{"id":535,"date":"2026-07-06T15:21:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T15:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=535"},"modified":"2026-07-06T15:21:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T15:21:00","slug":"deportations-of-unaccompanied-minors-have-tripled-under-trump-propublica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=535","title":{"rendered":"Deportations of Unaccompanied Minors Have Tripled Under Trump \u2014 ProPublica"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ProPublica-Elder-Final-Yellow_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg?resize=2000,1333\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Deportations of Unaccompanied Minors Have Tripled Under Trump \u2014 ProPublica\" title=\"Deportations of Unaccompanied Minors Have Tripled Under Trump \u2014 ProPublica\" \/><\/div><p><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-reporting-highlights\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-reporting-highlights\">Reporting Highlights<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Rollback of Protections: <\/strong>The Trump administration has gutted policies that gave immigrant minors access to legal counsel and relief from deportation while they applied to stay in the U.S.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Detained and Removed: <\/strong>ProPublica\u2019s analysis found unaccompanied minors are being detained and removed at about three times the rate as during the final years of the first Trump presidency.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Wave of Deportation Orders: <\/strong>Immigration courts have issued more than 10,000 removal and voluntary departure orders each month for immigrant minors \u2014 nearly four times the rate as Trump\u2019s last term.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-propublica-reporting-highlights__disclaimer\">These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>For the first few weeks after he arrived at the immigration detention center in Winnfield, Louisiana, 18-year-old Elder Chavez was wide awake most nights, listening to the creaky sounds of the bunk beds and to voices of dozens of men, also sleepless, around him. He suffered terrible headaches and would finally doze off around 4 a.m. \u2014 just when guards would begin to summon the detainees for breakfast. Then he\u2019d sleep for most of the rest of the day.<\/p>\n<p>He had developed the schedule of an owl. And he thought to himself that the dark circles that had appeared under his eyes made him look like one.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019d landed at the Winn Correctional Center after Alabama state police had caught him in December going 15 mph over the speed limit and driving without a license. He was on his way home from getting his favorite sandwich, carne asada, when he was pulled over. Once the officers realized he was an immigrant, they called U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Chavez offered to show them documents that proved he wasn\u2019t living in hiding. Immigration authorities had granted him Special Immigrant Juvenile Status because, as a toddler, he\u2019d been abandoned by his parents in Honduras and had come to this country on his own when he was 14. His sister, who\u2019d migrated years earlier and was living in Alabama, offered to help take care of him. A lawyer was helping him pursue permanent residency.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m legal in this country,\u201d Chavez pleaded with the officers. But the officers, he said, weren\u2019t having it. One of them told him, \u201cYour papers are of no use to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And just like that, an otherwise law-abiding high school student \u2014 who loved his welding and carpentry classes, had braces and a girlfriend, and spent weekends playing soccer at the park with his nieces and nephews \u2014 was thrown into detention and put on a path toward deportation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m just waiting here,\u201d he said during a video call from detention. \u201cI really don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"wp-block-propublica-aside bb--size-small-right p-bb--size-small-right\">\n<p><strong>ProPublica is continuing to report on the way immigration policy is impacting kids and is now focusing on outgoing high school seniors.<\/strong> If you or someone you know has a story to share about the class of 2026, email us at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.propublica.org\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#543d39393d332635203d3b3a1424263b242136383d37357a3b2633\"><span class=\"__cf_email__\" data-cfemail=\"dab3b7b7b3bda8bbaeb3b5b49aaaa8b5aaafb8b6b3b9bbf4b5a8bd\">[email\u00a0protected]<\/span><\/a> or message us on WhatsApp at 917- 207-6447. You can also help us spread the word about our reporting by distributing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/28366590-class-of-2026-ice\/\">this flyer<\/a> in your community.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Chavez is hardly alone. A first-of-its-kind analysis of Immigration and Customs Enforcement data found that unaccompanied minors living in the U.S. are being detained and removed at about three times the rate they were during the last time President Donald Trump was in office. In addition, a ProPublica analysis of court data found that immigration judges, who report to the Justice Department, have issued more than 10,000 removal and voluntary departure orders each month for immigrant minors who either migrated alone or with relatives, a rate that is nearly four times higher than in Trump\u2019s last term.<\/p>\n<p>The vast majority of unaccompanied minors removed last year had no criminal history in the United States, ProPublica\u2019s analysis of ICE data showed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Before Trump returned to office last year, Chavez would have likely been given a ticket and allowed to return to his sister. But as part of the president\u2019s mass deportation campaign, his administration has moved to systematically roll back<strong> <\/strong>policies that provided immigrant minors access to legal counsel and relief from deportation while they pursued permission to permanently stay in the country. Those policies were based on laws that had been implemented over more than two decades, with bipartisan support, because both parties believed unaccompanied immigrant minors \u2014 ill-prepared to navigate a new country on their own, much less a legal system daunting to most adults \u2014 are especially vulnerable to trafficking and other kinds of exploitation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Congress created SIJ specifically to protect immigrants, like Chavez, who are under 21 and are able to prove in family court that they had been abused, neglected or abandoned by at least one parent in their home countries.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped bb--size-large wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex p-bb--size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-medium\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"1128\" width=\"752\" data-id=\"83771\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-48_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?w=752\" alt=\"The silhouette of a pregnant woman standing in profile before a window with closed blinds and sheer curtains.