The total of unaccompanied children currently in U.S. custody: about 3,600.

Detained immigrant children line up in the cafeteria of a shelter housing immigrant women and children detained at the border. Credit: Eric Gay/Associated Press

A few times a year, the federal government releases a fact sheet that gives reporters and the public a small window into the mostly secretive and complex shelter system for unaccompanied migrant children.

The fact sheet tells us a few things, like how many children are in U.S. custody, the number of open shelters, and the average length of stay for youth. On Jan. 31, the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the shelter network, released its latest fact sheet ([link removed]) .

One surprising number was the total of unaccompanied children currently in U.S. custody: about 3,600. That’s low compared to previous January totals. In January 2019 ([link removed]) , for instance, the average number of children in custody was about 11,000, according to federal figures. The previous year ([link removed]) , it was nearly 8,000. It’s unclear why the number of children coming to the U.S. alone has dropped so much, and it’s something my team will be digging into in the coming weeks.

Another figure worth noting: The shelter network has nearly doubled in size. In a fact sheet released last March ([link removed]) , the government said it had “a network of just over 100 shelters in 17 states.” Now, the network comprises about 195 “facilities and programs” spanning 23 states.

This increase is in line with what we’ve been reporting the last several months. We found in November that the government had awarded nearly $800 million in contracts to shelter providers in the last year. Along with partners at WRAL News, we uncovered last summer ([link removed]) that several providers have little experience in residential care, lack proper licensing and have troubling track records of state violations. We also broke the story ([link removed]) about a private firm’s proposal to open a shelter in Los Angeles. Throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, scandals plagued the company, VisionQuest, which was repeatedly investigated for violent handling of children.

After our reporting, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to temporarily ban immigrant detention centers and shelters for unaccompanied children within the city. Los Angeles is among at least six cities or states that have blocked VisionQuest’s efforts to open shelters.

We’re still reporting on this expanding shelter network and will have new stories to share about what we’ve uncovered in the coming months.

Read the fact sheet here. ([link removed])
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OUR LATEST INTERVIEW ON THE U VISA INVESTIGATION
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This week, I spoke to Miami-based WLRN Sundial host Luis Hernandez about my U visa investigation ([link removed]) , which found that law enforcement are routinely undermining protections for immigrant crime victims.

In order to apply for the U visa, victims need the investigating agency to sign a certification that confirms they’re a victim of a violent crime and that they were helpful to detectives. But my analysis of policies from more than 100 agencies serving large immigrant communities found that nearly 1 of every 4 create barriers ([link removed]) never envisioned under the program.

Among those agencies was the Miami Police Department. I spoke to Hernandez about what I found in Miami, where police officials denied nearly every certification request received between 2016 and 2018. After my investigation published, Chief Jorge Colina made changes ([link removed]) to the department’s U visa policy, which now follows federal guidelines.

The policy shift is “really welcome news to victims and lawyers in the city of Miami,” I told Hernandez.

Listen to my interview here. ([link removed])

By the way: I’m still reporting on the challenges victims face to gain protections under the U visa. If you have any tips, my email is [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .
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** 3 THINGS WE’RE READING
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1. A small group of Border Patrol agents rose through the ranks following the Sept. 11 attacks. Now, they’re retiring amid mounting criticism against the agency. (ProPublica ([link removed]) )

Among the high-ranking border officials who are retiring is Chief Carla Provost, who joined the Border Patrol in 1995. Reporters recently outed her and thousands of other agents for joining a racist Facebook page that attacked Latinx Congress members and migrants. Provost and others are leaving the Border Patrol as it grapples with the aftermath of several scandals, including family separation and the deaths of several migrant children in its care.

The kicker: The group had overseen or witnessed crises in the past — including lawsuits over excessive use of force and revelations of corruption within the patrol’s own ranks. But the last three years, catalyzed by ever-harsher Trump administration policies, had thrust the insular agency into unprecedented turmoil. The arrival of tens of thousands of asylum-seekers at the border had forced agents into new roles, for which they had little training. A series of high-profile scandals had focused scalding attention on the agency: Children died in its custody. Reporters uncovered a racist, misogynist private Facebook page with some 9,500 current and former Border Patrol members, including, at one point, Provost. Misconduct charges rose and a longtime agent was even prosecuted as a serial killer. The Border Patrol they’d guided was experiencing not just a crisis of confidence among legislators and the public, but from within.

2. As they wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide their future, many DACA recipients are taking prominent roles in political campaigns. (Associated Press ([link removed]) )

Young undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers are taking leadership positions in campaigns for Bernie Sanders and Tom Steyer, as well as joining get-out-the-vote groups that encourage immigrant communities to go to the polls. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule this summer on the legality of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era program that allows Dreamers to remain in the U.S.

The kicker: Jeanne Batalova, a senior analyst for the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, said political involvement helps DACA recipients facing an uncertain future feel empowered. “They are doing what they can to exercise their agency, to shape their lives and destinies,” Batalova said. The campaigns are heating up as the Supreme Court prepares to decide the future of DACA, which President Donald Trump wants to end for the estimated 652,880 recipients. Like many of them, Valdovinos calls himself an American and wants everyone engaged in an election that may shape their future more than any other in their lifetime.

3. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is now fingerprinting unaccompanied children as young as 14 years old. (BuzzFeed News ([link removed]) )

According to the new directive, immigration agents are going to government shelters and collecting fingerprints from unaccompanied children. The move, which took effect last month, “appears to be the latest Trump administration policy aimed at collecting more personal information about immigrants.”

The kicker: Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro, chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, said in a statement that ICE officials coming into shelter to fingerprint teens is "antithetical" to ORR's mission, and that she did not buy ICE's justification "for one second." "Make no mistake: ICE’s intention is to intimidate and scare children by entering these shelters, and if HHS allows ICE to do so, they will be complicit," she said.
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Your tips have been vital to our immigration coverage. Keep them coming: [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

– Laura C. Morel


**
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