Ramirez Opens Investigation Into DHS’s Unlawful Operation to Deport Unaccompanied Children
Washington, DC —This week, Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), a member of the Homeland Security Committee, led 22 colleagues in a letter to U.S. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Kristi Noem to demand answers on the Department's deportation of unaccompanied children. The investigation follows reports that the Department of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials are now offering unaccompanied children aged 14 and older the option to “self-deport” rather than transfer them into child-appropriate U.S. shelters, as the bipartisan Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 requires.
Recent reports indicate DHS has a new national operation to encourage and incentivize unaccompanied migrant teenagers to self-deport, a move advocates say risks doing more harm than good if it results in children being sent back to dangerous conditions. The members urge the Trump Administration to immediately reverse course and faithfully implement the bipartisan Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA).
“We have deep concern regarding recent reports that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is summarily returning unaccompanied migrant children to their countries of origin, contrary to longstanding requirements under the bipartisan Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA). Given that we know the Trump Administration has no concern for keeping families together, we expect that DHS’s new policy will deprive children of due process and place them in grave danger of trafficking and other harm,” said the Members.
According to the law, unaccompanied children are required to be placed in child-appropriate U.S. shelters, receive anti-trafficking screening by an attorney, and present their protection claims before U.S. immigration judges.
“DHS claims that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1) authorizes the new procedure of deporting unaccompanied migrant children to their countries of origin, even though it conflicts with the TVPRA. Presumably, the Department is relying on Section 100051(8), which provides funding for the removal of “specified” unaccompanied children. But DHS should read the section in harmony with the TVPRA by honoring the rule of law that protects unaccompanied children who present trafficking or other protection concerns,” the members continued.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization of 2008 provides protections for unaccompanied migrant children who arrive in the U.S., given that they are deemed a vulnerable population.
The letter is signed by U.S. Representatives Henry C. Johnson, Jr (GA-04), Lloyd Doggett (TX-35), Gilbert Ray Cisneros, Jr. (CA-31), Dan Goldman (NY-10), Paul D. Tonko (NY-20), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Al Green (TX-09), Sylvia R. Garcia (TX-29), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07), Jesús G. "Chuy" García (IL-04), Donald S. Beyer Jr. (VA-08), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), James R. Walkinshaw (VA-11), J. Luis Correa (CA-46), Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Summer L. Lee (PA-12), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Diana DeGette (CO-01), Hillary J. Scholten (MI-03).
Read the full letter HERE.