Roundtable Wrap Up: Biden Administration Turned a Blind Eye to Immigration Crisis
WASHINGTON—Yesterday, the Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement held a roundtable titled “Catch and Release, Lose and Forget: Addressing the Crisis of Unaccompanied Alien Children—Part II.” This roundtable followed a July 23, 2025 hearing where members of the Subcommittee reviewed how, during the Biden Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could not effectively monitor the location and status of hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied alien children released from the custody of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). During the roundtable, members brought public attention to the ongoing crisis of unaccompanied alien children in the United States and highlighted efforts the Trump Administration is taking to locate these missing children. Democrats failed to show up at all to conduct critical oversight of this humanitarian crisis.
Key Takeaways:
The Biden Border Crisis created a humanitarian crisis that left roughly 300,000 unaccompanied alien children (UACs) without proper legal oversight and vulnerable to exploitation.
- Chris Clem, retired Chief Patrol Agent at U.S. Border Patrol, stated that “[Under] the Biden Administration, the UACs were not served their charging documents for up to 120 days after they were sponsored, which made every case a cold case when we went to follow up… The Biden-Harris Administration pushed for increased processing capacity to reduce time in border patrol custody. DNA testing was only done if we suspected fraud, and because of the overwhelming numbers, it seldom happened for adults and UACs were never DNA tested.”
- Julio Rosas, a field reporter for MostlyPeaceful.media, noted that “While the participants in [migrant] caravans have said they are simply going to other parts of Mexico in search of better job opportunities, it is not a coincidence they are trying to reach cities that are close to the U.S.-Mexico border, such as Monterrey and Tijuana. When asked if they would like to enter the United States at some point, say, when President Trump leaves office, the migrants said yes, they are willing to wait until our next presidential election for the chance to have an easier time to cross illegally into the United States.”
Investigations by federal agency inspectors general, as well as research and eyewitness reports by professionals on the border, reveal the devastating legacy of the Biden Administration’s immigration policies.
- Jarrod Sadulski, PhD, Vice President & Co-Founder of GUARD Against Trafficking, stated that “I’ve observed children cross into the United States. And one particular group, there were children that came over a hill from Mexico. They were cold. They were wet from the elements. They were scared and they were unaccounted or they were unaccompanied. When I asked, I said, ‘well, you’re an American now. Where are you going?’ A little girl, about five years old, held up a piece of paper and said that ‘the bad man gave me this piece of paper to request to be with.’ I think she said her ‘new daddy.’ But referring to her sponsor. This is consistent with cartel operations because that’s exactly what they’re saying. In prison. When the border was open, they exploited it. They exploited it with hundreds of thousands of children, many of which came through that process.”
- Mr. Rosas also stated that “During the Biden-Harris border crisis, I saw children anywhere from five, six, or seven years old arriving without their parents on a nightly basis. They would often tell me their parents were in their home country and were supposedly traveling to a family member in the United States. Now, I had no way to verify if that was true or not, but what was disturbing to see in the aftermath was that [the Department of] Health and Human Services, headed by Xavier Becerra, decided it was better to not verify because the process took too long, and they wanted children out of federal care as quickly as possible due to the number of minors arriving on a daily basis. The Biden-Harris Administration prioritized avoiding bad optics over the well-being of these children who came to our country.”
The Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement is conducting a comprehensive congressional review of this crisis to protect vulnerable children and restore accountability to our immigration system.
- Dr. Sadulski also emphasized that “Criminal organizations identify these vulnerable children, exploit weaknesses in our government systems, and move to exploit children through labor trafficking, sexual exploitation, fraudulent sponsorships and criminal enterprises. Opening the border opened up this business for them. Congress has the opportunity to strengthen post-placement oversight, continue to improve sponsor verification, and hold accountable. Hold employers accountable. When labor trafficking of children occurs, the most successful investigations occur when local, state and federal partners work together. Protecting children requires timely intelligence, coordinated investigations, and decisive action. Criminal organizations collaborate every day. Protecting these children requires that we do as well.”
