The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a Management Alert on August 19, 2024, identifying serious issues in ICE’s monitoring of unaccompanied migrant children (UCs). From 2019 to 2023, ICE transferred over 448,000 UCs to HHS but failed to track many who missed their immigration court dates, with more than 32,000 UCs missing their hearings. ICE also did not consistently notify HHS when UCs missed court and did not issue Notices to Appear (NTAs) for over 291,000 UCs.
The memorandum requests ICE take immediate action. It asks ICE to develop automated systems for better information sharing and to implement formal policies to ensure follow-up on UCs who miss court dates.
Hellbound and Down 