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Illegal immigration numbers have boomed recently with US Customs and Border Protection logging more than 100 thousand encounters in January alone. The United States is on track to see the highest number of illegal immigrants in decades. This has already strained the capacity of holding facilities and the criticisms of the government holding kids in cages have resurfaced. Today we’ll be reviewing the background of the claim.
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In 1965, the United States Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act to replace the quota based immigration system in place since the 1920’s. By removing the National Origins Formula quotas, Latin American, African, and Asian migrants overtook European migrants in the late 20th century. The law also included fines, jail time, and deportation for immigrants who illegally enter the country. The law applies to adults who illegally immigrate but does not mention minors.
In 1997, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals created new standards for the treatment of minors detained while crossing the border in the Flores v. Session case. Once a minor is detained, they must stay in safe and sanitary facilities. While subject to exceptions, detained children must be transferred to the custody of a qualifying adult or a nonsecure state facility within a few days.
Since the Flores Settlement, the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations have all held minors in so called cages. The partisan finger pointing rarely goes deeper into the catch 22 administrations find themselves in. Currently, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is struggling to keep up with surging numbers of minors and find facilities to house them under the Flores Settlement. The under-resourced facilities lead to kids being kept in cramped cages separate from their parents.
The other provision of the Flores Settlement would allow ICE to release these children into the custody of their parents. While it would reduce the number of children in these facilities, the sheer quantity would make it impossible to verify that the kids are being released to their actual parents. This is important since the U.S Mexico border is a major human trafficking corridor. The US Department of State estimates that around 15,000 people are trafficked into the United States each year. Releasing children into an adult’s custody prior to verifying the adult is their parent would make human trafficking much easier.
While the Flores Settlement stands, the President must choose between the two options. Neither solution is good with Republican Executive Orders leaning towards sending the children to facilities and Democrat Executive Orders leaning towards releasing children to adults. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal’s opinion stated that Congress must address the issue of migrant children with legislation to end the Flores Settlement, so the President’s hands are tied.
A bipartisan 2019 law was passed that increased funding for ICE and the department of Health and Human Services to deal with the crisis then. That said, the issue with the Immigration and Nationalities Act is yet to be solved 24 years after the Flores Settlement. Attempts for reform have been made in the past but didn’t come to fruition. There are bills currently in the works that handle broader immigration reform but that’s a topic for another video.
Hopefully, this has given you a better understanding of the complexity surrounding the kids in cages controversy. What do you think we should do in response to overcrowding at minor detention facilities? Do you think meaningful reform is possible? Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe. Thank you for watching and have a great day.