The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services on Friday terminated a Trump-era information-sharing agreement through which, critics had alleged, the former administration used migrant children as “bait” to arrest illegal immigrants.
The government entities claimed that the accord “had a chilling effect on potential sponsors (usually a parent or close relative) from stepping up to sponsor an unaccompanied child placed in the care of HHS.” HHS and DHS are set to sign a new understanding that “promotes the safe and timely transfer of children.”
In 2018, the two agencies entered into a Memorandum of Agreement that mandated information-sharing on unaccompanied minors taken into both Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection custody. The accord further required that data on the sponsors or guardians of the children would become available to ICE for the first time.
Migrant rights groups, including the National Immigrant Justice Center, at the time insisted that ICE’s access to the information led to “fewer potential sponsors — including parents, legal guardians, and close relatives such as siblings” coming forward or completing “the sponsorship vetting process out of fear that their information will be sent … for immigration enforcement purposes.” The activist group further added that “children” were used “as bait” when sponsors, who were not legal immigrants, were arrested after attempting to claim the solo minors.
A lawsuit was filed in 2019 after a Guatemalan man was arrested by ICE after he submitted his fingerprints to HHS authorities in order to recoup his son, who was unaccompanied at the time.
“The documents demonstrate that this policy is a part of the same strategy as the infamous family separation policy, and that the government knew it would result in fewer sponsors coming forward and children remaining in custody for longer periods of time,” the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote at the time.
MIGRANT CHILDREN IN US CARE FOR OVER A MONTH ON AVERAGE AS BIDEN ADMINISTRATION STRUGGLES WITH SURGE
The announcement is one of the Biden administration’s first major policy moves to attempt to combat the rampant surge of migrants at the southern border. The Democrat’s team has come under fire for its handling of the crisis after authorities estimated that an unprecedented 117,000 solo minors were set to enter the United States by the conclusion of the year.
Further, more than 3,200 children have been moved to holding facilities, which are designed to house adults, under the watch of the CBP. Of the total, 1,400 have remained in custody past the 72-hour limit in small concrete rooms without beds, dubbed “hieleras,” or iceboxes. The number of solo minors in custody is the highest on record.
Administration officials in a Friday call admitted that the situation is an “emergency,” in contrast to statements from DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that likened the surge to a “challenge” rather than a crisis. The average stay for migrant children in U.S. care was 37 days, and the median was 24 days for the month of February, the members of Biden’s orbit said, adding that authorities are unable “to meet the demand” they are faced with.
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“We are not in a place where we’re going to be able to meet the demand that we are seeing,” an official said. “Every day, we are bringing new beds online, but it takes a lot of time, unfortunately, in terms of our licensed care-provider network. We are aggressively adding hundreds of beds by the week to our care provider network.”
