The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) announced an initiative to verify that some 450,000 of the immigrant minors who entered the United States alone and were released into the custody of family members or sponsors are safe.
The immigration authorities will have the support of local police forces that have signed up to the 287(g) collaboration program to carry out the ‘Security Verification Initiative’, as the plan has been called.
ICE indicated in a statement that the objective of this measure is to carry out welfare checks in the homes of some 450,000 minors to ensure their safety and that they are not being exploited.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Undersecretary Tricia McLaughlin said in the press release that President Donald Trump’s Administration has already made home visits to more than 24,000 children who entered the country alone and were released to their relatives or sponsors.
“We have intensified our efforts to rescue child victims of sex and labor trafficking, working with our state and local law enforcement partners to locate them,” McLaughlin stressed.
The initiative began rolling out earlier this week in the state of Florida and will gradually roll out with other 287(g) partners across the country.
As part of this measure, ICE arrested at least three Hondurans in Florida who had accusations of criminal offenses, although not related to the care of minors.
Immigrant rights advocates have warned that these controls could lead to the arrest of undocumented relatives of minors who reside with them, even though they have no criminal record.
