1,488 migrant children "unaccounted for"
This week the U.S. government made known that from April 1 to June 30, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) performed followup calls regarding the 11,254 migrant children released from U.S. government custody and were unable to account for 1,488 of these children. Previously, from October to December, of the 7,635 released migrant children, 1,475 were unaccounted for. The U.S. government through the HHS spokesperson, Caitlin Oakley, clarified that this does not necessarily mean that these children are missing or lost, but rather that their sponsors did not respond to the voluntary followup call or messages.
This finding was made known because a bipartisan group of Senators are seeking to pass legislation that would hold the U.S. government more accountable for released migrant children; they hope to pass such legislation to prevent these children from ending up with human traffickers.
***Please keep in mind that this blog posting is for educational purposes only (i.e., to give you general information and a general understanding of this immigration related matter); this blog posting does not provide specific legal advice and does not form an attorney-client relationship.***
Sources:
(1) https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/19/politics/undocumented-immigrant-children-not-located-detention-released/index.html
(2) http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/09/20/federal-agency-cant-determine-whereabouts-nearly-1500-illegal-immigrant-minors.html
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