Relatives of Undocumented Children Caught Up in ICE Dragnet

In a shift from how it operated during the Obama administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is cracking down on relatives who let undocumented kids stay with them after entering the U.S.

Edwin, a Kansas City resident, recently received a call from immigration officials. They had apprehended his nephew at the southern border and wanted to release the teen into his care. In response, Edwin purchased a bed online. Shortly thereafter, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detective knocked on his door and presented him with a letter, accusing him of three federal crimes: conspiracy, visa fraud and human smuggling. 

This incident is part of a larger crackdown by ICE on guardians who are suspected of paying human smugglers. Over the course of two months this summer, more than 400 people were arrested in connection with this policy. Some of those affected admit to paying “coyotes” to reunite them with their young children, while others are simply collateral damage. 

Claude Arnold, a former ICE Homeland Security Investigations special agent, believes the policy is effective in deterring people from sponsoring undocumented relatives. “The message is getting out: Don’t sponsor someone if you’re here illegally, or you’re going to get in trouble,” he said. 

Edwin, who has been living in the U.S. for more than 15 years, claims he never paid anyone to help his nephew cross the border. He has been in the country legally since emigrating from El Salvador to Missouri in 2001 and has kept a clean criminal record. Despite his compliance with the law, he still risks deportation for agreeing to take in his nephew. However, he says he had no choice but to welcome his sister’s son.

Edwin, a guardian of his nephew Wilbur, spoke of his responsibility to take him in. Wilbur had been living in Kansas City with Temporary Protected Status as a child, but his parents had taken him back to El Salvador when he was 6. This spring, Wilbur decided to return to the U.S. due to feeling threatened by gangs. He travelled across Guatemala, through Mexico by pickup truck, and then crossed into Texas in the back of a tractor trailer a month before his 18th birthday. He was detained by U.S. officials shortly after. 

Under the Obama administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was instructed not to go after people who came forward to claim relatives, even if they were in the U.S. illegally. This policy has been reversed under the Trump administration, with then-Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly stating in a February memo that it is especially important to go after people “directly or indirectly” involved in smuggling, as the journey north can be so dangerous for children.

Approximately 90 percent of minors detained at the southern border are eventually turned over to a family member. This system is intended to spare the state from having to take care of children, and allow young people to live in normal homes while their visa and asylum claims work through the courts.

Edwin, a resident of the United States with protected status, was bewildered when an immigration detective showed up at his door one morning in July. He was further confused when he received a letter instructing him to come to ICE headquarters the following week to talk about crimes related to smuggling. 

In recent months, more than 400 people have been arrested as part of an ICE enforcement surge, with the great majority of those 400 charged with immigration violations, not smuggling-related crimes. This has included cases of cousins and half-siblings swept up in the crackdown. 

In Tennessee, two ICE agents came with pistols and flak jackets to arrest a mother who hid in her trailer home. The mother said she had no idea her 16-year-old daughter was coming from Honduras. In New Mexico, a couple living in the state fled after ICE agents turned up asking about a nephew they had recently taken in. 

In response to the change in approach, a group of Democratic members of Congress asked ICE in July for specifics, including the protocol for deciding which sponsors would be targeted, but have yet to receive any answers. 

Edwin is currently ignoring his summons. He said that when he failed to appear at ICE headquarters, an agent responded by going to the dry cleaner where he works to review his employment verification papers. It is clear that the government is changing the way it operates, leaving many feeling unsafe. As Edwin said, “I’ve been here more than a decade and I’ve never had a single problem with the authorities. Now, it’s like the government is changing everything around. Now, everything is dangerous.” Despite the desires for family reunification, or conditions in other countries, the smuggling or trafficking of alien children is intolerable, and the US government is taking steps to ensure that this is the case.

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