Trump admin still releasing minors into U.S., well below Biden era
The Trump administration is still releasing unaccompanied alien children (UAC)s into the U.S., although the numbers are dramatically lower than the unprecedented numbers released by the Biden administration.
UACs are children under age 18 who are primarily smuggled to the U.S. border and arrive claiming they were brought to reunite with family members.
According to a federal law passed in 2003, “When a child who is not accompanied by a parent or legal guardian is apprehended by immigration authorities, the child is transferred to the care and custody of” the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). ORR is housed within the U.S. Department of Health & Human Service’s Office of the Administration for Children & Families.
Federal law requires ORR to provide them with food, shelter and medical care and release them “to safe settings with sponsors (usually family members), while they await immigration proceedings.”
In the first seven months of fiscal 2026, Oct. 1 through April 30, the lowest number of UACs on record were released to alleged sponsors in the U.S. of 825, according to ORR data.
That’s down from 24,259 UACs released in fiscal 2025.
These are dramatic decreases from the historic highs of the Biden administration.
In 2022, the greatest number of UACs was released in U.S. history of nearly 127,500, followed by nearly 113,500 in 2023, more than 107,705 in 2021 and more than 99,300 in 2024, according to the data.
Combined, they totaled nearly 400,000 – nearly the population of Wyoming.
Historically, the greatest number of UACs released to sponsors are sent to California, Florida and Texas, The Center Square has reported.
States received the greatest numbers in 2022. Texas received the most of more than 19,000; California and Florida each received more than 13,000, according to the data.
In the first seven months of fiscal 2026, California received 128, down from 3,000 in fiscal 2025 and 10,801 in fiscal 2024.
Similarly, Texas received 111 in the first six months of fiscal 2026, down from 3,419 in fiscal 2025 and 13,043 in fiscal 2024, according to the data.
Likewise, Florida received 56 in the first six months of fiscal 2026, down from 1,958 in fiscal 2025 and 9,468 in fiscal 2024, according to the data.
From 2015 to 2023, the most UACs were sent to Texas (82,391), California (68,249), and Florida (60,192). Rounding out the top ten were New York (47,982), Maryland (32,324), Virginia (31,391), New Jersey (31,323), Georgia (23,160), North Carolina (21,772), and Tennessee (20,715). Rounding out the top 15 were Louisiana (14,588), Massachusetts (13,877), Alabama (10,760), Illinois (10,755), and Pennsylvania (10,412), The Center Square exclusively reported.
Since then and through the first six months of 2026, these numbers increased substantially, according to an analysis of the data by The Center Square.
As of April 30, the most have still been sent to Texas of 99,024. The next greatest numbers were sent to California (82,313), Florida (71,754), New York (56,613), Maryland (36,991), New Jersey (36,687), Virginia (36,047), Georgia (28,257), North Carolina (26,948), Tennessee (25,078), Massachusetts (16,672), Louisiana (16,645), Illinois (14,169), Alabama (12,919) and Pennsylvania (12,880).
Multiple investigations found that during the Biden administration, sponsors were unvetted, children were sent to non-relatives, child traffickers and sex abusers and residences cited didn’t exist, The Center Square reported.
The number of human trafficking aid requests, including for children, surged under the Biden administration as did reports of federally funded abortions of raped minors. As allegations of abuse at federally funded facilities continued, U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-IA, filed criminal complaints with the FBI resulting in the DOJ suing one NGO, Southwest Key. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi later dropped the lawsuit.
Texas has the most facilities in the country housing UACs, including where abuse has been reported for years. Recognizing a crisis in Texas, state Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Texas, filed a bill to increase safeguards at facilities licensed by the state. The Texas legislature passed the bill nearly unanimously only for Gov. Greg Abbott to veto it.
Despite demands for accountability and failed attempts to fire the ORR director, Congress didn’t terminate the program. Instead, in the “Big Beautiful Bill,” filed by U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, more than $3 billion was allocated for UAC oversight through 2029.
The Trump administration claims it has reformed ORR and has begun welfare checks on UACs. It says it is searching for 300,000 “missing UACs” lost by the Biden administration. Once found, they’re put back into the same ORR system.
Law enforcement officers have found UACs in forced labor and sex trafficking situations and thousands who are members of violent gangs, The Center Square reported.
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