Attorneys Mobilize to Challenge Prolonged Detention of Unaccompanied Migrant Children

An alliance of more than 50 law firms, nonprofit legal groups and university clinics has launched the Children’s Due Process Project. Pro-bono attorneys are filing writs of habeas corpus for each of roughly 1,900 unaccompanied children who, according to government data, were in federal custody across the United States at the end of August. The same data show an average stay of 183 days—about six months—despite many children having family members in the country ready to act as sponsors. By the end of July, at least 65 children had been held by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) for more than a year, according to researchers at the immigration-data platform bklg.org. Lawyers argue that the petitions force officials to justify continued detention or release the children to their sponsors.

The Guardian

During Donald Trump’s second term, new restrictions limited the ability of sponsors—often undocumented relatives—to obtain custody. The administration also defunded existing attorneys for these children last month and scheduled accelerated immigration hearings that aim to remove children before they can secure legal protections. ORR has increased “safety vetting” of sponsors, citing investigations that criminal smuggling networks are involved in every unaccompanied-minor entry. Critics say these measures have turned ORR shelters into de-facto detention centers where children have limited contact with the outside world.

The Guardian

Legal advocates contend that federal custody gives the government “more access to them” and creates conditions that can cause psychological trauma. Judges hearing the habeas petitions have begun questioning why children are not placed with waiting family members.

The Guardian

• “There’s just attempts from every single angle to harm the children that are in federal custody. And I think because they’re in federal custody, the government has more access to them,” — Beth Baltimore

The Guardian