Trump administration offers $3,000 to migrant children as young as 5 to leave US as lawyers warn rushed decisions could jeopardize asylum claims
The Trump administration is offering $3,000 to migrant children as young as 5 who agree to leave the United States, Bloomberg reported, citing attorneys and advocacy groups. The offer extends a program launched last year with $2,500 payments for unaccompanied minors aged 14 and older.
Lawyers say Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorneys have made some offers, while immigration judges have presented them in other cases. Some children have been approached without legal representation, and advocates say some have been told they must decide immediately whether to accept a one-time offer. One offer this week went to an 11-year-old, according to the head of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights.
Shaina Aber, executive director of the Acacia Center for Justice, warned that children could be asked to give up the right to seek asylum or other humanitarian relief without understanding the long-term consequences. The Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review did not immediately respond to Bloomberg’s requests for comment.
More than 16,500 cases involving unaccompanied children were pending in immigration court as of July, according to Justice Department data. Bloomberg has reported that immigration judges were directed to limit continuances for children who entered without a parent or guardian to 21 days; federal funding for legal-aid groups representing these minors lapsed in July.
