Carlos arrived at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement workplace in New Mexico in December, believing he was one step nearer to reuniting along with his youngsters. By that time, his 14-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter had been in a federal shelter in Texas for almost a yr after crossing the border to be with him.
“I feel like I’m suffocating inside this shelter, trapped with no way out,” Carlos’ son stated, in accordance with one of many teenagers’ attorneys, when requested to explain how he felt after months on the Houston-area facility. “Every day, the same routine. Every day, feeling stuck. It makes me feel hopeless and terrified.”
Throughout each day video calls, Carlos, who had momentary protected standing, urged the siblings to be affected person, to belief the method. Federal officers had vetted Carlos earlier than he could possibly be granted custody and advised him his case was full. He believed he would quickly be again along with his youngsters, who, like him, had sought refuge from political violence in Venezuela.
An immigration officer known as Carlos on a Friday and requested him to attend a gathering at an ICE workplace the next Monday to debate reunification along with his youngsters. As soon as Carlos arrived, officers tried to pressure him to signal paperwork he stated he didn’t perceive. When he refused, they stripped off his garments, seized his ID and belongings, and chained him by the neck, waist, and legs.
“They tricked me,” Carlos stated in a telephone name from an immigration detention middle in El Paso, Texas, the place he was held for a number of months. “They used my children to grab me,” he stated.
In reporting on the household’s story, KFF Well being Information reviewed court docket paperwork, spoke with the household’s immigration attorneys, interviewed Carlos, and reviewed statements from his youngsters, translated from Spanish. Carlos is a pseudonym, getting used on the request of attorneys involved that talking out may jeopardize Carlos’ immigration case or additional delay his reunion along with his household.
Utilizing Kids to Arrest Dad and mom
Since 2003, the Division of Well being and Human Companies’ Workplace of Refugee Resettlement has cared for immigrant youngsters below 18 who arrive within the nation with out their mother and father, typically fleeing violence, abuse, or trafficking. The workplace, which in February had greater than 2,300 youngsters in shelters or with foster households throughout the nation, is meant to promptly launch them to vetted caregivers, sometimes mother and father or different members of the family already residing within the nation.
Congress positioned this accountability with the well being company over 20 years in the past to prioritize the well-being of unaccompanied youngsters and separate their care from immigration enforcement priorities.
Now the second Trump administration is utilizing migrant youngsters held by the resettlement workplace to lure their mother and father, resembling Carlos, whether or not or not they’ve a legal document. A KFF Well being Information investigation discovered the resettlement workplace, headed by a former ICE official, coordinates with the Division of Homeland Safety to arrest folks looking for custody of migrant youngsters.
Arrest paperwork present Homeland Safety Investigations, the arm of the company that usually focuses on organized criminals and traffickers, will interview mother and father or different caregivers then arrest them if they’re within the nation illegally. Earlier than Donald Trump returned to the White Home, the resettlement workplace prohibited knowledge sharing and collaboration with immigration enforcement, and it didn’t deny caregivers custody of youngsters solely due to their immigration standing. These restrictions had been rescinded final yr.
It’s unclear precisely what number of caregivers have been baited into arrest. LAist obtained knowledge indicating greater than 100 have been arrested whereas making an attempt to get their youngsters out of detention, however KFF Well being Information couldn’t independently confirm that quantity with federal companies.
Since February, the Division of Well being and Human Companies, Division of Homeland Safety, and Justice Division haven’t responded to questions on caregiver arrests. Previous to leaving DHS final month, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated the administration protects youngsters from being launched to individuals who shouldn’t look after them. Andrew Nixon, an HHS spokesperson, referred questions associated to immigration enforcement to DHS.
On the identical time, the resettlement workplace has enacted new guidelines that make it more durable for caregivers to achieve custody of unaccompanied youngsters. These embody narrowing the vary of accepted paperwork, requiring fingerprint-based background checks for each grownup within the house and backup caregivers, and requiring in-person appointments to confirm identification paperwork, generally with ICE brokers current. The necessities preserve “children safe from traffickers and other bad, dangerous people,” Nixon stated.
As of January, the company had detained at the least 300 youngsters already positioned with vetted sponsors and requested their caregivers to reapply, in accordance with the Nationwide Middle for Youth Legislation and the Democracy Ahead Basis. The advocacy teams filed a Feb. 23 lawsuit calling these actions “a quieter, new form of family separation.”
Reverse Separation
Dulce, a Guatemalan mom in Virginia, stated her 8-year-old son was despatched to a authorities shelter after he was detained throughout a site visitors cease final summer time whereas visiting members of the family in a special state.
At first, Dulce anticipated to get her son again inside days — she had handed the federal government’s sponsorship necessities in 2024 and was reunited with him three weeks after he first crossed the border. However resettlement company officers requested her to repeat the complete course of and resubmit paperwork, Dulce stated. It took eight months to get him again.
Dulce is a pseudonym getting used at her request as a result of she fears talking out may get her deported.
At one level, Dulce was advised to attend an interview at an ICE workplace to point out her identification as a part of the method of reuniting together with her son. She refused out of concern that she too is perhaps detained, as a result of she doesn’t have authorized standing. She believes ICE brokers visited her house at one level.
“I stopped going home,” Dulce stated. “I lived with some of my friends for days.”
Though she lived simply 45 minutes away, Dulce was allowed to go to her son solely twice a month.
Till lately, most unaccompanied youngsters landed in authorities custody after being detained on the border. However border crossings began to fall in 2024, and the variety of folks coming to the U.S. has dropped precipitously in President Trump’s second time period.
