Children have arrived at our border seeking haven from deadly hurricanes and the pandemic’s impact, and — finally — protection, after a federal ruling in November forbade the Trump Administration to expel unaccompanied children and restored their right to seek asylum.
President Joe Biden has done the right thing by lifting even more of his predecessor’s heinous policies. His administration has ordered a review of asylum policies, ended an information-sharing agreement between federal agencies that scared off childrens’ potential sponsors, and revived the Central American Minors program, which allows children to apply for family reunification in the U.S. without having to leave their home country. The children at our border are not arriving because Biden lifted these policies. Actually, he hasn’t gone far enough.
The Biden administration has continued to apply Title 42, a Trump-era COVID-19 policy that turns away asylum seekers at the border. Not only does Title 42 have no public health basis and denies people their legal right to seek protection, but it has also likely increased the number of unaccompanied children.
Migrant families in crowded Mexico border camps are making the impossible choice to send their children all alone to the United States, knowing that their children are assured entry and safety. Additionally, under our laws, children who arrive with loving caregivers — siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents — are also designated as “unaccompanied” if the relative is not their legal guardian.
It is important that the children retain this “unaccompanied” status because it gives children access to services, lawyers, child advocates, and a child-friendly evaluation of their claim for protection. But under Title 42, U.S. authorities allow these children into the United States, but send the caregivers back behind the border, separating a family.
Biden came to office pledging to create a more humane immigration system. The current situation offers a rare opportunity to do just that by making the “best interest of the child” its guiding principle.
Children’s safety and well-being must take precedence over any attempt to “punish” migrants for doing what they must to survive. The “best interest of the child” standard offers clear solutions to the needs of unaccompanied children at our border.
The best interest of the child standard requires that we keep families together. We can do this by once again following our asylum laws, ending Title 42, and allowing those seeking protection, including families, to enter the country.
We can also do this by stationing child welfare experts from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) at border facilities to evaluate the non-parent adults with whom the children arrive within the 72 hours required by law. If the caregiver is deemed safe, authorities can release the caregiver and child together to organizations equipped to help them reach their destination and reunite with family. If officials have concerns about an accompanying adult, HHS can transfer the child into its custody and begin the usual reunification process.
This system would keep children out of unnecessary government custody, allow children to remain with their family members, and maintain the protections Congress has provided for children without a parent or legal guardian.
Miriam Abaya is the Senior Director for Immigration and Children’s Rights at First Focus. She wrote this for InsideSources.com.