WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration is seeking to grant U.S. immigration officers access to a database that contains information on immigrant minors who crossed into the United States without their parents, the Washington Post quoted White House border czar Tom Homan as saying on Friday.
While noting that the information would mainly be used to ensure the children were safe, Homan said he would not rule out the use of the data for enforcement purposes in the future.
“This is about finding the kids. The data won’t be used for enforcement work,” Homan said in an interview with the newspaper.
During U.S. President Donald Trump’s first administration, the Office of Refugee Resettlement began to share identifying information about unaccompanied migrant minors and their potential sponsors with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for use for arrest and deportation. The policy was later stopped by Congress.
The ORR at the Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for unaccompanied migrant children who enter the U.S. The ORR identifies and screens potential sponsors for children, according to the agency, which said most sponsors are a parent or close family members living in the U.S.
Approximately 64% of the unaccompanied migrant children referred to ORR in fiscal year 2024 were over 14 years old, according to the agency’s website.
Homan could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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