US rolls back restrictions on sharing migrant minor sponsors' immigration status

25/3/2025 7:16

The U.S. agency responsible for unaccompanied migrant minors will be allowed to share sponsors' immigration status with law enforcement agencies under a regulatory change, a move critics say could discourage families from claiming their children.



The U.S. Office for Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which cares for the children until they can be released, also will scrap regulatory language that had prohibited it from denying release solely based on a sponsor's immigration status, according to a Federal Register notice due to be published on Tuesday.



U.S. President Donald Trump's administration kicked off a wide-ranging immigration crackdown after taking office in January. It included an effort to track down hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children present in the United States.



Earlier this month, the top Trump official at ORR was abruptly removed amid pressure to intensify the initiative.



Unaccompanied children began arriving in large numbers a decade ago due to violence and economic instability in Central America. They were also drawn by U.S. immigration policies that enabled them to enter and often remain.