HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement Identifies Six Types of Fraud in the Biden Administration’s Unaccompanied Alien Children Program

WASHINGTON, D.C. — October 1, 2026 — The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today released a memorandum detailing six documented forms of fraud perpetrated by various parties against the Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) Program during the Biden Administration.

During the assessment, HHS' Office of the General Counsel and ORR identified fraud by actual and potential sponsors, individuals in ORR custody, and individuals in a country of origin. In some cases, sponsors' fraudulent documents or false information contributed to unaccompanied minors being released into unsafe situations, resulting in abuse — and, in rare instances, death.

"The Biden Administration failed in its most basic responsibility: protecting vulnerable children in federal care," said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. "It weakened safeguards and prioritized speed over scrutiny, leaving children exposed to fraud, exploitation, and abuse. Under President Trump, HHS is restoring rigorous oversight, verifying who takes custody of these children, and putting their safety first. We will hold this system accountable and never sacrifice a child's safety for bureaucratic convenience."

When an unaccompanied minor arrives at the U.S. southern or northern border, the Department of Homeland Security refers that child to ORR's care. In most cases, ORR is responsible for vetting potential sponsors before releasing a UAC to that individual. From 2021 to 2024 approximately 479,000 UAC were referred to ORR.

With a sharp increase in UAC referrals during the Biden Administration starting in 2021, ORR relaxed certain sponsor vetting policies and expedited the releases of UAC. In Fiscal Year 2024, ORR denied less than 1% of sponsorship applications.

In 2025, at the direction of HHS leadership, OGC conducted a review of ORR Child-Level Event cases that occurred under the previous Administration. ORR's data showed that the average rate of intentional documentation fraud, regardless of the number of children assisted, remained at approximately 77% of reported Child Level Events (CLEs).  ORR received 1,669 CLE reports of fraud between October 1, 2023 and October 31, 2024.  OGC reviewed a subset of these 1,669 reported instances of fraud and, of those reviewed, identified that approximately 85% involved intentional document fraud.

Types of fraud identified were:

• False or fraudulent documentation of identity
• Manipulated photographs
• Misrepresented or unverifiable addresses
• Fingerprint-related fraud
• Failure to disclose household members
• Misrepresentation of age by UAC

The report concludes that intentional documentation fraud perpetrated by some sponsors created conditions that put UAC at risk and, in some instances, released them into dangerous or harmful situations.

In one instance, in August 2023, ORR released a 15-year-old girl to a sponsor who purported to be the UAC's biological brother. ORR did not request fingerprints or DNA to verify the relationship. In October 2023, authorities determined that the sponsor was not related to the UAC and had allegedly raped and impregnated her. The sponsor has been charged by the state, and the case is under investigation.

In another case from July 2024, ORR released a 17-year-old boy to a sponsor who claimed to be the stepsister of the UAC. The purported sponsor presented Venezuelan documents that HHS could not authenticate. In October 2024, the UAC was found dead in the back seat of a car, with his genitalia exposed, along with an unconscious 30-year-old male.

OGC's review concludes that strengthened vetting requirements — such as enhanced identity checks – might have prevented some of these fraudulent practices and reduced risk to children.

More information and the complete HHS ORR memorandum can be found here.