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DHS Program Offers Unaccompanied Minors $2,500 to Leave U.S., Sparks Legal Concerns
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has initiated a new program targeting unaccompanied immigrant children, offering them a “voluntary option” to return to their home countries with a payment of $2,500. The initiative has ignited profound concerns among immigration lawyers, who warn that participating children may unknowingly forfeit their fundamental rights to appear before an immigration judge.
This development follows earlier attempts by DHS this year to defund legal support programs for children in the immigration system. While funding was temporarily halted in March, District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín ordered its resumption in April, citing the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.
Last month, District Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan also intervened, stopping the attempted deportation of 76 undocumented minors to Guatemala.
DHS and HHS representatives have not yet responded to requests for comment on the new program.
Program Details and Legal Worries
Initial unverified reports circulating on social media and among immigration advocates described an “Operation Freaky Friday” involving threats of detention for minors who refused the offer and arrest for their U.S.-based family members. DHS has since denied the operation’s name, attributing it to “anti-ICE activists,” but acknowledged the existence of a similar program.
According to a social media post from DHS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Office of Refugee and Resettlement (ORR) are “offering a strictly voluntary option to return home to their families,” including “access to financial support.” An email from HHS to legal service providers, obtained by local outlets, confirmed that DHS would provide $2,500 to undocumented children aged 14 or older who accept the offer, with exceptions for minors from Mexico or those who have left ORR custody.
Legal experts are raising serious alarms. Yasmin Yavar, deputy director for the American Bar Association’s Children’s Immigration Law Academy, expressed concern that children accepting the offer would be “giving up their opportunity to be before a judge.”
She highlighted the potential for minors to misunderstand the significant consequences of such a choice. Unaccompanied children in ORR custody are typically entitled to “Know Your Rights” presentations and legal consultation.
Mickey Donovan-Kaloust, legal services director at Immigrant Defenders Law Center, stated that the $2,500 incentive “has the potential to exploit their unique vulnerabilities as unaccompanied minors in government custody.”
DHS Defense and Counterarguments
DHS has defended the program by asserting that many unaccompanied children had no choice in coming to the U.S. and would be returning to family members abroad.
However, multiple lawyers dispute this, noting that many unaccompanied children commonly reside with family members already in the U.S. Federal regulations direct ORR to prioritize releasing children to parents or immediate family members within the country while their immigration court proceedings are underway.
Bilal Askaryar, a spokesperson for the Acacia Center for Justice, underscored the difficulty of explaining complex legal rights in child-friendly language. He called the notion that an agent without child welfare expertise could obtain informed consent from a child to sign away rights and potentially return to danger “deeply troubling and it’s cruel.” Some lawyers fear that accepting this offer could place children at greater risk upon their return.