WASHINGTON, DC — Last week the Texas Tribune reported that the Trump Administration may relocate unaccompanied immigrant children to Texas to disrupt their reunification with family in the U.S. and facilitate faster deportations, raising serious concerns about children’s access to due process and legal protections and the risk they will be repatriated to danger. The proposal comes amid a series of actions that have increased the time children spend in government custody, accelerated immigration court proceedings, and disrupted access to legal services that help children navigate a complex immigration system.
In response, Gladis Molina Alt, Executive Director for the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights released the following statement:
“No child should be uprooted, shuffled across the country, or rushed through immigration proceedings to serve a political agenda. We are witnessing deliberate efforts to dismantle the protections that Congress and the courts created for children who arrive at the U.S. without a parent, or those who are separated from their families during ICE enforcement. Relocating unaccompanied children to expedite deportations would treat vulnerable young people as obstacles to be removed rather than as children whose rights and well-being must be safeguarded. We are deeply concerned with any effort to limit children’s access to legal support or undermine their ability to exercise their right to seek protection. A government committed to protecting children would invest in independent legal services, family reunification, and due process, not policies that make it easier to deport children before they have a meaningful chance to present their cases under existing policies.”
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The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights is a non-profit organization that protects and advances the rights and best interests of immigrant children and advocates for an immigration system that treats children as children first.
