US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told a congressional panel on 26 June that his department was intensifying efforts to locate 450,000 migrant children who reportedly went unaccounted for after being released to sponsors under the previous administration. Testifying before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, Mullin said authorities had so far traced 147,000 of those children.

DHS Calls It Top Priority

Mullin described the search as the Department of Homeland Security's foremost operational priority, calling the situation both preventable and deeply troubling. 'This is probably one of the most disgusting and disturbing things that we've dealt with,' he told lawmakers. 'It is my biggest passion that I have.'

He was careful to note that not every child traced had been found in danger. 'Some of them were where they were supposed to be. They were with a family member and they appeared to be doing OK. But we've had some horrific cases,' he said.

Trafficking Rings and Abuse Uncovered

Mullin told the subcommittee that investigations had exposed trafficking networks in which migrant children were subjected to severe abuse. He cited one case — which he said had received some media coverage — involving 'a ring of several adults that were keeping kids in an underground bunker in a dungeon.' He also described cases of young girls who had allegedly been repeatedly sexually abused after falling into the hands of traffickers. 'You can't make a horror story that bad,' he said.

Authorities are also reportedly seeing a rise in boys becoming trafficking victims, alongside a separate pattern of elderly people being exploited by criminal organisations, according to Mullin.

A Larger Task Force in the Works

DHS is establishing a larger dedicated task force to continue the search. 'It is our mission... to go and find all 450,000 kids,' Mullin said, adding that the situation was '100 percent preventable.' Congressman Juan Ciscomani of Arizona echoed the concern, calling the children 'the biggest victims here.'

Political Tensions in the Hearing Room

The testimony grew contentious when Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut raised the Trump administration's family separation policy from its first term. Mullin countered by redirecting attention to the unaccounted children from the previous administration's tenure, prompting repeated interventions from the committee chairman as the exchange escalated.

Human trafficking along migration routes linking Central America, Mexico, and the United States remains a central focus of federal law enforcement. Combating trafficking has been a stated priority across successive US administrations, though they have differed sharply on border enforcement and immigration policy — with the welfare of migrant children remaining among the most politically charged flashpoints in the ongoing debate.