Homan disclosed the new figures during a recent interview with American Thought Leaders, offering a window into an operation President Donald Trump tasked him with overseeing after returning to the White House.
Homan Says More Than 157,000 Have Been Located
The controversy dates to the enormous number of unaccompanied minors who entered the United States during the Biden administration.
A 2024 Department of Homeland Security inspector general report found serious weaknesses in the government’s ability to monitor unaccompanied children after their release.
The watchdog reported that, as of May 2024, ICE had not served notices to appear to more than 291,000 children, meaning immigration proceedings had not formally begun in those cases. The inspector general warned that inadequate monitoring meant ICE could not be assured that children were safe from trafficking, exploitation or forced labor.
Homan now says the Trump administration has been trying to track down children whose whereabouts or status could not be confirmed.
“As of last week, we’re just over 157,000 children found,” Homan said.
According to Homan, most of those located were safe and some were living with parents who had remained outside the government’s view.
Others, he said, were discovered in far more troubling circumstances, including alleged forced labor and sex trafficking.
Homan also said more than 20 of the children authorities located had died.
“Some from natural causes, some from drug overdoses, some from violence,” Homan said.
He estimated that approximately 140,000 cases remain unresolved.
Investigators Encountered Bad Addresses and False Information
Finding the children has been particularly difficult because minors generally leave behind far less of a digital trail than adults, Homan explained.
An adult may have a vehicle, credit cards, property records or other information investigators can use to establish a location.
Children often have none of those things.
Compounding the problem, Homan said investigators discovered questionable information in records connected to some sponsors.
Addresses supposedly belonging to sponsors instead led agents to places such as parking lots, supermarkets and churches, he said. Some identification information was also inaccurate.
That left federal investigators trying to reconstruct where children had gone after being released.
Homan blamed inadequate sponsor screening during the previous administration for creating much of the problem.
His characterization represents the Trump administration’s account of the breakdown. The earlier DHS inspector general report independently documented major deficiencies in ICE’s ability to monitor unaccompanied children, including hundreds of thousands whose immigration proceedings had not been properly initiated.
Trump Gave Homan Three Assignments
Homan said Trump personally gave him three priorities when he returned to the administration.
“He asked me to do three things: secure the border, run deportation operations, and find these kids,” Homan said.
The search for the children, Homan acknowledged, was always going to be particularly difficult.
Some of those who entered the country as minors have now turned 18 or 19.
Homan said that won’t cause investigators to close their cases.
“Just because you’re 18 and 19 doesn’t mean they’re not in forced labor or sex trafficking,” Homan said.
“We’re not giving up,” Homan said. “We’re going to look at this until the last day of the administration.”
For Homan, the issue is also personal.
During decades working in immigration enforcement, he said he encountered children who suffered horrific abuse while traveling to the United States.
He has repeatedly recalled meeting a 9-year-old girl who had been sexually assaulted during her journey.
“That little girl’s never going to be the same again,” Homan said.
The experience became part of Homan’s broader argument that border enforcement isn’t simply an immigration-policy dispute.
“This isn’t just about enforcement of law but saving lives,” Homan said in earlier remarks. “As long as Congress won’t address the loopholes, people will be put in harm’s way.”
Sanctuary Jurisdictions Remain in Homan’s Sights
The child-location effort is only one part of the administration’s immigration crackdown.
Homan has also repeatedly signaled that federal authorities intend to maintain aggressive enforcement operations in jurisdictions that restrict cooperation with ICE.
That sets up continued clashes between the administration and Democratic officials in major sanctuary jurisdictions, where local leaders argue that limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities can preserve trust between immigrant communities and local police.
The Trump administration takes the opposite position, arguing that sanctuary policies make immigration enforcement more difficult and force federal agents to conduct arrests in communities rather than receiving removable offenders directly from local custody.
For Homan, however, the unfinished search for unaccompanied children remains one of the administration’s most consequential immigration assignments.
The headline number is now more than 157,000 located.
But Homan says roughly 140,000 cases remain.
And his message is that federal investigators aren’t closing the books until they have run down every lead.
