Center on Immigration & Child Welfare

7-Year-Old Migrant Girl Taken into Border Patrol Custody Dies of Dehydration, Exhaustion

Nick Mirof, The Washington Post (December 13, 2018)

A 7-year-old girl from Guatemala died of dehydration and shock after she was taken into Border Patrol custody last week for crossing from Mexico into the United States illegally with her father and a large group of migrants along a remote span of New Mexico desert, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Thursday.

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Almost 15,000 Migrant Children Now Held At Nearly Full Shelters

John Burnett, NPR (December 13, 2018)

The number of immigrant children being held in government custody has reached almost 15,000, putting a network of federally contracted shelters across the country near capacity.

After Photos Emerge of Using Tear Gas on Child Migrants, Top U.S. Border Official Defends Use

Molly O’Toole, Los Angeles Times (December 11, 2018)

The head of the federal agency responsible for protecting the U.S. border on Tuesday defended his agents for using tear gas against migrants last month, but lawmakers pressed him about women and children forced to flee clouds of the noxious gas.

ICE Arrested 170 Immigrants Seeking to Sponsor Migrant Children

Daniella Silva, NBC News (December 11, 2018)

Federal authorities have arrested 170 immigrants who came forward seeking to sponsor migrant children in government custody, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said.

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A Court Ruling May Allow Migrant Families to Be Held Indefinitely. These Families Know What That Could Be Like.

Teo Armus, The Texas Tribune (December 10, 2018)

Migrant children are not supposed to be detained for more than 20 days in unlicensed facilities. Texas may be able to license two family detention centers, in Dilley and Karnes County, after an appeals court ruling last week.

Feds Say Kids Don’t Need Lawyers in Immigration Court

Nicholas Iovino, Courthouse News Service (December 10, 2018)

Having a lawyer makes a big difference, especially for unaccompanied minors, according data compiled by Syracuse University. As of 2014, 73 percent of unaccompanied minors with attorneys were allowed to stay in the United States compared with 15 percent of those without representation.

Migrant Family Apprehensions Along the Border Continue to Rise in November

Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News (December 9, 2018)

For a fourth consecutive month, the number of migrant families apprehended by U.S. authorities for illegally crossing into the country from Mexico reached a record high for the Trump administration.

Whistleblowers Warn Of Harmful Conditions For Children In Migrant Detention Centers

NPR (December 8, 2018)

Physicians Scott Allen and Pamela McPherson discuss the abuses they witnessed in government detention centers when they inspected the facilities for the Department of Homeland Security.