us-offers-2-500-to-unaccompanied-minors-being-deported

US President Donald Trump’s administration has reportedly offered US $2500 to unaccompanied migrant children who are ready to leave the US voluntarily, reports citing official documents said.

Officials of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) also confirmed a compensation offer was being made, but did not specify the exact amount.

The move is seen as part of a broader immigration plan by the Trump administration to speed-up deportations.

Earlier in June, the State Department had pumped in $250 million to the DHS for voluntary deportations, with the administration offering another $1,000 stipend to migrants who “self-deported”.

As per the letter sent to shelters on Friday by the DHS Office of Refugee Resettlement, the department will provide a “one-time resettlement support stipend of $2,500” to unaccompanied children aged 14 or older.

 

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Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defence, said, “Unaccompanied children seeking safety in the United States deserve our protection rather than being coerced into agreeing to return to the very conditions that placed their lives and safety at risk.”

As per US law, children who enter the country without a legal guardian are classified as ‘unaccompanied’ and sent to federal government-run shelters until they can be placed with a family member or in foster care.

According to DHS data, there are more than 2,100 children in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Trump administration’s decision may backfire in the coming days, since laws about the safety and welfare of minors are robust in the country and a legal battle has already ensued between the federal authorities and US courts.

Last month, a federal judge had ordered the US administration to refrain from deporting unaccompanied Guatemalan migrant children.

More than 600,000 migrant children have crossed the US-Mexico border without a parent or legal guardian since 2019, as per official stats.