For more than a decade, unaccompanied children fleeing difficulties went north of Central America and crossed the Mexican border. Many of them have been allowed to stay in the United States, and the government has spared most of them all the weight of the application of immigration.
Under the Trump administration, more of these children find themselves face to face with federal agents.
From New York to Hawaii, the agents showed up unexpectedly in schools, houses and migrant shelters to interview children.
The Trump administration has described these surprise “well-being controls” visits to ensure that children are registered in school and are properly taken care of. But the agents who carry out visits are not social workers or specialists in child protection, nor labor inspectors or absent officers. On the contrary, agents mainly come from internal security surveys, a specialized immigration and customs application unit which fights against smuggling drugs and weapons, cybercrimes and financial crimes.
When the federal agents looking for children have reached the unexpected in two Los Angeles elementary schools last month, they were refused.
“My very first question begins there”, the superintendent of the unified school district of Los Angeles, Alberto Carvalhosaid at a press conference. “What interest should an internal security officer have in a first year student or a second student?” A third student or a fourth year, by the way? ”
Children who arrive in the United States alone have long faced risks and, as they have increased, concerns about their well-being increased. Most minors live safely with family members, but some have fallen work traffickers and other exploitation.
