Relatives of Unaccompanied Minors Fear Deportation
Alexander Richey
Thousands of unaccompanied minors remain detained a week out from the deadline for the Trump administration to reunite children with their parents.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement says four hundred and fifty three children have been resettled in Alabama this year through April. It isn’t known how many since then. Children released from detention are placed into foster care shelters or with relatives who are approved as sponsors.
The problem is, many relatives are afraid to come forward to take in these children. That’s because they’re required to disclose their immigration status to private resettlement agencies and the Department of Homeland Security.
Isabel Rubio, director of the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama, says relatives are still worried. “People are concerned that if their information is sent to the Department of Homeland Security that they are at higher risk for deportation because now immigration knows exactly who they are and where they live.”
The administration says collecting the information is a way to vet members of the household for criminal history or prior sex offenses. Officials say it also closes loopholes in child trafficking.
Rubio says if relatives of unaccompanied minors do not come forward, children are likely to be detained longer, or stay in foster care while they await immigration hearings.
The airspace around El Paso is open again. Why it closed is in dispute
The Federal Aviation Administration abruptly closed the airspace around El Paso, only to reopen it hours later. The bizarre episode pointed to a lack of coordination between the FAA and the Pentagon.
‘Dawson’s Creek’ star James Van Der Beek has died at 48
Van Der Beek played Dawson Leery on the hit show Dawson's Creek. He announced his colon cancer diagnosis in 2024.
A Jan. 6 rioter pardoned by Trump was convicted of sexually abusing children
A handyman from Florida who received a pardon from President Trump for storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was convicted on state charges of child sex abuse and exposing himself to a child.
A country-pop newcomer’s debut is your reinvention album of 2026
August Ponthier's Everywhere Isn't Texas is as much a fully realized introduction as a complete revival. Its an existential debut that asks: How, exactly, does the artist fit in here?
U.S. unexpectedly adds 130,000 jobs in January after a weak 2025
U.S. employers added 130,000 jobs in January as the unemployment rate dipped to 4.3% from 4.4% in December. Annual revisions show that job growth last year was far weaker than initially reported.
Greetings from Mexico City’s iconic boulevard, where a dog on a bike steals the show
Every week, more than 100,000 people ride bikes, skates and rollerblades past some of the best-known parts of Mexico's capital. And sometimes their dogs join them too.
