Dozens of migrant children reported missing in Houston

Authorities are searching for more than a dozen migrant children that have gone missing in Houston, adding to the number of missing migrant children that have been reported in the city since last year, according to an exclusive report by Reuters.

“Earlier this summer, a Houston police detective alerted the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) after discovering what looked like a pattern of migrant kids missing from the homes of their U.S. sponsors, according to an HHS official, who declined to be identified,” reads the report.

HHS is in charge of overseeing the custody and release of unaccompanied minors that have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border on their own.

According to an HHS official and an internal email, the HHS implemented an emergency supervisory review of releases of minors to non-parent sponsors in Houston in August. However, since last year, at least 57 unaccompanied migrant children have been reported as missing in Houston, said sources who were familiar with the situation.

By August 26, 46 of the cases had been confirmed safe, including nine kids who had run away from the HHS shelters. Authorities said they found no evidence of human trafficking.

Authorities found that many of the children that were located are now 18 or older, the report continues. Many of them left the homes of their sponsors to join their parents who had made their way to the United States.

An official from the HHS inspector general’s office said the number of missing children reported in Houston is unprecedented. However, it is unclear if the trend is new or if it was recently uncovered by police.

Houston Police Department announced it is "currently conducting investigations into reports of missing, unaccompanied juveniles." 

Houston is the number one destination for releases of unaccompanied minors. From October 2021 through June 2022, more than 6,300 minors were released into the Houston area.