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Original Date Announced
February 14, 2025NPR reports multiple ICE officers have been granted access to information in the Office of Refugee Resettlement's (ORR) unaccompanied minors (UAC) database. Although ICE juvenile coordinators have always had access to ORR's UAC database, additional ICE personnel, not "trained in laws and regulations related to unaccompanied alien children," have now been granted access. This change occurs just as ORR published new guidance requiring fingerprinting for all adult sponsors and adult household members prior to release of a minor.
The acting director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement said the new policy was necessary "to build a culture of child safety and accountability." Advocates say they fear the administration will use the database for immigration enforcement against families who take in UACs.
A Memorandum of Agreement for information sharing between DHS and ORR was in place during the first Trump administration, but was terminated and replaced during the Biden administration.
Trump 2.0 [ID #1544]
2025.02.14 - NPR: ICE officers granted access to unaccompanied minors databaseEffective Date
February 14, 2025Subsequent Trump and Court Action(s)
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March 25, 2025
2025.03.25 DHS OIG - ICE Cannot Effectively Monitor Location and Status of Unaccompanied Children
DHS' Office of Inspector General published a report finding that ICE cannot effectively monitor the location and status of all unaccompanied children once released or transferred from DHS and HHS custody. The report states that 31,000 children released from HHS custody between 2019 and 2023 had missing or incomplete release addresses in their records; as of January 2025, 233,000 children had not been served with NTAs; and as of October 2024, 43,000 children who had been served NTAs failed to appear at their immigration court hearings. Additionally, the report states ICE received insufficient information about children's "status and safety."
The report contains four recommendations aimed at improving ICE’s ability to monitor unaccompanied children: (1) review and revise information-sharing agreements between ICE and HHS; (2) develop and implement a process to review ICE system data and identify inaccurate or incomplete data; (3) develop and implement a plan to address the backlog of unserved Notices to Appear for unaccompanied children; and (4) update existing guidance to clarify how ICE ERO officers should elevate concerns regarding the safety or circumstances of unaccompanied children.
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April 12, 2025
2025.04.12 Reported: Immigration agents turned away after trying to enter LA elementary schools - Independent
The Independent reports that DHS officers attempted welfare checks on five immigrant children at two elementary schools in Los Angeles, California. DHS stated that agents “were at these schools conducting wellness checks on children who arrived unaccompanied at the border. This had nothing to do with immigration enforcement.” Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said the officers falsely claimed they had parental authorization to contact the children; school officials at the schools told ICE they would need a court order or a warrant.
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Current Status
NoneOriginal Trump Policy Status
Status: ReportedTrump Administration Action: Change in PracticeAssociated or Derivative Policies
- April 13, 2018 DHS agrees that HHS will share information about unaccompanied children, sponsors, and household members
- May 15, 2018 HHS proposes expanded background checks and information sharing for sponsors (and adult members of their household) of unaccompanied children
- September 21, 2018 Report that ICE arrests sponsors of unaccompanied minors
- February 14, 2025 Office of Refugee Resettlement requires fingerprints/background checks of sponsors, household members, and caregivers of unaccompanied children
Pre Trump-Era Policies
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March 11, 2021
DHS (ICE and CBP) and HHS (Office of Refugee Resettlement, ORR) execute Memorandum of Agreement that terminates and replaces a April 13, 2018, Memorandum of Agreement between the agencies that called for significant information sharing. The 2021 agreement provided for limited information sharing between the parties, but eliminated the requirement that ORR provide ICE with information regarding potential sponsors and adult members of the potential sponsor's household.
2021.03.11 Memorandum of Agreement Among HHS and DHS -
April 30, 2024
HHS enacts a final rule implementing provisions from the 1997 Flores Settlement Agreement regarding placement, care, and services provided to unaccompanied children in custody of ORR. Section 410.1201 of the final rule mandates that ORR "shall not collect information on immigration status of potential sponsors for law enforcement or immigration enforcement related purposes. ORR shall not share any immigration status information relating to potential sponsors with any law enforcement or immigration enforcement related entity at any time."
2024.04.30 Unaccompanied Children Program Foundational Rule (45 C.F.R. Part 410)
Documents
Trump-Era Policy Documents
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Commentary
2025.02.20 - Letter from Senator Ron Wyden to ORR Acting Director Harper Switzer - US Senate Committee on Finance
In a letter to ORR Acting Director Harper Switzer, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore. expressed concerns that "information sharing between ORR and ICE will compromise the care of children and deter timely family reunification and sponsorship of unaccompanied children." He also raised his concern about Switzer overseeing the information exchange as "Acting Director of ORR while on temporary detail from ICE, retaining [her] position as ICE Enforcement Removal Operations Field Office Director."
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