Astonishing new data shows that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents did not release a single illegal immigrant into the United States in May 2025, marking a massive decrease from the 62,000 released in May 2024 under former President Biden. Moreover, a fact sheet from Focus on the Family revealed the impact that this dramatic decrease in illegal immigration can have on protecting vulnerable children from human trafficking.
For context, on June 20, 2025, the Christian organization Focus on the Family issued a fact sheet that shows how migrant children may benefit from the crackdown on illegal immigration under President Trump. The organization pointed out that, according to press accounts, migrant children are often horrifically exploited by illegal alien traffickers, who make them work “brutal jobs” once they are taken across the border.
The Focus on the Family report points out that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released “448,000 unaccompanied migrant children into America between 2019 and 2023,” and that these children then had to wait for immigration trials. Moreover, according to the organization, the federal government lost track of “between 7% (32,000) and 65% (291,000) of them,” referencing a 2024 report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Moreover, the 2024 DHS report described the number of unaccounted-for migrant children as “an urgent issue,” adding, “We found ICE cannot always monitor the location and status of unaccompanied
migrant children who are released from DHS and HHS custody.” In addition, DHS reported that the unaccompanied minors who do not appear in court after being released in the United States “are considered at higher risk for trafficking, exploitation and forced labor.”
In addition, Focus on the Family cited a 2022 New York Times article that fiercely critiqued ICE for its apparent mishandling of migrant children. According to the Times, “Migrant smuggling on the U.S. southern border has evolved over the past 10 years from a scattered network of freelance ‘coyotes’ into a multi-billion-dollar international business controlled by organized crime.” Moreover, Focus on the Family clarified that children are put at risk of “being trafficked by crime rings” due to the so-called “coyotes” who exploit the border for monetary gain.
Sadly, Focus on the Family also reported that, according to the New York Times, children who had crossed the border illegally at as young as 12 years old were found “working full-time, dangerous jobs in construction, roofing, commercial laundries, industrial bakeries and slaughterhouses to pay their sponsors and smugglers.” The organization added that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was unable to investigate complaints “because of the overwhelming number of children in its custody.”
Building on its core argument, Focus on the Family noted that CBP agents encountered “just 6,575 unaccompanied migrant children trying to enter the country illegally between February and May 2025,” adding that this statistic showed an 85% decrease from 44,840 at the same time last year. Based on this statistic, the organization argued that “the best thing America can do for these vulnerable kids” is detain them at the southern border to “disincentivize illegal immigration and keep underage detainees in custody where they cannot be preyed upon.”
Featured image credit: Shutterstock