The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it has located 146,000 unaccompanied migrant children who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border during the Biden administration and were subsequently transferred to sponsors, but added that approximately 300,000 children remain missing.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Homeland Security Secretary Mark O'Malley announced at a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington that the number of missing children located has increased from about 22,000 last summer.

"We have found 146,000 kids so far. That's 146,000. We still have nearly 300,000 kids who are missing," O'Malley said.

He added, "Some of these children have alleged that they have been raped 600, 700 times or more. Who are you? If you can't support law enforcement on the pursuit of these children, then who are you?"

O'Malley claimed that hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied minors were released under the Biden administration without proper follow-up due to poor oversight.

"As we begin to dig into these cases and hear about the truly horrific things that have occurred under the Biden administration, it has become clear that it is at least neglect of duty, and in the worst cases, a crime, that has resulted in 450,000 children going missing across the country," O'Malley said.

According to government officials, over 500,000 unaccompanied migrant children entered the United States without parents or guardians during the Biden administration, crossing the southern border.

These children were placed under the care of the Department of Health and Human Services and subsequently transferred to sponsors within the United States.

The Trump administration has prioritized locating these children, with federal agencies working to confirm their whereabouts and ensure their safety.

Officials did not provide further details on how the children were located on Thursday or the current status of efforts to find those still missing.

Government records show that in 2021, a record high of 147,000 unaccompanied minors crossed the U.S.-Mexico border alone.

The Biden administration has recently been working to locate and ensure the safety of minors who were handed over to temporary sponsors without adequate vetting, investigating potential criminal involvement by labor and sex trafficking organizations.

In this process, fraudulent sponsors and trafficking organizations have been identified, and those involved have been prosecuted.

US NNP=Hong Seong-gu Chief Editor / Special Contribution from this paper NNP info@newsandpost.com