Links to long-form information about U.S. border governance and migration
Published by the New York Times on September 18, 2023.
An exposé of the miserable labor conditions suffered by many underage migrants who work long shifts, often at night, in dangerous conditions in U.S. food processing plants or similar facilities.
Finds that operational challenges within the Office of Refugee Resettlement “hindered case management” at an emergency site at Fort Bliss, Texas in 2021, “which may have adversely affected unaccompanied children’s safety and well-being.” (Original link)
Published by Reveal News on June 22, 2022.
Data show that migrant children in the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s system of contractor-run emergency shelters suffered severe mental health challenges.
Published by Politico Magazine on June 16, 2022.
Newly obtained data show that more than 650,000 children and teenagers were held in CBP custody between February 2017 and June 2021, including at least 220,000 who spent more than 72 hours in custody.
Updating and clarifying the 1997 Flores judicial settlement agreement specifying conditions of children held in CBP custody.
Published by the Los Angeles Times on May 13, 2022.
“Patriots for America,” a conservative Christian militia, is intercepting migrant children in mid-Texas while Border Patrol and local authorities look on.
Published by the New York Times on May 9, 2022.
An alarming story of far-right activists waiting by the borderline in Arizona and intercepting unaccompanied migrant children.
Published by the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law on April 11, 2022.
A series of legal complaints details cases of physical and verbal abuse of children in CBP custody.
Published by the Government Accountability Project on April 5, 2022.
Government whistleblowers voice alarm about conditions for unaccompanied migrant children being held at Office of Refugee Resettlement facilities, especially a site at Fort Bliss, Texas.
Published by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector-General on March 31, 2022.
Finds that the Federal Emergency Management Agency fulfilled its duties when assisting CBP and the Office of Refugee Resettlement during a 2021 increase in unaccompanied child migration. (Link at oig.dhs.gov)
Published by Bethesda Magazine on March 28, 2022.
Profiles Central American children who arrived at the border unaccompanied and are now trying to adjust to life and school in Montgomery County, in suburban Washington, DC.
Published by WOLA on March 23, 2021.
An explanation of Mexico’s growing asylum system, obstacles to protection in Mexico, and how the United States can help.
Published by the Department of Homeland Security Inspector-General on September 28, 2020.
Looks at how CBP misspent much of $192 million that Congress had appropriated to attend to the humanitarian needs of migrants in custody. (Link at oig.dhs.gov)
Published by CNN on September 3, 2020.
Details ICE’s practice of holding migrant families and children under contractors’ custody in border-town hotels before expelling them under measures put in place due to COVID-19.
Published by ProPublica on August 4, 2020.
Over 3,000 unaccompanied children have been summarily expelled back to Mexico or Central America, with no way even to track what’s happened to them. Some first spend days in hotels guarded by unlicensed contractors.
Published by the Migration Policy Institute on July 31, 2020.
Catalogues more than 400 administrative changes to the U.S. border security and immigration regime during the Trump administration, and what it might take to undo them.
Published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office on July 15, 2020.
Finds serious fault with CBP’s handling of the health of children in custody and its use of funds designated by Congress for humanitarian purposes. (Link at gao.gov)
Published by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune on May 18, 2020.
Under cover of COVID-19 response, the Trump administration has been moving aggressively to deport unaccompanied children who are already in the system—in addition to those already being expelled at the border.
Published by several organizations on May 15, 2020.
A memo explaining how, even in a public health emergency, U.S. border authorities c0uld be attending to asylum seekers and unaccompanied children instead of expelling them.
Published by Human Rights First on May 13, 2020.
A current overview of how the Trump administration’s COVID-19 response, including blanket expulsions of asylum-seeking Mexicans and Central Americans, including unaccompanied children, is worsening the humanitarian situation along the border.
Published by Just Security on April 13, 2020.
A thorough legal analysis, by Lucas Guttentag of Stanford University, of the Trump administration’s use of an old quarantine statute to shut down the right to seek asylum at the border.
Published by ACLU San Diego and Imperial Counties and ACLU Border Rights on February 18, 2020.
A complaint to the DHS Inspector-General raises recent allegations of mistreatment of sick migrant children in CBP and Border Patrol custody.
