President Trump’s administration now directs its immigration policy against guardians of migrant children, arguing that many of the caregivers are criminals.
By Jesus Garcia
Los Angeles, November 15 (La Opinion).- The agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began an operation against the tutors of migrant childrenaccusing that the government of President Joe Biden He handed them over to “unverified sponsors”.
“Many of the sponsors of these unaccompanied minors are often criminals, including sex traffickers, gang members and abusers,” said the agency, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
ICE’s operation is carried out in conjunction with its state and local partners in the 287(g) program, which facilitates immigration actions on the streets and in prisons, and whose agreements have grown substantially by adding 1,176 agreements this year, that is, 1,020 additional agreements, according to data from the agency itself.
“The secretary [Kristi] Noem is leading efforts to rescue and stop the exploitation of the 450,000 unaccompanied children the Biden administration lost or placed with unverified sponsors,” said DHS Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “Many of the children who crossed the border unaccompanied were placed with sponsors who were human traffickers and sexual exploiters. “The Trump administration has personally located more than 24,400 of these children in the United States, through visits and home visits.”
Sending a minor to the border is not an act of love. You put his life, his future and your family at risk.
Prolonged detention
If the sponsor is undocumented, he or she may be detained and deported.
Risk of losing the opportunity to apply for a visa in the future
If you turn 18… pic.twitter.com/Kf1fpjvBjW— US Embassy in Mexico (@USEmbassyMEX) November 11, 2025
McLaughlin’s figure is close to the more than 26,000 unaccompanied children who are in the custody of or were released from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), who no longer have legal representation in court, after President Trump’s administration decided to terminate a contract that provided legal assistance to children without a parent or guardian.
“We have intensified our efforts to rescue child victims of sex and labor trafficking, working with our state and local law enforcement partners to locate them,” defends DHS. “President Trump and Secretary Noem are fully committed to protecting children and will continue to work with federal, state, and local law enforcement to reunite children with their families.”
The program announced by DHS this Friday is known as the Unaccompanied Minors (MNA) Security Verification Initiative, which began on November 10 in the state of Florida and will be extended to other partners of the 287(g) program throughout the country, that agency confirmed.
“Ensuring the safety of unaccompanied minors who crossed our border requires a comprehensive approach from the government, and collaboration with state and local law enforcement agencies through the 287(g) task force model is essential to achieve this goal,” defended DHS.
To defend its new operation, DHS cited some examples of actions against sponsors, such as in Arizona, where ICE arrested a Guinean who had previously been detained by authorities for aggravated assault.
In Florida, where the program began, ICE arrested a Honduran who had been convicted by authorities of assault, while another Honduran was previously detained for theft, fraud and forgery.
In Georgia, the agency said, a Guatemalan man who had been convicted of domestic violence was arrested; while in Maryland, another Guatemalan who had been previously arrested for rape of an unaccompanied minor was arrested.
Similar cases were reported by ICE in North Carolina, Ohio, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey and New York and Pennsylvania.
Operations against migrant children
President Trump’s immigration strategy against migrant children has different stages, one of which is supported by the so-called “great beautiful law”, the Tax and Budget Act (OBBBA), which increases resources to ICE and places new locks on social programs for children, who will even be pressured for voluntary deportation, with the payment of two thousand 500 dollars.
#ULTIMAHORA | 🇺🇸 |🚨 Outrageous.
ICE chased a mother to an elementary school, where she was aggressively detained in front of her children.
Her little son tried to help her… and was also arrested. 😡
This happened inside a public school, a space that should be… pic.twitter.com/0qWqNxBvOx
— Quesdilla de Verdades Youtube (@QuesaVerdadess) October 27, 2025
“This bill is particularly cruel to children,” says a report from the National Immigration Law Center. “In addition to the lifelong consequences they will suffer in family detention centers built with OBBBA funds, the Act includes several policy measures effective immediately that undermine due process for or harm migrant children.”
An alert is that the Law approves a violation of the Flores Settlement Agreement – from 1997 – to now “explicitly” approve the indefinite detention of families with children.
Additionally, ICE reported the opening of a telephone line to report unaccompanied children, to locate and deport them.