1/ If you’re confused about reports that the government lost track of 1,475 migrant children. Here a few facts that should hopefully help.
2/ First, this is distinct from the Trump administration’s plans to prosecute unauthorized border crossers, which leads to parents being prosecuted and families being separated.
3/ The Trump administration announced that it will seek to prosecute everyone who crosses the US-Mexico border without authorization earlier this month. The 1,475 minors in the news right now could not be located between October and December.
4/ When the Office of Refugee Resettlement can’t confirm the location of minors, it means that (sponsors) the people taking care of them could not be reached or did not respond when ORR tried to contact them. In other words, they may not have answered a phone call.
5/ Following-up with sponsors within 30 days of taking responsibility for a minor is voluntary, according to ORR’s policies. hhs.gov/about/news/201…
6/ There are many reasons why sponsors might not have responded. Many sponsors (often the child’s parents) are undocumented and there are very understandable fears related to providing the government information right now.
7/ The fact that a child could not be located does not mean they are in danger. They could still be living with a vetted sponsor or they could have moved in with a relative. They are not what people usually think of as “missing” or “lost.”
8/ But advocates have been concerned for years that ORR does little to keep track of minors it places with sponsors. There have been cases where children end up in dangerous situations and many would like better safeguards for children placed with sponsors.
9/ Concerns about ORR’s lack of follow up will become more important as more parents are separated from their children at the border. This Q&A I did on Friday helps explain why. motherjones.com/politics/2018/…
