Attorney General Miyares Challenges Biden Administration on Missing Migrant Children  

RICHMOND, Va. – Attorney General Jason Miyares today sent a letter to the White House and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), raising alarms about their policies regarding the tens of thousands of missing migrant children and urging the federal government to work with local governments to ensure their safety and welfare. 

“The missing migrant children are a serious emergency that is being ignored by the federal government. Vulnerable unaccompanied minors are being dropped off in our cities and counties, and local social services and law enforcement agencies have no idea. How can they protect and check in on children they don’t know are there? We must advance federal, state, and local collaboration in the face of this unprecedented, horrifying crisis. No child should experience the uncertainty and vulnerability that these children are facing,” said Attorney General Miyares. 

Currently federal policy does not require the Office of Refugee Resettlement to notify local governments, including local law enforcement and social services, when unaccompanied children are placed in their communities. A recent HHS Office of the Inspector General report found unaccompanied migrant children are being released into unsafe situations, like human trafficking, and as many as 85,000 children are unaccounted for. 

In Virginia, many of these migrant children have gone missing and law enforcement are struggling due to a lack of coordination and information from the federal government. 

Read the full letter here. 

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