Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin says 146,000 missing migrant children have been located, while nearly 300,000 remain missing. His comments came the same day the Department of Justice announced three people in Ohio were charged in an alleged scheme
For the third day of sharp promises and new charging decisions, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin stood at a podium and delivered a number that sounded like relief and still left a cliff edge.
Mullin said 146,000 missing migrant children who disappeared under the Biden administration have been located. He also warned that “nearly 300,000” remain missing.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday. Mullin argued the scale of the problem was far bigger before the Trump administration began its push. He said the previous administration allowed “450. 000 kids to go missing throughout this country. ” and added that President Trump has made it a point to go find these kids.
The remarks landed the same day the Department of Justice announced that three people in Ohio have been charged with conspiring to smuggle unaccompanied minors across the U.S. border.
The federal case centers on an alleged international migrant-smuggling scheme that operated between December 2020 and October 2023. In the indictment. the government accused Maritza Azucena Cahuec Coc. 38. and her brother. Carlos Agustin Cahuec Coc. 33. also known as “Tuco. ” of playing roles in the operation.
Prosecutors said the pair submitted multiple fraudulent sponsorship applications to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement to obtain custody of unaccompanied migrant children.
A third defendant. Gladys Marina Caal Chen. 20. was charged separately for allegedly making false statements to the government connected to a sponsorship application for an unaccompanied minor. Prosecutors said Chen had previously been fraudulently sponsored into the United States as an unaccompanied child herself.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche framed the case as part of a broader pattern he said the government is determined to confront. He said the indictment highlights what he described as a wider issue involving so-called “super sponsors” — individuals who take responsibility for three or more unrelated unaccompanied minors. Blanche said many of those children later become victims of labor or sex trafficking.
“We will not accept half measures when it comes to securing the border, protecting American lives and saving children from exploitation,” Blanche told reporters.
Taken together, the administration’s twin focus on locating missing children and charging alleged sponsorship-and-smuggling schemes points to the same pressing question: what happened to children who vanished, and who profited from the gaps.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
missing migrant children Markwayne Mullin Department of Justice Ohio charges migrant smuggling unaccompanied minors Office of Refugee Resettlement fraudulent sponsorship applications super sponsors Todd Blanche