The U.S. border agents have expelled over 200 children from other countries unaccompanied to Mexico, potentially violating U.S. laws and a diplomatic agreement with the nation, reported The New York Times.
The report is based on emails allegedly written by a top border official, Border Patrol Assistant Chief Eduardo Sánchez, warning that the expulsions violate U.S. policy and could endanger the Trump administration’s quick deportation strategy.
“Recently, we have identified several suspected instances where Single Minors (SM) from countries other than Mexico have been expelled via ports of entry rather than referred to ICE Air Operations for expulsion flights,” Sánchez wrote in an email.
If confirmed, the report would provide evidence for immigration activists’ claims against border authorities violating internal and external regulations, The Hill said.
“Human rights advocates and government watchdogs have long accused Border Patrol of repeated failure to follow basic rules for the protection of children and migrants,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy counsel at the American Immigration Council.
Apart from violating policy and an international agreement, the expulsions of unaccompanied minors imply that U.S. authorities have sent children alone into Mexico, where kidnapping and human trafficking are prevalent.
The reported expulsions of unaccompanied minors come after the Trump administration tweaked U.S. border policy to expel migrants caught at the border.
The Trump administration has interpreted a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) order that allows agents to expel undocumented immigrants caught at the border.
The CDC Title 42 expulsion has become the preferred method of deportation used by CBP at the border, and the diplomatic agreement with Mexico has allowed CBP to return Central American asylum-seekers to Mexico while awaiting adjudication of their cases in U.S. courts.
However, Mexico explicitly declined to receive unaccompanied minors from third countries.
The Trump administration has been under fire for failing to keep track of parents and children separated as part of the family separation practice early on in Trump’s tenure.