When federal immigration authorities catch unaccompanied minors entering the country illegally, the authorities are required to follow certain steps based on the idea that the children should be well-cared for while the government figures out what to do with them.
When federal immigration authorities catch unaccompanied minors entering the country illegally, the authorities are required to follow certain steps based on the idea that the children should be well-cared for while the government figures out what to do with them. But a recent Senate report suggests the government has failed some of these children in troubling ways.
Under federal law, when immigration officials detain an unaccompanied minor, they must transfer the child to the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services, which then tries to place him or her with a sponsor while the immigration case proceeds. More than half eventually go to live with a parent, and most of the others go to a member of the extended family. But some are released to a distant relative or family friend whom a parent vouched for, and that is where the breakdown occurs, according to a report by a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee.
In one egregious case, six people were indicted for allegedly forcing workers who were in the country illegally — eight of them minors — to work 12-hour shifts six or seven days a week at chicken farms and then turn over their paychecks. The children were told if they refused or tried to escape, their parents would be attacked, and possibly killed. Most appalling: The government handed over the minors after the traffickers fraudulently claimed to be distant relatives or family friends.
How widespread is the problem? It’s impossible to say, because HHS doesn’t track what happens once a minor is placed with a sponsor, a function of the agency’s narrow authority in these cases. …
To its credit, HHS expanded background checks to include all adults in a sponsor’s house, established a hotline for minors who need help and required case workers to check on each child 30 days after placement.
But the agency needs to do more, and Congress also should tighten up the vetting requirements and direct HHS to track the children once they are placed with the sponsors.
— Los Angeles Times
