ICE Arrests Parents Seeking Custody of Migrant Children, Separating Families
Carlos believed he was one step closer to reuniting with his children in December when he arrived at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in New Mexico. His 14-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter had been in a federal shelter in Texas for nearly a year after crossing the border to join him.
“It feels like I’m suffocating inside this shelter, trapped with no way out,” Carlos’s son told one of the family’s attorneys, describing his experience after months in the facility near Houston, according to a report by KFF Health News. “Every day, the same routine. Every day, feeling trapped. It makes me feel scared and hopeless.”
During daily video calls, Carlos, who previously had Temporary Protected Status (TPS), urged his children to be patient and trust the process. Federal officials had evaluated Carlos and told him his case was complete before granting him custody consideration. He anticipated a swift reunion with his children, who, like him, had fled political violence in Venezuela.
An ICE official contacted Carlos on a Friday, requesting a meeting at an ICE office the following Monday to discuss reunification. Upon arrival, officials attempted to have him sign documents he said he did not understand. When he refused, he was stripped of his clothing, identification, and belongings, and then chained by the neck, waist, and legs, according to KFF Health News.
“They tricked me,” Carlos said in a phone call from a migrant detention center in El Paso, Texas, where he was held for several months. “They used my children to trap me.”
KFF Health News reviewed court documents, spoke with the family’s immigration attorneys, interviewed Carlos, and examined statements from his children, translated from Spanish, during its reporting.
Carlos is a pseudonym used at the request of his attorneys, who fear publicity could jeopardize his case or further delay family reunification.
The case highlights a shift in tactics by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under the second Trump administration, coordinating with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to arrest individuals seeking custody of migrant children. Previously, the HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) was responsible for the care of unaccompanied migrant children under 18 arriving in the country, prioritizing their well-being and swift release to vetted caregivers, generally parents or relatives already in the U.S. This responsibility was assigned to HHS over 20 years ago to separate child welfare from immigration enforcement priorities.
An investigation by KFF Health News found that the ORR, now led by a former ICE official, is coordinating with DHS to arrest individuals seeking to claim children. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the DHS division typically focused on organized crime and trafficking, interviews parents or other caregivers and arrests those found to be in the country without legal authorization, according to the report.
Prior to the current administration, the ORR prohibited sharing data and collaborating with immigration authorities and did not deny custody of children solely based on the immigration status of caregivers. Those restrictions were lifted last year.
The exact number of caregivers arrested remains unclear. LAist reported data indicating over 100 arrests of individuals attempting to retrieve their children from detention, but KFF Health News could not independently verify this figure with federal agencies.
As of February, HHS, DHS, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) had not responded to questions regarding the arrests of caregivers. Tricia McLaughlin, then-Under Secretary for DHS, stated before leaving her post that the administration is protecting children from being delivered to individuals who should not be caring for them. HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon referred questions regarding immigration law enforcement to DHS.
Simultaneously, the ORR has implemented new rules making it more tricky for caregivers to gain custody of unaccompanied children. These include reducing the types of documents accepted, requiring fingerprint-based background checks for all adults in the household and other caregivers, and mandating in-person appointments to verify identification, sometimes with ICE agents present. Nixon stated these requirements are intended to keep “children safe from traffickers and other dangerous individuals.”
Through January, the agency had held at least 300 children who had already been placed with vetted sponsors and requested their caregivers reapply for custody, according to the National Center for Youth Law and the Democracy Forward Foundation. These groups filed a lawsuit on February 23, characterizing these actions as “a new, quiet form of family separation.”
Dulce, a Guatemalan mother in Virginia, said her 8-year-old son was sent to a government shelter after being detained during a traffic stop last summer while visiting family in another state. She had initially expected to recover her son within days, having met the government’s sponsorship requirements in 2024 and reuniting with him three weeks after he crossed the border. But, ORR officials requested she repeat the entire process and resubmit documentation. It took eight months to regain custody.
Dulce is a pseudonym used at her request due to fears of deportation.
At one point, she was asked to attend an interview at an ICE office to show her identification as part of the reunification process. She declined, fearing detention due to her lack of legal status. She believes ICE agents visited her home at some point.
“I stopped going to my house,” Dulce said. “I stayed with some of my friends for days.”
Despite living only 45 minutes away, Dulce was only permitted to visit her son twice a month.
Historically, most unaccompanied children entered government custody after being apprehended at the border. However, border crossings began to decline in 2024, and the number of people arriving in the U.S. Has significantly decreased during the second Trump term.
Now, hundreds of children have been taken to government shelters after being detained within the country, often during immigration raids or traffic stops, according to the lawsuit filed by advocacy groups. Many were already living with family, including caregivers previously vetted by the ORR.
Releases are now rare. According to the ORR, children in its custody remained in shelters or temporary care for an average of one month in 2024. By February, that time had increased to over half a year.
Children are generally released only after their attorneys file a lawsuit in federal court challenging their detention as unconstitutional.
Authorities released Dulce’s son in February after his attorneys filed such a petition. She expressed relief at having him back but remains fearful of ICE coming to her home.
During his first term, Trump’s administration faced criticism for losing track of children released from custody. President Biden has been questioned regarding his administration’s handling of the surge in unaccompanied children, peaking in 2021 with around 22,000 under the ORR’s care.
While most were received by legitimate sponsors, some were delivered to individuals who had not passed security checks, putting them at risk of exploitation. The Trump administration has stated it is verifying the well-being of those children and the DOJ has prosecuted cases of child trafficking.
On March 1, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who is leaving her position at the end of the month, highlighted a multi-agency effort, including the ORR, which DHS says has located 145,000 unaccompanied children delivered to caregivers during the Biden administration.
However, internal HHS reports on that initiative obtained by KFF Health News show that nearly 11,800 of those migrant children and almost 500 of their caregivers had been arrested as of January 29. Only 125 of those children and 55 of those caregivers were arrested on suspicion of criminal activity, suggesting the majority were detained for immigration violations.
HHS referred questions about these figures to DHS, which did not respond to requests for comment. Michelle Brané, a former DHS official during the Biden administration, said the figures demonstrate that most arrests were to detain and deport migrants. CNN previously reported that the administration targeted parents and caregivers who had paid for children to cross the border, attempting to bring charges of human smuggling against them.
“They’ve abandoned that strategy in many ways and are now going after anyone openly,” Brané said. “These numbers clearly reflect that this isn’t about public safety or child safety.”
Carlos was released from detention in March after a federal judge determined he had been held illegally and was released on bond. His children, however, face an uncertain future. Reports indicate shelters often lack sufficient resources, and social workers say prolonged stays can cause further trauma.
“It’s not just bad, but the longer you’re there, the worse it gets,” said Jonathan Beier, associate director of research and evaluation for the Acacia Center for Justice’s unaccompanied children program.
Carlos’s children may too be sent back to the country they fled. Due to his detention, Carlos will have to repeat much of the process to reunite with them, according to one of the children’s attorneys, Alexa Sendukas.
In statements shared through Sendukas, Carlos’s daughter said she no longer wants to be around others and spends most of her time in her room. His son, now 15, described experiencing panic attacks and feeling like he is missing out on life, whether it’s opportunities he dreams of—learning English, studying science—or playing basketball with his family.
“I remember when I first came to this shelter. I had a lot of hope and faith that I would soon be reunited with my dad,” he said.
Carlos’s daughter cried in bed when the siblings learned their father had been arrested. For days, they did not know where he was. Now, they fear the only option is adoption or foster care.
“I’m scared,” she said. “I’m going to wait for my dad forever.”