This comprehensive resource addresses key questions about unaccompanied immigrant children, from migration risks and policy frameworks to the agencies responsible for housing, processing, and determining the legal status of these children.
This study finds that immigrant families with little direct knowledge of the U.S. child welfare system still hold strong beliefs about it, shaped by media and community narratives, highlighting the need for culturally responsive, multilingual outreach from child welfare agencies and immigrant-serving organizations.
This piece reviews how immigration enforcement during the 2nd Trump administration is driving a quieter wave of family separations inside the U.S., with fewer reunification resources and a blurring of child protection and immigration enforcement.
This guide helps immigrant youth build coping skills, prepare for unexpected situations, and connect to support resources during a time of heightened fear and uncertainty around immigration enforcement.
This guide helps parents and caregivers talk with children about immigration enforcement, with conversation tips, family preparedness strategies, and self-care practices to help children feel safer and less alone.
Following the Supreme Court’s June rejection of his first attempt, President Trump has issued new executive orders seeking to restrict birthright citizenship with modifications intended to account for the ruling, though legal challenges are expected.
At least 60 children have been held at the Dilley detention center for 100 days or more, far exceeding the legal 20-day limit, with average stays peaking at 47 days during a six-month period last year.
The Trump administration is erecting new procedural barriers to residency and asylum for undocumented children, including restricting court delays for children awaiting visas and narrowing the definition of who qualifies as an unaccompanied minor.
The Trump administration’s legal services contract for roughly 24,000 unaccompanied minors has lapsed, leaving children without guaranteed representation—though the Florence Project says it will continue as long as possible.
A Nashville mother seeking asylum was detained by immigration agents and transported to a Louisiana detention center following a welfare check prompted by an unfounded child abuse report.
The Trump administration has detained and deported more than 66,000 parents and children since taking office, and advocates warn that parents are being pressured to abandon their legal claims in order to secure their children’s release.
The federal contract funding legal representation for more than 20,000 unaccompanied immigrant children expired July 31, ending support for nearly 100 nonprofit legal service providers.
The Trump administration has scrapped plans to use military lawyers to replace the nonprofit legal defenders whose contracts it terminated, leaving unaccompanied migrant children facing deportation without a clear path to legal representation.
A federal judge struck down the Trump administration’s suspension of visa processing for nationals of 75 countries, ruling that Secretary of State Rubio exceeded his authority and that the policy violated the Immigration and Nationality Act.
The Trump administration has taken a series of actions specifically targeting immigrant children, including expanding surveillance of unaccompanied minors, undermining legal representation, and prolonging detention.
This Migration Policy Institute interactive data tool offers 2024 state-by-state immigration profiles covering demographics, language and education, workforce, and income and poverty statistics.
This report documents that over 400 of the more than 1,200 immigration enforcement incidents examined across eight states involved agent misconduct during Trump’s second term, and offers recommendations for reform of a broken system.
This piece examines how the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict immigrant access to benefits and services extend far beyond typical welfare programs to affect lawfully residing immigrants and citizen family members alike.
This policy position affirms that unaccompanied and separated children are entitled to free, qualified legal representation alongside a guardian in all proceedings affecting them, in line with UN Committee on the Rights of the Child guidance.
These tables compare the legalization provisions of new immigration relief bills introduced primarily in the 119th Congress.
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