Wyden Demands End to Trump’s Unlawful and Cruel Moves Against Unaccompanied Immigrant Children

Wyden Demands End to Trump's Unlawful and Cruel Moves Against Unaccompanied Immigrant Children

Despite Concerns Over Trafficking and Coercion, Trump Has Empowered Customs and Border Protection to Expedite Deportation of Minors

Text of the Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today called on the Trump administration to end an unlawful practice that pressures unaccompanied children to leave the country voluntarily, amid concerns that such a policy increases the risk of trafficking and abuse.

"CBP's new policy coerces children into leaving the country without receiving the protection they need and are entitled to under the law," Wyden wrote. "The Trump administration has displayed a shocking eagerness to exploit vulnerable children in service of its mass deportation agenda, as demonstrated through this legally and morally unsupportable new policy. I am writing to demand CBP terminate this policy."

The letter, sent to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Rodney Scott, spotlights a new practice by the Trump administration that risks the safety of unaccompanied children entering the country. Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), most unaccompanied children must be turned over to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), a child welfare agency, within 72 hours of entering federal custody. This step is critical to ensure the children are not sent back to dangerous conditions or placed at risk of trafficking. Instead, CBP has reportedly issued a new policy under which it may offer all children 14 years and older the option to self-deport instead of being turned over to ORR, circumventing legal procedures required under the TVPRA.

By coercing unaccompanied children to leave the country voluntarily instead of through the removal procedures required by the TVPRA, often without legal representation or access to translation services, CBP is exploiting these children's extreme vulnerability to advance Trump's inhumane and cruel immigration agenda.

The full letter can be found here.