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Original Date Announced
July 23, 2025CNN reports that the Office of Refugee Resettlement ("ORR") established new guidelines requiring in-person meetings with potential sponsors before an unaccompanied child ("UAC") may be released. The guidelines state that Federal law enforcement may be present during the meeting "to meet their own mission objectives, which may include interviewing sponsors."
Trump 2.0 [ID #1893]
2025.07.23: Trump administration moves to rapidly deport migrant children, asking teens if they want to leave - CNNSubsequent Trump and Court Action
March 24, 20262026.03.24 Reported: Migrant children detained in Southern California used as ‘bait’ to arrest and deport their parents - LAist
The LAist reports that since summer 2025, the administration has been arresting undocumented immigrants as they try to claim their children from federal custody, thus stranding children in government shelters and foster care. A recent, still sealed, policy document from a federal district-court case in Texas confirms this pattern that attorneys have seen for months. “Operation Guardian Trace,” as the policy is called, requires ICE to conduct in-person interviews with relatives of undocumented children in federal custody, and detain and deport adults who are “illegally present in the United States.” The LAist states that more than 100 parents have been arrested while trying to get their children out of detention since the government instituted the in-person meeting requirements.
View DocumentSubsequent Trump and Court Action
March 24, 20262026.03.24 Reported: ‘They tricked me’: A father was chained after he went to ICE to reunite with his kids - KFF Health News
KFF Health News reports on a Venezuelan man arrested under Operation Guardian Trace while applying to sponsor his two teenage children. He was asked to attend a meeting with ICE to discuss reunification with his children, then detained for three months in an ICE facility before being released by judicial order in March 2026. KFF Health News found that in general ORR coordinates with DHS for ICE to arrest parents seeking custody of their migrant children.
View DocumentCurrent Status
NoneOriginal Trump Policy Status
Status: ReportedTrump Administration Action: Change in PracticeSubject Matter: Enforcement MinorsAssociated or Derivative Policies
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