Now, a whole lot of youngsters have been taken to authorities shelters after being swept up contained in the nation, typically throughout immigration raids or site visitors stops, in accordance with the advocates’ lawsuit. Many had been already residing with family members, together with guardians already vetted by the resettlement company.
Releases have grinded almost to a halt. In keeping with the resettlement workplace, youngsters in its custody stayed in authorities shelters or foster look after a median of 1 month in 2024. As of February, that had jumped to greater than half a yr.
When youngsters do get launched, it’s typically solely after their attorneys file a lawsuit in federal court docket difficult their detention as unconstitutional.
Authorities launched Dulce’s son to her in February after the boy’s attorneys filed such a petition. Dulce stated she’s relieved to have him again however nonetheless anxious that ICE may present up at their home.
Immigrants at Danger
Throughout Trump’s first time period, his administration was criticized for shedding observe of youngsters who had been launched from custody. President Joe Biden was blamed for a way his administration processed a surge of unaccompanied youngsters that peaked in 2021 with about 22,000 within the resettlement workplace’s custody. Although most youngsters had been positioned with reputable sponsors, some had been positioned with individuals who hadn’t cleared security checks, placing them vulnerable to exploitation.
The Trump administration says it’s checking on these youngsters’s welfare, and the Justice Division has prosecuted youngster trafficking instances. On March 1, Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem, who is about to depart her position on the finish of the month, touted a multi-agency effort, together with the resettlement workplace, that DHS stated had tracked down 145,000 unaccompanied youngsters who had been positioned with caregivers throughout Biden’s time period.
But inside HHS reviews about that initiative obtained by KFF Well being Information present that just about 11,800 of these migrant youngsters and almost 500 of their caregivers had been arrested as of Jan. 29. Solely 125 of these migrant youngsters and 55 of these caregivers had been arrested for alleged legal exercise, suggesting the bulk had been for immigration violations.
HHS referred questions concerning the figures within the reviews to DHS, which didn’t reply to requests for remark concerning the knowledge. Nonetheless, Michelle Brané, who was a DHS official within the Biden administration, stated the figures present that many of the arrests had been to detain and deport migrants. Beforehand, CNN reported the administration focused mother and father and caregivers who had paid for kids to cross the border, making an attempt to levy smuggling expenses in opposition to them.
“They have really dropped that pretense in a lot of ways, and they are going for anyone openly,” Brané stated. “These numbers clearly reflect that this is not about public safety or about safety of the children.”
Case on Maintain
Carlos left Venezuela in 2022 due to dying threats and, like hundreds of others fleeing that nation, was granted what’s known as momentary protected standing below the Biden administration. That safety was later rescinded for many Venezuelans by the Trump administration.
In January 2025, days earlier than Trump was sworn in for his second time period, Carlos’ youngsters crossed the border from Mexico to the U.S., turned themselves over to frame authorities, and had been instantly positioned within the resettlement company’s custody. Carlos spent months submitting paperwork to reunite with them. He stated he’s their solely mum or dad, as a result of their mom left once they had been toddlers.
Officers visited his house twice and decided he was match to look after them, in accordance with court docket paperwork petitioning for his launch from detention. He handed DNA testing, proving he’s the organic father, one in every of his attorneys stated. His arrest paperwork present he has “no criminal history.” In July, Carlos was advised his reunification case was full and being despatched for approval. However then, with little rationalization, the case was placed on maintain.
Earlier than his arrest by ICE, Carlos stated, he drove 14 hours every manner from his house to go to his youngsters. As soon as there, he may see them for just one hour. When he was in detention, he stated, he spoke to them about each two weeks in fast, monitored telephone calls.
He’s making an attempt to remain hopeful, nevertheless it’s onerous.
In keeping with paperwork accomplished by ICE officers throughout his arrest and submitted in his court docket case, Carlos was arrested below an initiative known as Operation Guardian Hint, which requires immigration officers to detain potential caregivers if they’re within the nation with out authorized authorization and suggest that they be deported.
“This operation is designed to force parents to make an impossible choice between reuniting with their children and seeking safety,” stated one in every of Carlos’ attorneys, Chiqui Sanchez Kennedy of the Galveston-Houston Immigrant Illustration Mission, a nonprofit that helps low-income immigrants.
‘I’m Going to Wait’
In March, a federal decide stated officers had unlawfully detained Carlos and he was launched on bond.
However his youngsters nonetheless face an unsure future for now. Authorities shelters typically lack ample assets, analysis reveals, and social staff say prolonged stays in these services may end up in further trauma.
“Not only is it bad, full stop, but the longer you’re there, the worse it gets,” stated Jonathan Beier, affiliate director of analysis and analysis for the Acacia Middle for Justice’s Unaccompanied Kids Program, which coordinates authorized companies for unaccompanied minors.
Carlos’ youngsters is also despatched again to the nation they fled. Due to his detention, Carlos must redo a lot of the method to reunite with them, in accordance with an legal professional for the youngsters, Alexa Sendukas, additionally with the Galveston-Houston Immigrant Illustration Mission.
In statements shared via Sendukas, Carlos’ daughter stated she not needs to be round others and spends more often than not in her room. His son, now 15, described having panic assaults and feeling that he’s lacking out on life, whether or not it’s the alternatives he longs for — to study English, to review science — or watching basketball along with his household.
“I remember when I first arrived at this shelter, I was so hopeful and had faith that I would be reunited with my dad soon,” he stated.
Carlos’ daughter spent the day crying in mattress when the siblings realized their father had been detained. For days, they didn’t know the place he was. Now, they concern the one manner out is thru adoption or foster care.
“I am afraid,” she stated. “I’m going to wait for my dad forever.”
