Every Child Deserves
To Be Found
The DOJ confirmed it: 475,000 children were trafficked to the US under Biden. 300,000 are still missing. The Sinaloa Cartel grew from $2 billion to $32 billion a year. We are using AI to find every single one of them and bring them home.
January 20, 2021.
The Day the Border Opened.
On his first day in office, President Biden signed a series of executive orders that effectively dismantled the border enforcement framework that had been in place — ending the Migrant Protection Protocols, halting border wall construction, and reversing the "Remain in Mexico" policy. Within weeks, the southern border experienced an unprecedented surge. Within months, tens of thousands of unaccompanied children were in federal custody — and thousands more were never accounted for at all.
"DOJ: More than 475,000 children trafficked to US under Biden — 300,000 unaccounted for"
Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche dropped bombshell data describing Trump administration efforts to find hundreds of thousands of missing unaccompanied alien children (UACs). UACs are minors trafficked to the U.S. border and smuggled into the country under the guise of reuniting with family. In reality, many have been trafficked through a complex network run by transnational criminal organizations.
Real screenshots of government documents, congressional letters, and published news investigations. Click any image to view full size.
"DOJ: More than 475,000 children trafficked to US under Biden — 300,000 unaccounted for"
Acting AG Todd Blanche confirmed the figures at a DOJ press conference. The Trump administration has located 146,000 children. 15,000 illegal sponsor cases will be prosecuted.
Read Full Article
The Numbers the Government Confirmed
Official DOJ data presented by Acting AG Todd Blanche documenting the full scale of the unaccompanied alien children crisis under the Biden administration.
"448,000+ Children Transferred to HHS — 291,000 Never Received a Notice to Appear"
Congressman Cloud demanded answers from ICE about the fate of hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied children transferred out of federal custody with no court dates, no follow-up, and no accountability.
"32,000 Children Failed to Appear for Court Dates — Whereabouts Unknown"
The full congressional letter citing DHS Inspector General data. Of 448,000+ children transferred from ICE to HHS, 291,000 never received a Notice to Appear in immigration court, and 32,000 who did receive notices failed to show up.
All documents above are authentic screenshots of public government records, congressional correspondence, and published news investigations. Click any image to view full size.
Day One Executive Orders — What Changed Immediately
Ended the "Remain in Mexico" (MPP) policy — migrants no longer had to wait in Mexico while asylum claims were processed. Tens of thousands immediately began crossing.
Halted all border wall construction. Existing contracts were cancelled. Gaps in the physical barrier remained open along hundreds of miles of the southern border.
Directed agencies to "create a humane asylum system" — interpreted by cartels and smugglers as a green light. Smuggling prices doubled overnight.
Ended the policy of immediately returning unaccompanied minors. Children who crossed alone were taken into HHS custody — a system that quickly became overwhelmed and unable to track placements.
Source: The New York Times reported in February 2021 that border crossings had reached a 15-year high within weeks of the new policies taking effect. The Associated Press documented that the HHS shelter system was at 729% capacity by March 2021, with children sleeping on floors in overcrowded facilities.
475,000 Children Trafficked. 300,000 Still Missing.
The Department of Justice confirmed in June 2026 that more than 475,000 children were trafficked to the United States under the Biden administration — and that 300,000 of them remain unaccounted for. These are not estimates. These are DOJ figures presented by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche at a press conference documenting the full scale of the crisis.
These children — called Unaccompanied Alien Children (UACs) — were trafficked to the US border and smuggled into the country under the guise of reuniting with family. In reality, the DOJ confirmed, many were moved through a complex network run by transnational criminal organizations including the Sinaloa Cartel. They were placed with sponsors who were never properly vetted — and thousands of those sponsors were themselves traffickers.
Since January 2025, the Trump administration has located 146,000 of the missing children through Operation Metro Surge and other DHS-led welfare check operations. Border Czar Tom Homan confirmed the figure publicly. The DOJ has announced it will prosecute 15,000 illegal sponsor cases — adults who took custody of these children and exploited them.
That still leaves more than 300,000 children unaccounted for. They are somewhere in America — or they were moved back across the border. We are searching for every single one of them.
The Cartel Windfall: $2 Billion to $32 Billion
Before January 2021, the Sinaloa Cartel and other Mexican criminal organizations earned an estimated $500 million to $2 billion per year from human smuggling operations. The price to cross the border illegally ranged from $3,000 to $8,000 per person — and the volume was manageable under the enforcement framework in place.
After the Biden administration's Day One policy reversals, demand for smuggling services exploded. Cartels immediately recognized that the US government had effectively outsourced border control to them. Prices surged to $8,000–$15,000 per adult and $3,000–$6,000 per child — with children often sent alone because families couldn't afford to pay for everyone.
By 2023, the DEA and multiple congressional investigations estimated that the Sinaloa Cartel alone had grown its human smuggling revenue to $13–$32 billion annually — a 1,500% increase in under three years. Human trafficking had surpassed drug trafficking as the cartel's primary revenue source.
