Sorry I forgot to write about this yesterday.
The Office of the Inspector General (OIC) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) found that ICE lost track of 320,000 children.
The data is between 2019-2023 so it happened under Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
“As of May 2024, ICE had not served NTAs [notice to appear] on more than 291,000 UCs [unaccompanied migrant children] who therefore do not yet have an immigration court date,” according to the report.
This is in addition to the 32,000 UCs who did not appear in court from fiscal years 2019 to 2023.
That is 320,000 children since 2019.
These children are “at higher risk for trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor.” This is awful (emphasis mine):
Additionally, even though HHS is responsible for the care and custody of UCs, ICE did not always inform HHS’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) when UCs failed to appear in immigration court after release from HHS’ custody. ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers at only one of the eight field offices we visited stated they attempted to locate the UCs. ICE also did not serve a Notice to Appear (NTA) on all UCs, after release from HHS custody, who warranted placement in removal proceedings under 8 U.S. Code Section 1229(a). As of May 2024, ICE had not served NTAs on more than 291,000 UCs who therefore do not yet have an immigration court date.These issues occurred, in part, because ICE does not have an automated process for sharing information internally between the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) and ERO, and externally with stakeholders, such as HHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ), regarding UCs who do not appear in immigration court. Additionally, ICE ERO has not developed a formal policy or process to follow up on UCs who did not appear in court, has limited oversight for monitoring UCs, and faced resource limitations.ICE must take immediate action to ensure the safety of UCs residing in the United States. Based on our audit work and according to ICE officials, UCs who do not appear for court are considered at higher risk for trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor. Although we identified more than 32,000 UCs who did not appear for their immigration court dates, that number may have been much larger had ICE issued NTAs to the more than 291,000 UCs who were not placed into removal proceedings. By not issuing NTAs to all UCs, ICE limits its chances of having contact with UCs when they are released from HHS’ custody, which reduces opportunities to verify their safety. Without an ability to monitor the location and status of UCs, ICE has no assurance UCs are safe from trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor.
ICE transferred 448,820 UCs to HHS ORR between 2019 and 2023.
The OIC stressed that “ICE retains responsibility for managing their immigration cases.”
The OPLA has to manually update its case management system to show the UC’s absence.
However, ICE didn’t include all UCs who failed to appear in court.
In this day and age, how are these parts not connected? How are there no automatic uploads?
Our immigration system is strained, and people must do updates manually. Are you kidding me?
This part also got me:
Unlike adult migrants, UCs are not required to check in with ERO at any point between their apprehension and court appearance. In some cases, HHS personnel and ERO officers said they never see the UCs before or after HHS releases the UCs to sponsors. OPLA staff may be the only ICE officials UCs ever see in person, and this touchpoint only occurs if the UCs are served NTAs and appear for their hearings.
Um, you would think MINORS would be required to check-in more than adults because they are MINORS.
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