Government offices are known for long hold times and frustrating phone trees. Anyone who has called the DMV knows this all too well. But when you’re a child in danger, you expect someone to pick up the phone.

Imagine being scared, alone, and calling for help – only to get no answer. This isn’t a horror movie plot. It’s what happened to thousands of migrant children under President Biden’s watch, while officials who were supposed to protect them seemingly looked the other way.

A shocking revelation came to light during a recent House Committee on Homeland Security hearing held on July 16, 2025. From August 2023 to January 2025, the Biden administration failed to answer a staggering 65,000 calls to a hotline they themselves created for migrant children to report safety concerns about their sponsors.

From ‘The Post Millennial’:

During a hearing held this week by the House Committee on Homeland Security, lawmakers were told that a hotline utilized by the Biden administration to report safety concerns regarding unaccompanied migrant children failed to respond to 65,000 calls between August 2023 and January 2025. ..

“What this administration found was from August 2023 to January of 2025, 65,000 calls went unanswered. Those calls spanned from complaints about stale bread all the way to being abused.”

Ali Hopper, founder and president of GUARD Against Trafficking, testified at the hearing. She explained that these weren’t just routine check-ins. Many were desperate pleas for help from children in danger.

One particularly disturbing case involved a child reporting that adult men were entering his room at night and touching him. That call, like thousands of others, went unanswered. The child remained in danger until the Trump administration took office, reviewed the backlog of calls, and conducted welfare checks. Only then was the child rescued and the sponsor arrested.

Where were Biden’s staff when these children were calling for help? How many kids suffered abuse because government employees were sleeping on the job?

Pet Adoption Has Higher Standards

How could this happen? The same hearing revealed that the Biden administration’s vetting standards for sponsors were shockingly low. Hopper shared a quote from a retired Border Patrol agent that puts things in stark perspective.

“The requirements to adopt a dog that was about to be euthanized were higher than the standards and the documents that needed to be provided for an adult to sponsor a child,” she testified.

This means it was literally easier for a strange adult to take custody of a vulnerable migrant child than to adopt a dog from a shelter. Let that sink in.

System “Hijacked by Criminal Networks”

The hearing focused on the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in what Republican lawmakers described as the “border crisis” under the Biden administration. Hopper didn’t mince words, testifying that both federal agencies and NGOs had been “hijacked by criminal networks.”

The problem extends beyond unanswered calls. Reports circulated late last year that hundreds of thousands of migrant children sent to live with adult sponsors had been lost under the Biden administration. ICE was unable to monitor all children in its system effectively.

How many children suffered abuse because Biden’s staff couldn’t be bothered to answer a phone that they set up specifically for this purpose? How many are still suffering today? This massive failure puts a human face on the border crisis that goes beyond statistics and political talking points.

The Trump administration is now working to locate these children and ensure their safety. But for many, this help comes after months or years of potentially dangerous living situations that could have been prevented with a simple answered phone call.

Key Takeaways

• Biden administration failed to answer 65,000 calls from vulnerable migrant children between 2023-2025.
• One child reporting nighttime abuse remained in danger until the Trump administration finally responded to his call.
• Sponsor vetting standards were lower than requirements for adopting a shelter dog.
• Hundreds of thousands of migrant children were effectively “lost” in the system due to poor oversight.

Sources: The Post Millennial