The number of unaccompanied alien children sent to Alabama by the federal government declined significantly at the start of President Donald Trump’s second term compared to that of former President Joe Biden.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, when a child who is not accompanied by a parent or legal guardian is apprehended by immigration authorities, the child is transferred to the care and custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Federal law requires that ORR feed, shelter, and provide medical care for unaccompanied alien children until it is able to release them to sponsors (usually family members), while they await immigration proceedings. These sponsors live in many states.
The most unaccompanied alien children sent to Alabama in one year under Biden was fiscal year 2022, with 2,377 minors sent.
According to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), 8,058 unaccompanied alien children were sent to Alabama during Biden’s term from 2021 to 2024. That total averages to about 2,015 unaccompanied children sent to the state per year during Biden’s tenure.
ORR states that only 434 unaccompanied alien children were sent to Alabama in fiscal year 2025 at the start of Trump’s second term. Fiscal years for the federal government run from October 1 to September 30. The fiscal year 2025 total is the second-lowest amount of unaccompanied alien children sent to Alabama since 2016. 2020 is still the record for the least amount of unaccompanied alien children sent to Alabama, with 247. However, 2026 is on track to break that record with only three unaccompanied minors being placed in Alabama after two months into the new fiscal year.
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