‘Where did 300,000 children go?’: YouTuber Nick Shirley targets US NGOs over alleged trafficking network

YouTuber Nick Shirley has accused several US non-governmental organizations (NGOs) of being involved in the trafficking of more than 300,000 children across the country. In a new investigative video, the YouTuber claimed that these groups received millions of dollars in government funding while children went missing from the system. He also questioned what happened to children who crossed the US border in recent years. Shirley called the alleged operation the "largest government-funded human trafficking ring in history." However, his claims have not been independently established.Nick Shirley Questions Where Thousands of Migrant Children Went After Entering the USIn a post on X, YouTuber Shirley shared his allegations and pointed to the amount of public money he believes went to the organizations involved."Your tax dollars trafficked over 300,000 children across the United States while NGOs enriched themselves with millions of dollars," he wrote.He also claimed that one organization received around $895 million to move children across the country, while others received more than $100 million. However, he did not establish in his post that these payments were used for human trafficking.In the video, Shirley spoke about a 17-year-old girl who reportedly crossed the US border illegally in 2023. He questioned what had happened to children who entered the country during those years and why their current whereabouts were unclear.He also interviewed a woman who was introduced as a former contract specialist at the US General Services Administration (GSA). She said the children were meant to be placed with sponsors. However, the discussion raised questions about who those sponsors were and what information was available about the children after their release.Shirley then approached several officials to ask about the children. According to the footage, the people he questioned said they did not know where the children were.One organization he named was VisionQuest, a Tucson-based group that provides services to children and families. Shirley questioned its staff about the government funding it had received and tried to get answers about its work. However, he did not receive a response from the employees he approached.Federal records do confirm that VisionQuest received government funding. According to the US government's USAspending website, the organization had a grant worth around $16.8 million for services under the Unaccompanied Alien Children Program between May 2023 and October 2026. This funding record does not establish Shirley's allegation of human trafficking.Nick Shirley Visits More NGOs After Making Claims About Missing ChildrenVisionQuest was not the only organization Shirley approached. He also visited the Jewish Family & Children's Service of Southern Arizona and asked its staff about children who had crossed the border between 2021 and 2024.One employee did not provide the information he was seeking and said someone would contact him later. Shirley then visited another organization and asked similar questions. The footage showed staff members unable to give him details about the children's whereabouts.The video has brought attention to the way the US government tracks and places unaccompanied migrant children with sponsors. However, questions about record-keeping and the movement of children do not by themselves prove that NGOs were involved in trafficking.This is not the first time Shirley has faced attention over claims involving government-funded organizations. In December 2025, he released a video accusing several Somali-run childcare centers in Minnesota of receiving public money without providing proper daycare services.According to NPR, his video led to fresh scrutiny of the centers and prompted state and federal officials to look into the allegations. However, the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families said in January 2026 that nine centers it checked were operating as expected. CBS News also reported that its review found no recorded evidence of fraud at the centers it examined.President Donald Trump later praised Shirley for his Minnesota daycare video, according to CBS News. His latest investigation now raises a different set of questions about federal funding and the care of migrant children. The allegations against the NGOs, however, still need independent evidence and official findings.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.