One of the most heart-breaking realizations about the cynical agenda of the leftists who controlled the Biden administration was that a half million children, often called "unaccompanied minors", were trafficked into this country. We have no idea who or where too many of them are. Dear Lord, who have we become, that we not only don't care about a half million frightened hearts but we consume and abuse them? I'm disgusted by who we seem to have become and I pray for God's guidance and forgiveness ... we must make this right and end this evil.

Where Are The Children?



[instrumental intro]

[Verse 1]

I still see your little shoes by the door 

Dust on the laces, you don’t need them anymore 

They promised you safety, they swore on their lives 

Now the night keeps your name and the silence replies 

[Pre-Chorus] 

Over half a million little hearts 

Scattered like leaves in the dark 

Given to strangers, no questions, no trace 

God, how do you lose a child’s face? 

[Chorus ] 

Where are the children? 

Where did they go? 

Taken by systems that claim they don’t know 

Tiny hands reaching through cracks in the wall 

If this is a nation, how do we let them fall? 

Tell me the measure of mercy and grace 

When the weakest are lost without leaving a trace 

Where are the children? 

Lord, bring them home 

[Verse 2] 

Some work the fields till their fingers bleed red 

Some sold by the hour on a stranger’s cold bed 

They cry in a language no caseworker hears 

While the paperwork shrugs and the calendar steers 

[Verse 3 – Mother, rising in pain] 

There’s evil that wears a kind government smile 

That stamps a release and then looks away a while 

It calls itself progress, it calls itself care 

But evil is evil when a child isn’t there 

[instrumental solo]

[Bridge] 

I would’ve walked through the desert barefoot 

I would’ve carried them all on my back 

But they took you from us with a signature’s stroke 

And the trail disappears in the smoke 

[Chorus] 

Where are the children? 

Who holds them tonight? 

Are they hungry, afraid, in the cold neon light? 

If a country is judged by the tears that it dries 

Then look at these mothers with holes in our eyes 

Where are the children? 

God, let them be found 

Before one more angel is lost in this town 

[Outro ] 

Little one, little one 

If you hear this song 

Know your mama’s still singing 

Though everything’s wrong 

We’re still here 

Still calling your name 

Till the last breath of mercy 

Brings you home again 

[instrumental outro]

Where are the children?

An analysis

Overview of Unaccompanied Migrant Children Under the Biden Administration

During President Joe Biden's administration (January 2021 to January 2025), the U.S. experienced a significant surge in unaccompanied alien children (UACs, also referred to as unaccompanied minors) arriving at the southern border. According to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) report released in August 2025, over 500,000 UACs crossed the border during this period. These children, primarily from Central America (e.g., Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador), Mexico, and increasingly from other regions like Venezuela and Haiti, were fleeing violence, poverty, natural disasters, and family separations. Upon apprehension by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), UACs from non-contiguous countries were transferred to the custody of HHS's Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within 72 hours, as mandated by the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 and the Flores Settlement Agreement of 1997.

ORR's primary goal was to release these children to vetted sponsors—typically family members or legal guardians—in the "least restrictive setting" while their immigration cases were processed. However, rapid influxes overwhelmed the system, leading to documented lapses in vetting, monitoring, and follow-up. A separate DHS OIG report from March 2025 highlighted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) transferred 448,820 UACs to HHS between fiscal years (FY) 2019 and 2023 (with the majority occurring post-2021), but systemic failures left tens of thousands unaccounted for in terms of location and immigration status. This has fueled concerns about trafficking, exploitation, and disappearance, though "missing" often refers to administrative gaps (e.g., failure to appear in court) rather than confirmed abductions.

Scale of Placements and "Missing" Children

From FY 2021 to FY 2024, ORR released over 400,000 UACs to sponsors across the U.S., with the top destination states including Texas, California, Florida, New York, and New Jersey. Vetting processes included background checks via FBI databases, but resources were strained: the HHS OIG report noted that over 11,000 children were placed with sponsors who were neither parents nor legal guardians without full vetting, and home studies (required for high-risk cases) were skipped for more than 79,000 children under age 12. Additionally, ORR dismissed or failed to act on 56,591 notifications of concern, 7,346 reports of potential human trafficking, and 1,688 leads on sponsor fraud during this period.

