©️UNICEF
Washington, 24 July 2025.- The government is putting in place a new policy to speed up the expulsion of unaccompanied migrant minors, asking them if they wish to leave the United States voluntarily. This measure, which mainly affects young people between the ages of 14 and 17 from countries other than Mexico and Canada, is a cause for serious concern among child rights defenders.
The Trump administration decided to take a new step in its migration policy by allowing federal agents to offer unaccompanied minors aged 14 to 17 to leave the United States voluntarily. This measure now applies to children from countries outside Mexico and Canada, breaking with a practice previously reserved for nationals of these two border nations.
Until now, children arriving alone in the United States have generally been entrusted to the Department of Health (HHS), which provides care and placement with relatives or foster families. Now, if they agree to leave, young people will be returned directly to immigration and customs enforcement for prompt deportation. in case of non-intervention of ice within 72 hours, they will be transferred to hhs.
According to the Department of Internal Security, this approach would result from an extension of a practice enshrined in the Protection of Victims of Trafficking Act, 2022 (tvpra). However, experts in child rights report a serious drift. « a child cannot understand the implications of self-expulsion without the help of a lawyer « , alert neha desai, from the national center for youth law. She accuses the administration of using children as « pions » in a policy of mass expulsion.
This initiative is part of a broader context of migration tightening. The authorities have strengthened controls over foster families, increased referrals to courts and limited legal services to migrant children. A strategy qualified as « progressive dismantling » protections introduced by federal law, according to several experts.
Despite the justifications put forward, this new directive raises serious questions about respect for the fundamental rights of migrant children. While the latter are considered to be a particularly vulnerable population, the lack of legal and psychological support in such a decision highlights the human consequences of an increasingly aggressive migration policy.
W.E.
