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He further emphasized that the issue transcends political divisions and should be viewed through the lens of basic law enforcement responsibility.
“I don’t care who you are. I don’t care if you have kids. You don’t have kids. I don’t care if you’re a liberal, you’re independent, you’re a Democrat. You’re Republican,” he continued.
“If you can’t stand for law enforcement to go find these kids, who are you?”
Mullin also indicated that a large number of recovered minors have been located in jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
“And do you know where we’re finding the most of them: sanctuary cities,” he said.
The remarks come as federal agencies continue reviewing how tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors were processed after entering the United States without parents or legal guardians. Many were transferred from immigration custody to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for placement with sponsors while their immigration cases moved forward.
Attention to the issue intensified following a report from the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General in August 2024. That report examined the handling of unaccompanied minors between fiscal years 2019 and 2023, finding that more than 448,000 children were moved from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody into HHS placement programs during that period.
According to the findings, roughly 291,000 of those children were not issued formal notices to appear in immigration court after being released. Another 32,000 reportedly failed to appear for scheduled proceedings, raising additional concerns about oversight and accountability within the system.
Federal officials now say efforts have intensified to locate those minors, though the full scope of their current circumstances remains unclear in many cases. Investigators continue following leads across multiple states as part of a broader nationwide effort.
On the enforcement side, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced criminal charges Thursday against three Guatemalan nationals in Ohio. The individuals are accused of submitting false information during the sponsor approval process in order to gain custody of migrant children and obtain financial benefits.
Prosecutors allege the defendants exploited weaknesses in the sponsorship system, which is intended to match unaccompanied minors with vetted adults while immigration proceedings are pending.
Meanwhile, Senator Chuck Grassley praised the administration’s renewed enforcement push, saying long-standing warnings about vulnerabilities in the system were ignored for years.
“I spent YRS sharing whistleblower evidence of migrant child trafficking w the Biden admin while my Democrat colleagues turned a blind eye,” Grassley wrote on social media.
The Trump administration has also instructed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to prioritize investigations into allegations that some migrant children may have been trafficked, abused, or otherwise exploited after placement with sponsors.
Officials say those efforts include reviewing cases involving suspected sex offenders and criminal networks that may have taken advantage of gaps in vetting and post-release monitoring.
Earlier reporting from the Office of Refugee Resettlement suggested that prior leadership emphasized rapid placement of minors with sponsors to reduce time in federal custody. Former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra was previously quoted as describing the desired pace of placements as similar to an “assembly line,” according to reporting by The New York Times.
Critics of the prior approach argue that speed was prioritized over thorough screening and follow-up, contributing to gaps in tracking once children left federal care. Supporters of the Biden-era system have countered that many of the so-called “missing” children were simply difficult to locate due to lost contact information or failure to appear in immigration court, as reported by The New York Post.
For now, federal authorities say the investigation remains active, with thousands of leads still being pursued across the country. Officials stress that locating the remaining unaccounted-for minors and holding accountable anyone who exploited the system remains a top priority moving forward.
