From the Editorial Staff

The newspaper La Jornada
Wednesday, August 21, 2024, p. 27

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has not been able to track all unaccompanied minors released from government custody.

More than 32,000 children have failed to appear for immigration court hearings over the past five years, and ICE does not know where they are, the Department of Homeland Security said in an interim report submitted to Congress this week, ABC News reported yesterday.

By law, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is responsible for the care of unaccompanied migrant children, so after U.S. authorities take them into custody, it is up to ICE to ensure their timely and safe transfer to HHS, which in turn places them in shelters or in the homes of qualified sponsors.

Without the ability to monitor the location and status of minors, ICE has no guarantee that they are safe from trafficking, exploitation or forced labor, Inspector General Joseph Cuffari said in his interim report.

He urged ICE to take immediate steps to ensure the safety of unaccompanied minors residing in the United States.

The report is part of a broader audit of ICE’s ability to track children who have been released or transferred from U.S. custody after entering the country.

According to the report, between 2019 and 2023, immigration officials transferred more than 448,000 unaccompanied children from ICE custody to HHS.