WASHINGTON (US) – The Donald Trump administration has expelled 8,800 unaccompanied migrant children intercepted at the border with Mexico since March 20 based on regulations that seek to curb the spread of the pandemic, according to court documents filed by the Justice Department on Friday.
The administration brought in new border regulations on March 21 after scrapping the decades-old norms under the law to shield kids from child trafficking and provide them a chance to seek asylum in a US immigration court. According to the administration, the new regulations were implemented to curb the spread of the pandemic.
Since then, officials have been removing migrants, including unaccompanied minors, without following standard immigration proceedings.
The president has adopted a hard stance towards immigration, both legal and illegal, ever since he assumed office.
Meanwhile, immigration advocates argue that the new laws place children at grave risk. They say the federal government has been detaining them for days or sometimes weeks in hotels under the care of unlicensed contractors.
According to attorneys, the personal information of migrant children is not stored in the computer system making it impossible to track them.