Member Highlights:
Subcommittee Chairman Clay Higgins (R-La.) blasted Democrats for refusing to show up to the roundtable and for not caring about the thousands of unaccompanied alien children who are still missing in the United States. He also inquired as to the rough estimate of missing children.
Subcommittee Chairman Higgins: “We certainly care about these kids. They came into our country through horrible open border policies they’ve been through. God only knows what type of trauma and what they’ve suffered. And I just want to point out for the for the country and for the historical record that Democrats have boycotted this hearing, I would certainly [have recognized] them for questioning and we would engage. This, as a roundtable, is designed to provide Congress with honest, candid information whereby we can perform our legislative duties and service to we the people. And clearly our Democrat colleagues don’t actually care about these scores of thousands of tender age children that yet remain lost in our country. And I’ll direct that question at you, Dr. Sadulski, how many tender age kids, the 14, 15, 16, 17-year-olds. Let’s say that they’re from a reasonable man’s perspective, old enough to handle some of their own business. Let’s talk about the tender age kids. How many do you believe are still unaccounted for, lost in our country?”
Dr. Sadulski: “It’s difficult to know the exact number. And if we knew the exact number, we would be horrified. And we would also be horrified at the young age. There are babies that have been dropped at the border unattended. There have been children that we’ve come across case after case after case that are being trafficked. One location in, I believe it was Houston received over 40 cases in one apartment complex.”
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) asked which areas of the country UACs are being found, and Chris Clem testified how many are being found in sanctuary jurisdictions that shield criminal illegal aliens from enforcement.
Rep. Perry: “…So, what kind of locations are you encountering these unaccompanied minors now, other than the ones that you’re trying to track down, but where are you just finding them? What kind of places? What’s happening at those places and what places in the country, like what cities? North, south, where?”
Mr. Clem: “Well, as far as the geography there, it’s all over the country. I mean, the main cities, as we mentioned earlier, a lot of these sanctuary cities are magnets for criminal activity. So therefore, birds of a feather are going to are going to, you know, stick together that way. We’re, we’re finding a lot of these kids are not in school.”
[…]
Mr. Clem: “The left wants to protest [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]. ICE is finding the people that are smuggling, that are trafficking, that are abusing these kids. That is why we have to have that cooperation, not just at the federal level, but at the state and local level. And so, it just infuriates me when I hear local leaders, whether it’s mayors or governors, sit there and push back against what ICE is doing because they are actually making people safer and saving lives.”
Rep. Perry: “So would you say that the sanctuary jurisdictions––and I have some in the district that I represent––are essentially sanctioning child abuse, child trafficking, child slave labor, child sex trafficking? Is that tantamount to the same thing?”
Mr. Clem: “Yeah, absolutely. Because in their minds, the optics [are] ‘we’re protecting that group.’ You’re actually allowing the criminal element to thrive when you do not enforce the law.”
Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) inquired about the Sinaloa Cartel’s involvement in trafficking and cataloging migrant children for the purposes of abuse and exploitation.
Rep. Crane: “What was [Pedro Flores’s] affiliation with the cartels?”
Dr. Sadulski: “He was in charge of distribution of illicit narcotics in the United States.”
Rep. Crane: “Okay. You said that he told you about a booklet that the cartel had that listed these kids, almost like a Sears catalog with price tags for purchase. Is that correct?”
Dr. Sadulski: “That is correct.”
Rep. Crane: “Did he say how many kids were in these booklets?”
Dr. Sadulski: “He said ‘many,’ but did not provide a number.”
Rep. Crane: “Did you say in your opening statement that their prices were higher if they were virgins of a certain age?”
Dr. Sadulski: “That is correct.”
Rep. Crane: “Do you think that maybe some of the testimony like that is why there are no Democrats in this room today?”
Dr. Sadulski: “Absolutely.”
Click here to watch the roundtable.