throw stones.”