Office of Refugee Resettlement

Move aims to protect unaccompanied youths from spreading coronavirus   Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. government has violated its legal obligation to speedily release unaccompanied immigrant children from federal custody and reunify them with relatives or other suitable guardians, a district judge in California ruled late Friday. 

The Trump administration is expected to formally release new regulations Friday that would remove time limits on how long the federal government can detain migrant children. The new rules would end the 1997 Flores agreement which prevents the government from keeping detained minors in immigration custody for more than 20 days, whether they’re with their families or traveling alone.

Changes made to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) website before May 23, 2019, foreshadowed policy changes related to unaccompanied migrant children that were not announced, even to ORR grantees, until May 30, 2019.

A group of California legislators want the state to exercise more oversight over the federal program that handles unaccompanied minors from other countries, including the ones who were separated from their families under Trump’s controversial 2018 policy.

The January report by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reveals a significant lack of oversight by government agencies charged with implementing the draconian plan to separate children to deter asylum-seeking children and families.

The Imprint is highlighting each of the policy recommendations made this summer by the participants of the Foster Youth Internship Program (FYI), a group of 10 former foster youths who have completed congressional internships.

Mainstream media attention has returned to the Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) program, through which the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) takes custody of some kids who arrive at the border without a parent.

On Tuesday, officials in Yolo County, Calif., agreed to keep open a juvenile detention facility for undocumented immigrant youth after a report revealed that many youth there have unmet mental health issues.

A new policy from the federal agency that detains unaccompanied, undocumented children has sparked questions about their ability to obtain fair legal representation.  The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on July 5 that unaccompanied minors may not be held in immigration detention without a bond hearing, but the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is now grappling with how to represent these juveniles in court.