Press Releases

Congressman Glenn Grothman (R-WI), alongside Congressman Lance Gooden (R-TX), reintroduced the Migrant Child Safety Act, legislation aimed at strengthening federal oversight of the unaccompanied migrant child placement process and ensuring children are released only to properly vetted sponsors who can safely care for them. 

The legislation responds to documented failures within the Biden-era Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) that allowed thousands of children to be released without adequate sponsor screening or follow-up, leaving many vulnerable to exploitation, forced labor, and trafficking. The bill establishes clear statutory requirements for sponsor vetting, post-placement follow-up, and coordination with state and local child welfare agencies to ensure child safety remains the priority and builds on President Trump’s improvements to our immigration system. 

The legislation is supported by Eagle Forum. 

“The federal government has a legal and moral responsibility to protect children in its custody, and that responsibility does not end once a child is released to a sponsor,” said Rep. Grothman. “Under the Biden administration, oversight failures within the Office of Refugee Resettlement allowed children to be placed with individuals who were not properly vetted, with little accountability after placement. That is unacceptable. This legislation puts commonsense safeguards into law to ensure we know who children are being placed with, where they are going, and whether they are actually safe, so no child is lost in the system or placed in harm’s way.”  

“Joe Biden lost track of over 300,000 migrant children, creating a historic humanitarian and national security failure,” said Rep. Gooden. “The Migrant Child Safety Act will ensure children are properly vetted, safely placed, and never allowed to fall through the cracks again.”  

Background Information 

Federal law requires the Office of Refugee Resettlement to place unaccompanied migrant children with sponsors capable of ensuring their safety and well-being. Investigations and reporting have found that inadequate vetting and follow-up procedures resulted in thousands of children being released without sufficient oversight. The Migrant Child Safety Act codifies safeguards to ensure child protection remains central to the placement process. 

Specifically, the Migrant Child Safety Act would: 

• Require ORR to collect complete identifying and background information from potential sponsors; 

• Require sponsors to verify a familial relationship to a child through documentation, witness testimony, or DNA testing; 

• Require ORR to report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children if it cannot contact a sponsor for a follow-up or well-being check within 120 days of placement; 

• Require ORR to notify appropriate state or local health or welfare agencies within 30 days of placement; and 

• Direct ORR to attempt to contact a child’s parents prior to placement whenever possible. 

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U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Glenbeulah) proudly serves the people of Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.