The Trump administration has significantly increased the detention and deportation of unaccompanied immigrant minors in the United States, tripling the rate compared to the final years of Trump's first presidency. This surge follows a rollback of policies that previously provided immigrant minors with access to legal counsel and relief from deportation while their cases were processed.

Immigration courts have issued over 10,000 removal and voluntary departure orders each month for immigrant minors, nearly four times the rate seen during Trump's last term. A first-of-its-kind analysis of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data supports these findings.

One case highlighting the issue is that of 18-year-old Elder Chavez, who was detained at the Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana after being caught driving without a license. Chavez had been granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status after being abandoned as a toddler in Honduras and coming to the U.S. alone at age 14.

Legal experts express concern over the treatment of these minors. Michael Lukens, executive director of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, said, “These children have been through incredibly harrowing and traumatic experiences. And ICE is retraumatizing them.” Olivia Cassin, a former immigration judge, noted that before Trump’s return to office, there was widespread recognition that immigrant minors’ Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) and asylum petitions required time to navigate a backlogged system.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson defended the administration’s approach, stating Trump is “undoing the damage Biden did.” However, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the agency “could not verify the veracity” of ProPublica’s data analysis, which was based on Freedom of Information Act requests and validated by outside experts.

The increase in deportations and detentions of unaccompanied minors raises critical questions about the future of immigration policy and the protection of vulnerable children in the U.S.

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