The Donald Trump administration is offering migrant children as young as five years old $3,000 to voluntarily leave the United States, with immigration lawyers and advocacy groups warning that the payments could pressure minors to abandon their immigration cases, Bloomberg Law reported.
The offers are being made to children appearing in immigration court proceedings, sometimes by attorneys representing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and, in other instances, by immigration judges outlining the option, according to the report. The program marks an expansion of an earlier initiative that offered $2,500 to unaccompanied migrant children aged 14 and older.
The offers have reportedly increased to $3,000 and are now reaching children younger than 14, including those who may not fully understand the legal consequences of agreeing to leave the country.
Shaina Aber, executive director of the Acacia Center for Justice, said her organization had received reports over the past month from attorneys and court observers across the country about young children being presented with the offers. Some children were reportedly without legal representation when the option was raised.
{{/usCountry}}Shaina Aber, executive director of the Acacia Center for Justice, said her organization had received reports over the past month from attorneys and court observers across the country about young children being presented with the offers. Some children were reportedly without legal representation when the option was raised.
{{/usCountry}}“We’re seeing this as part of a larger pattern of really trying to coerce children, bully children, intensify pressure on children so that they abandon their cases,” Aber told Bloomberg Law.
Immigration lawyers question pressure on children
Michael Lukens, executive director of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights in Washington, said his organization and other legal aid groups had received emails from ICE attorneys offering children a $3,000 incentive to accept voluntary departure.
One such offer was reportedly sent to an 11-year-old client during the week preceding the report.
Lukens questioned whether children were being given a fair opportunity to pursue their cases while being presented with a financial incentive to leave the US.
The central concern raised by advocates is that accepting voluntary departure could affect a child's ability to pursue asylum or other forms of humanitarian protection. The consequences depend on the circumstances of the individual case, making access to legal advice particularly important.
Move comes amid pressure on immigration courts
The reported offers come as the administration seeks to move unaccompanied children's immigration cases through the courts more quickly. Federal funding for Acacia and other legal aid organizations representing these minors lapsed in July, adding to concerns about children's access to legal assistance.
More than 16,500 cases involving unaccompanied children remained pending in immigration court as of July, according to data from the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review.
Bloomberg Law has also reported that supervisors at the immigration court agency directed judges to limit continuances, postponements of hearings, to 21 days for children who entered the US without a parent or guardian. Such delays can be sought to give a child time to find a lawyer or prepare an asylum application.
The $3,000 offer also mirrors an existing federal initiative under which Customs and Border Protection has encouraged eligible migrants to leave the country voluntarily through its CBP Home app. However, immigration lawyers told Bloomberg Law they had not previously heard of the incentive being extended in immigration court proceedings to children under 14.