Young Center Fact Checks Vice Presidential Debate Claims About Immigrant Children

WASHINGTON, D.C.— On Wednesday, the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights released the following fact check sheet in response to comments made during last night's Vice-Presidential Debate: 

CLAIM: “320,000 children that the department of homeland security that DHS has effectively lost. Some of them have been sex trafficked, some of them are hopefully with their families, some of them have been used for drug trafficking.” 

FACT CHECK: In August 2024, the Department of Homeland Security released a report stating that 32,000 migrant children did not appear for their scheduled immigration court hearings between 2019 and 2023. The report also indicated that DHS failed to file notices of court dates for an additional 291,000 migrant children who had not yet had their hearings as of May 2024. The report did not find that the children were “effectively lost,” victims of sex trafficking or being used as drug mules.  

As an organization who works directly with unaccompanied and separated immigrant children and youth, we know that narratives aimed to criminalize migration, and the implementation of restrictive immigration and border policies that do not allow for children and their families to migrate safely together, only make them more vulnerable to exploitation and harm along their journey’s. Immigrant children are children. Not political pawns: period. They deserve safety, freedom from detention and to be with their families and communities. 

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The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights is a non-profit organization that protects and advances the rights and best interests of immigrant children and advocates for an immigration system that treats children as children first.