Stephen Miller is directing a multi-agency White House effort to accelerate the removal of undocumented migrant children from the United States, with nearly 200,000 children ordered deported since President Donald Trump returned to office, according to an investigation by The Guardian.
The White House deputy chief of staff has drawn on at least five cabinet-level departments to expand and speed removals, according to current and former officials cited by the newspaper.
The effort includes greater coordination among immigration enforcement, immigration courts and the federal agency responsible for caring for unaccompanied children. Removal orders increased from 7,366 in January 2025 to more than 16,000 a month in June and July 2026. Seventy percent of children ordered removed were under 13.
The administration says the measures are intended to protect children from trafficking and exploitation. "We are ensuring these children are reunited with their parents and families in their home countries," White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told The Guardian. Critics contend that child-welfare protections are increasingly being incorporated into immigration enforcement.
Among the changes, ICE officers have been present at some appointments involving prospective sponsors, asylum cases have been accelerated, and more than 20,000 unaccompanied children lost federally funded legal representation. Sources also described increased sharing of information between the Office of Refugee Resettlement and immigration authorities.
Those developments follow a nationwide initiative in which armed federal agents and deputized local police visit homes and schools to verify the welfare of children who previously crossed the border alone. DHS describes the visits as safety checks, while advocates say they can expose children and their sponsors to immigration enforcement. Federal data reviewed by Reuters showed that information about children and their households contributed to more than 12,000 arrests.
Access to legal representation for migrant children has also emerged as an issue. Children as young as one have appeared in immigration proceedings without an attorney actively representing them after federal funding for legal services was reduced.
The Guardian reported that more than 1,800 migrant children remain in federal custody. Critics say tighter sponsor requirements and fear of ICE have prolonged detention, while the administration maintains that additional scrutiny is necessary to prevent children from being released to potentially abusive or exploitative sponsors.