The "missing" narrative stems largely from two metrics:

- Lost Contact After Release: A 2024 DHS OIG management alert (updated in 2025) found that HHS provided ICE with incomplete, blank, or undeliverable sponsor addresses for more than 31,000 UACs released between FY 2019 and 2023. This made post-release monitoring impossible. Earlier New York Times reporting in 2023 indicated ORR could not contact about 85,000 children 30 days after placement, a figure that grew as caseloads rose.

- Failure to Appear in Court: As of January 2025, ICE had not served Notices to Appear (NTAs) on over 233,000 UACs, preventing court scheduling and increasing vulnerability. Of those with NTAs served by October 2024, over 43,000 failed to appear, resulting in in absentia removal orders. Immigration courts issued about 32,000 such orders against UACs from FY 2019 to 2023, often due to unserved NTAs (affecting ~291,000 cases) or lack of legal representation (only ~40% of UACs had counsel).

These figures do not necessarily mean children are physically vanished; many are likely safe with sponsors but untracked due to address errors, mobility, or fear of deportation. However, the lack of oversight creates a "black hole" for at-risk youth, as noted in congressional hearings like the July 2025 House Oversight Committee session on "Trafficked, Exploited, and Missing: Migrant Children Victims of the Biden-Harris Administration."

Evidence of Trafficking and Exploitation

While not all untracked UACs are trafficked, substantiated reports link systemic gaps to increased risks. HHS referred over 570 potential trafficking incidents involving UACs to ICE from FY 2019 to 2023, though ICE's reactive approach (only acting on tips) limited interventions. Documented cases include:

- Labor Trafficking: Children forced into debt bondage, working in agriculture (e.g., farms in Florida and Georgia), construction, meatpacking plants, restaurants, and domestic service to repay smuggling fees ("coyote debts"). A 2023 New York Times investigation uncovered over 100 such cases, with children as young as 13 working 12-hour shifts without pay.

- Sex Trafficking: Reports of rape, sexual slavery, and online enticement. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) saw a 55% increase in child sex trafficking reports in 2024, partly attributed to the REPORT Act, though not migrant-specific. In one HHS-cited case, a 14-year-old Guatemalan girl was placed with a sponsor who prostituted her.

- Other Exploitation: Gang recruitment (e.g., MS-13), forced criminality, or placement in unsafe environments like rundown motels in gang-heavy areas. Over 600 UACs who fled ORR custody between FY 2019 and 2023 were later arrested for crimes ranging from theft to murder, per DHS OIG data.

The HHS OIG report criticized the administration for "ignoring risks," including dismissing trafficking alerts and prioritizing speed over safety amid border surges. A June 2025 ICE initiative uncovered widespread abuse among released UACs, rescuing 14 children from forced labor and trafficking by July 2025.

Resources Involved in Stopping Trafficking and Locating Children

Several organizations are actively combating this crisis through prevention, rescue, and recovery:

- HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR): Manages UAC program; improved post-release calls in 2024 but faces funding cuts. Contact: 1-800-203-7001 for sponsor inquiries.

- National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC): Operates CyberTipline (reportmissingchild@missingkids.org or 1-800-THE-LOST) for tips on runaways/trafficking. Analyzed 25,000+ missing child cases in 2022, with 1 in 6 runaways likely sex-trafficked. Partners with ICE on operations like "Sunflower" (123 children identified in 2025).

- Polaris Project: Runs National Human Trafficking Hotline (1-888-373-7888; text 233733). Focuses on labor trafficking; provides data-driven interventions, e.g., disrupting supply chains in agriculture. In 2023, handled 10,000+ signals involving child labor.

- DHS/ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI): Leads rescues via initiatives like the February 2025 national child welfare effort; collaborates with state task forces. Report tips at 1-866-347-2423.

- NGOs like Save the Children and International Rescue Committee: Offer legal aid, family reunification, and anti-trafficking education at the border.

To locate a specific child, start with NCMEC or the Hotline; for policy advocacy, contact congressional oversight committees. Post-2025 efforts under the incoming administration include reinstated funding for legal services and stricter sponsor vetting, per March 2025 Federal Register updates. Despite progress, experts emphasize that addressing root causes (e.g., Central American instability) is key to prevention.