During the Democratic National Convention, former President Barack Obama emphasized the importance of securing the border while keeping families together, contrasting his approach with the Trump administration's policies that led to separating children from their parents.
However, the Trump War Room, representing former President Trump's 2024 campaign, pointed out a recent report by the Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General. The report revealed that as of May 2024, over 291,000 unaccompanied migrant children who crossed the border illegally were unaccounted for under Border Czar Kamala's oversight.
The report highlighted that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had not issued notices to appear for these children, meaning they did not have scheduled immigration court dates. Over the span of fiscal years 2019 to 2023, ICE transferred more than 448,000 unaccompanied migrant children who crossed the border illegally.
Despite these transfers, ICE was unable to track the whereabouts of all released unaccompanied migrant children who were under the care of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and who failed to appear in immigration court as required.
In his speech at the DNC, Obama also criticized Trump for obstructing a bipartisan immigration bill proposed by Senators Lankford, Sinema, and Murphy. Obama argued that Trump's actions, driven by political motives, hindered progress on securing the southern border and addressing immigration challenges.
