Trump administration identifies more than 500 migrant children for removal from the U.S., senator says

In this 2019 photo, immigrants play soccer at a U.S. government holding center for migrant children in Carrizo Springs, Texas. (Eric Gay/AP via CNN Newsource)

The Trump administration has identified more than 500 unaccompanied migrant children in U.S. government custody to be potentially removed from the country, according to Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden.

The move marks the latest escalation of the Trump administration’s effort to focus on migrant children who arrived at the U.S. southern border alone and are in custody awaiting to be placed with a sponsor, typically a parent or relative, in the United States.

The administration previously tried to repatriate Guatemalan children in government custody who arrived in the United States alone and didn’t have a parent in the country, but that was stopped by a federal judge.

A similar effort appears to be underway now – this time, focusing on children who have been in custody for at least six months and don’t have a relative or guardian in the United States.

“This is a severe institutional failure that places hundreds of vulnerable children in immediate jeopardy, effectively erasing them from the protection of U.S. oversight and thrusting them back into danger,” Wyden said in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“To weaponize the very agency charged with their protection is an unacceptable escalation of executive overreach that undermines our nation’s commitment to due process,” he added. It’s unclear whether all the identified children will be swiftly removed.

The Oregon senator, who serves as ranking member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee which has oversight over the Office of Refugee Resettlement, demanded the immediate suspension of “any screening initiative and planned removal action,” as well as additional information on the effort.

In a statement, an HHS spokesperson said: “Despite this irresponsible fearmongering, there are no plans to target these children. The Biden administration rushed the release of these children without adequate sponsor vetting, leaving thousands vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, and trafficking. The Trump Administration is working to identify the parents or legal guardians of unaccompanied alien children in our care because ensuring every child is placed with a properly vetted sponsor is our top priority.”

ORR, which is housed within HHS, is charged with the care of migrant children who arrive at the U.S. southern border alone. Those children, who are typically fleeing dangerous conditions at home, are often trying to reunite or be placed with a parent, relative or guardian already in the United States.

The children on the list described by Wyden are categorized as having no sponsor in the U.S. and were “mainly placed in long-term foster care with ORR providers” nationwide. They’ve all been in custody for at least 180 days.

As of May, there was an average of 1,816 unaccompanied children in ORR custody, according to U.S. federal data. The majority are from Central America.

It’s unclear how old the children are and what immigration process the administration plans to use to remove the children. Trump administration officials had previously described the attempt to remove Guatemalan children as repatriations, citing co-ordination and requests from the Guatemalan government.

“The attempt is to have children back with their families and parents, not to be put into the United States with unverified sponsors or sponsors who are not lawfully present,” a former senior HHS official told CNN, referring to family in their home countries.

Over recent months, ORR has been identifying minors in custody who could be potentially removed from the United States, unless they are seeking certain protections, according to the former senior HHS official.

Immigrant advocates and attorneys who work with migrant children have raised alarm over kids being sent back to the very conditions they were fleeing. They argue that returning kids to their home country is not always in their best interest.

Unaccompanied migrant children go through immigration proceedings to determine whether they have relief available to them in the U.S., given conditions at home. According to Wyden, a majority of the more than 500 identified minors have legal counsel in their immigration proceedings.

“This administration has repeatedly proven that it does not have the best interests of children in mind. While we don’t yet know precisely what they plan to do, we do know that they are willing to act callously and lawlessly when it comes to this deeply vulnerable population of children,” said Neha Desai, managing director of Children’s Human Rights & Dignity at the National Center for Youth Law, in a statement.

Last year, the administration’s attempt to send Guatemalan children in custody back to their home country prompted a scramble among attorneys who said kids were woken up in the middle of the night. At the time, 76 children were prepared for repatriation, placed on planes for departure then abruptly returned to U.S. custody after a federal judge’s order temporarily blocked their removals.

The administration argued that it had co-ordinated with the Guatemalan government and that the children had been requested to return by their parents or legal guardians. Court declarations filed in the case revealed that some of the parents had not requested their return and had been provided last-minute notice.

“The new information I obtained leads me to believe that the Department is laying the groundwork for another lawless deportation effort, this time on a greater scale, across more countries of origin,” Wyden said.

By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN