Unaccompanied Alien Children And Family Detention
Each year, thousands of children from countries around the world arrive in the United States without a parent or guardian and are taken into custody by the Department of Homeland Security’s border patrol officers. In FY06, more than 7,000 children entered the United States and were detained. Many of these children were fleeing armed conflict and human rights abuses, including forced military recruitment, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, forced prostitution, child labor, and life as street children. Others were abandoned or abused by their parents or caregivers. These children are particularly vulnerable, as they lack the support of an adult and have often undergone emotional trauma prior and during their flight. Since 2002, the custody and care of these unaccompanied children has been the responsibility of the Office for Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Prior to 2002, the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) handled their care.
While the conditions and treatment of unaccompanied minors have markedly improved since the transfer of their custody to ORR in 2002, problems regarding the treatment of these unaccompanied minors remain.
These concerns stem, in part, from an overwhelming increase in the number of children detained in the United States since the 2002 transfer to ORR. In its first year of operation, ORR had an average of 462 children per month in custody, for an annual total in FY03 of 4,792. In August 2005, over 1,000 unaccompanied alien children were in ORR custody. In FY06, ORR reported that it cared for a record 7,500 children. Unfortunately, ORR has not received an increase in funds commensurate with this growth of children in their care. The lack of sufficient funds needed to carry out its new function has resulted in ORR being overwhelmed with numbers of children, a significant lack of bed space and insufficient attention given to monitoring the conditions of custody.
Learn more about medical treatment in detention facilities.
Please click here to learn more about the Women’s Commission’s concerns about unaccompanied children and their families.