In 2021, the number of unaccompanied migrant children who arrived to the U.S. and were sent to live with Georgia adults not related to them was 464. It was a stark increase from years prior – and a significant red flag for human trafficking and immigration advocates worried about children’s welfare.
The surge in migrant children living with near-strangers in Georgia and across the country is captured in a data set kept by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the agency in charge of placing unaccompanied minors with adult sponsors. That data set was published at the end of last year by The New York Times.