Early in Donald Trump’s second administration, officers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement began making unannounced visits to the schools and homes of unaccompanied immigrant minors, meaning children who don’t have a parent or guardian in the country. Officials branded these visits as “wellness checks,” ostensibly aimed at ensuring that the children in question did not fall victim to human trafficking and were keeping up with their obligations for their immigration cases. Other agencies were also enlisted to make such visits, including the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. But the true purpose of these visits has been called into question by reports that, in some cases, they have led directly to deportations.
Newly released documents suggest that the Trump administration has turned this program, ostensibly intended to ensure the well-being of immigrant kids who don’t live with their parents, into another means for ICE and similar agencies to track down children and their sponsors (most often family members) who may be eligible for deportation.
