Attorney General Skrmetti Joins 22-State Coalition Demanding Answers on 85,000 Missing Unaccompanied Minors

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti sent a letter, along with 21 other Attorneys General, demanding Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra, and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray address a recent report issued by the HHS Office of Inspector General. The report found that tens of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children in the custody of the federal government were being released into unsafe situations, including into human trafficking.

“Our porous border puts vulnerable kids at risk,” Attorney General Skrmetti said in a statement. “Overlooked in the ongoing immigration crisis are children who are either recruited by human traffickers prior to crossing the border or exploited after their arrival. When I was a young prosecutor, I saw first-hand the evils inflicted on innocent girls lured into this country by traffickers. This cannot keep happening. The federal government’s open border policies need to end, and we must all work together to find these children and ensure they are safe.”

In the letter, the Attorneys General expressed concern over the Administration’s recent revelation that it cannot locate 85,000 migrant children for which it is responsible. The letter cites a February 2023 New York Times report that states many of these children have been forced into laboring for debilitating hours under dangerous conditions, often in violation of child-labor laws and resulting in grave injury and death. Others, the letter notes, are being sex trafficked.

The Times investigation revealed that the federal government knowingly allowed these unaccompanied minors into the country and released them out of the federal government’s custody without conducting proper vetting and safety checks and in fact, “regularly ignored obvious signs of labor exploitation." In a report issued this month, HHS’ Office of Inspector General admitted that more than one-third of children's case files were flagged with safety concerns. Now, the Attorney Generals are demanding the Administration account for these reports in writing by May 1, 2024.

General Skrmetti previously worked at the Civil Rights Division at Main Justice and then at the Memphis U.S. Attorney's Office where he successfully prosecuted sex traffickers among other nefarious actors. As Tennessee’s Attorney General, General Skrmetti has made stopping human trafficking a top priority. He has also taken action to keep Tennessee safe by suing the Administration overs its open border policies and refusal to provide information on the bussing of illegal aliens into The Volunteer State.

Attorneys General from the following states joined General Skrmetti in sending the letter: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.

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