SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A new report released by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General found that over the last five years, ICE has lost track of unaccompanied minors who have failed to show up for their immigration court dates.
The 18-page report called it an ‘urgent issue,' saying those who don’t appear in court are considered at higher risk for trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor and that ICE has no assurance these children are safe from those crimes.
Richard Villasana is the founder of a local non-profit called Forever Home for Foster Kids.
He says the government often taps him to help find and reunite families separated during Trump’s zero-tolerance policy that separated children from their parents at the border.
"We have worked more than 100 cases to locate a parent living in Latin America," says Villasana.
He says it’s not surprising these minors are not showing up for court.
"They’re concerned, they’re worried that their children are going to be deported, so guess what, they do what many noncitizens do, they disappear," says Villasana.
The report also pointed out ICE lacks adequate staffing, which limits officer's abilities to check locations and status of a migrant’s case.
In the report, the inspector general recommends ICE develop and implement an automated system to document court appearances and keep address information of unaccompanied migrant children. It also recommends creating a formal process to identify those who fail to appear in court.
ICE agreed with both recommendations and estimated that these will be completed by the end of the year.