Every single person who crossed the border illegally paid the cartel. There was no other way in. The cartel controlled every crossing point, every route, every safe house. Families who couldn't pay in cash paid in labor — or in their children.
Reuters (2023): "Mexican cartels have transformed human smuggling into a sophisticated, billion-dollar industry that now rivals — and in some corridors surpasses — drug trafficking as their primary revenue stream."
The Mothers Are Missing Too
The crisis is not only about children. Thousands of mothers — women who crossed the border with their children or sent their children ahead — have also disappeared. Many were trafficked by the same cartels that took their children.
The cartel business model is ruthless: families who couldn't pay the full smuggling fee upfront were told their debt would be "worked off" after crossing. Women were forced into domestic servitude, sex trafficking, or labor camps. Children were separated from their mothers and used as leverage to ensure compliance.
The Polaris Project, which operates the National Human Trafficking Hotline, reported a 42% increase in trafficking cases involving Central American women and girls between 2021 and 2023 — the largest single surge in the organization's history.
Many of these women are now held in stash houses across Texas, Arizona, California, and Florida — or have been moved deeper into the country. Their children are somewhere else entirely. We are looking for both.
Polaris Project (2023): "The surge at the southern border has created a trafficking crisis unlike anything we have seen in two decades of operating the National Human Trafficking Hotline."
Our Pledge: We Will Find Every Child We Can
We will not stop. Not for one child. Not for one mother. Not until every family has answers.
Every Child Gets a Profile
Every missing child submitted to our system gets a full public profile — their face, their story, their personality, their age progression. We make them real to the world so the world can find them.
Every Mother Matters
We are expanding our search to include mothers and adult women who went missing during the border crisis. If a mother is missing, we want to know. Submit a report for her too.
AI Never Stops Searching
Our AI runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week — scanning, matching, alerting. While the world sleeps, our systems are watching the digital border for every face we have been asked to find.
We Are the Digital Search Party
Guardians Of The Digital Border is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded to address one of the most urgent humanitarian crises in American history — the disappearance of thousands of children during the US border crisis.
From January 20, 2021 through January 20, 2025, open border policies led to an unprecedented surge of unaccompanied minors entering the United States — many of whom were lost, trafficked, or remain unaccounted for. We are building the technology and networks to find them.
Three Pillars of Action
Technology & Apps
Building advanced mobile apps and databases that connect families, law enforcement, and volunteers in real time.
Digital Outreach
Amplifying missing child cases across social media, websites, and digital networks to maximize exposure.
Field Support
Coordinating with boots-on-the-ground volunteers and partner organizations to conduct physical searches.
The Digital Border Is Where
AI Finds Your Child
Our name says it all — we are Guardians Of The Digital Border. That border is the vast, invisible network of data, cameras, social platforms, and digital records where missing children leave traces. Our AI is trained to find those traces and follow them home.
A Face Never Forgotten
When a parent submits a report, our AI immediately begins scanning publicly available images across social media, news sources, and digital platforms — comparing every face against the child's photo using deep-learning facial recognition trained on millions of images.
Even as children age, our age-progression AI models what they look like today — adjusting for years passed, likely changes in hair, weight, and facial structure — so the search never goes cold.
Every match generates an alert. Every alert is reviewed by our team and, when credible, forwarded to law enforcement and the family immediately.
Digital Footprint Tracking
AI maps every digital trace a child may leave — phone pings, app activity, social media check-ins, and location data — to build a real-time trail across the digital border.
Geolocation Intelligence
Machine learning cross-references last known locations with shelter records, school enrollments, and public databases to predict where a child may have traveled.
Pattern Recognition
Our AI analyzes thousands of past cases to identify trafficking patterns, sponsor fraud, and common routes — flagging cases that match high-risk profiles for immediate escalation.
Cross-Border Data Fusion
We aggregate data across US, Mexican, and Central American digital networks — because children don't stop at borders, and neither does our AI.
AI Is Powerful. But It Needs Your Help.
Our AI is only as effective as the data it has. When a parent submits a detailed report — photos, personality, last known location, who the child might contact — the AI has more to work with. More data means more matches. More matches means more children found.
Your Donation Finds Children
Every dollar goes directly toward technology, outreach, and recovery efforts.
Recent News
DOJ: More Than 475,000 Children Trafficked to US Under Biden — 300,000 Unaccounted For
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed the staggering figures. The Trump administration has located 146,000 children and the DOJ plans to prosecute 15,000 illegal sponsor cases.
Read MoreTom Homan: 146,000 Missing Children Located — DHS Welfare Checks Ongoing
Border Czar Tom Homan confirmed that Operation Metro Surge and DHS-led welfare checks have located 146,000 of the children lost under the Biden administration. The search for 300,000 more continues.
Read MoreSenate Report: HHS Lost Contact With Tens of Thousands of Children After Sponsor Placement
A Senate Judiciary Committee investigation confirmed the government lost track of tens of thousands of migrant children placed with unvetted sponsors — many found in labor trafficking situations.
Read MoreJoin the Search
Whether you donate, volunteer, or simply share — every action brings a child closer to home.