Trump administration identifies ‘super-sponsors’ of migrant children in a possible prosecution tack
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has identified more than 15,000 cases of adults gaining custody of scores of immigrant children who entered the United States without a parent, officials said Thursday, signaling a potential push to prosecute prolific child sponsors.
The Justice Department highlighted cases against three Guatemalan citizens that they said underscore the dangers of improper vetting of sponsors in a program aimed at reuniting children with relatives or family friends after they enter the United States. Authorities said they are investigating several other so-called super sponsors (individuals who take custody of more than three unrelated children) to determine whether the sponsors fraudulently removed the children.
“We will not accept half-measures when it comes to securing the border, protecting American lives, and saving children from exploitation,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters.
It is not a crime to take custody of more than one immigrant child who is not related to each other. Sponsors may be caring and well-intentioned, but having senior administration officials call them out suggests that officials are suspicious of them and may subject them to deeper scrutiny.
Under the Biden administration, officials have sought to quickly reunite many families by trying to release children to eligible adult sponsors within 30 days. But also the approach made mistakesSome children are handed over to adults who force them to work illegally or to people who clearly provide false identities and addresses.
Under Trump, the administration has tightened rules aimed at preventing smugglers from bringing children into the country illegally, which has also led to a dramatic increase in the length of time in federal detention of children. As of May, children were held in federal custody for an average of 206 days before being released; When Trump took office, this period was 37 days on average. At the same time, the total number of children in custody has gradually decreased.
Striking a balance between returning children to vetted sponsors and protecting them from harm has proven to be a contentious partisan dispute.
“Democrats want to argue that because we are enforcing the law, Republicans are somehow inhumane,” Blanche said after criticizing vetting procedures under the Biden administration. “What is inhumane about taking care of our children?”
The cases announced Thursday include charges against a woman who authorities said was living in the United States illegally, conspired with others to smuggle children across the border and then used fake identities to gain custody of the children in exchange for money. “The only comment I can make is that the case will be heard in court and not at a press conference,” said his attorney, Michael J. Goldberg.
In another case, a woman is accused of falsely claiming to be the sibling of a teenager who entered the United States illegally when she applied to sponsor the teenager.
Critics of the Trump administration have raised concerns about health checks conducted by immigration officials. primary schoolsimmigration officers uncovering and detaining sponsors A “paper barrier” was created in reunification meetings with children and new required documents, and last case.
Shaina Aber, executive director of Acacia Justice Center, provides legal services unaccompanied immigrant children He said that under his contract with the government, the administration did not acknowledge the harm it inflicted on children by “detaining them indefinitely and eroding virtually every avenue for legal assistance.”
Aber added: “If the administration is concerned about the welfare of unaccompanied children, the answer cannot be to alienate them from their loved ones, seek to undermine their agency, and detain them in group facilities with well-documented risks of isolation, abuse, and deterioration of their mental health.”
Even sponsors who wanted to go through the new review procedures had to wait due to unnecessary delays.
The Chicago father, who was a U.S. citizen and had a valid birth certificate for his child, was kept waiting. five months Before the government can make an appointment for fingerprinting. One lawsuit alleged that during the wait, her toddler daughter was sexually abused in federal custody. The government did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the case.
_____
Gonzalez reported from McAllen, Texas.