\" class=\"wp-image-83771\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-48_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-48_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=200,300 200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-48_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=768,1152 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-48_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=683,1024 683w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-48_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1024,1536 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-48_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1365,2048 1365w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-48_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=863,1295 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-48_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=422,633 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-48_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=552,828 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-48_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=558,837 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-48_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=527,791 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-48_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=752,1128 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-48_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1149,1724 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-48_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1067,1600 1067w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-48_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=400,600 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-48_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=800,1200 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-48_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1200,1800 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-48_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1600,2400 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\"\/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"1128\" width=\"752\" data-id=\"83769\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?w=752\" alt=\"A simple, handmade wooden plank chair sits on a grassy lawn in front of a light blue house with a raised porch.\" class=\"wp-image-83769\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=200,300 200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=768,1152 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=683,1024 683w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1024,1536 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1365,2048 1365w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=863,1295 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=422,633 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=552,828 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=558,837 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=527,791 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=752,1128 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1149,1724 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1067,1600 1067w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=400,600 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=800,1200 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1200,1800 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1600,2400 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\"\/><\/figure><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Chavez, abandoned by his parents as a toddler, traveled to the U.S. to live with his older sister, Mayuri Chavez, left,\u00a0 when he was 14. He enrolled in high school in Alabama and excelled at classes like carpentry. His sister keeps a chair he made in carpentry class in their backyard.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Zaydee Sanchez\/ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Trump administration officials have long argued that not only are the programs designed to help unaccompanied minors rife with fraud, but that their very existence has encouraged hundreds of thousands of children to embark on dangerous journeys to the border, increasing their risk of falling into criminal hands. To make its case, his administration points to the record 450,000 unaccompanied minors who arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border and were released into the country under President Joe Biden.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Neither those children nor the people to whom they were released were properly vetted, say Trump administration officials. As a result, administration officials say, some of the children became victims of abuse or exploitation. Alarming numbers of them <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/investigates\/section\/underage-workers\/\">were found working illegally in factories<\/a> or in other jobs that put them at risk for trafficking, injury and wage theft.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Other minors, the administration has said, became criminals. It put out a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uscis.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/document\/reports\/DO_SIJ_Report.pdf\">July 2025 government report<\/a> that said since 2013, some 19,000 SIJ petitioners were found to have criminal arrest records, including hundreds with serious charges like murder and sex offenses. The administration says the best way to stop such abuses and criminality is to disincentivize immigrant children from coming in the first place.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said Trump is \u201cundoing the damage Biden did.\u201d Responding to questions about ProPublica\u2019s data analysis, which was based on data provided via Freedom of Information Act requests and was validated with outside experts, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the agency \u201ccould not verify the veracity\u201d of the data.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Advocates argue that the administration is using exceptional cases to cast all immigrant minors and the adults who sponsored them in a negative light. They say that some of their clients who have been living in the U.S. for years, including those, like Chavez, who have since turned 18, face serious risks if sent back to their home countries. The majority of the unaccompanied minors who have come to the United States in the last decade were fleeing Central American countries crushed by economic turmoil, violence and political upheaval. Some came from families riven by poverty and domestic violence. Some, like Chavez, have no parents to go back to.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese children have been through incredibly harrowing and traumatic experiences,\u201d said Michael Lukens, the executive director of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, a legal defense organization. \u201cAnd ICE is retraumatizing them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To the administration\u2019s claims that its policies are aimed at protecting minors, he said, \u201cIf you\u2019re worried about the welfare of kids, stop rounding kids up and trying to deport them.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-lead-in\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-ice-is-detaining-and-deporting-more-people-in-the-country-who-entered-as-unaccompanied-minors\">ICE Is Detaining and Deporting More People in the Country Who Entered as Unaccompanied Minors<\/h3>\n<p>A growing number of immigrants who came to the U.S. as minors without parents or legal guardians are being arrested in the country\u2019s interior and removed via deportation or voluntary departure orders.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-propublica-html\">\n\t<iframe title=\"Removals and voluntary departures of unaccompanied minors\" aria-label=\"Stacked column chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-NZF0Q\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/NZF0Q\/1\/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"380\" data-external=\"1\"><\/iframe><figcaption class=\"attribution\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"attribution__caption\">Note: Some of the immigrants who entered as minors are now over 18, and some were reunited with family members or other sponsors after they arrived. This chart includes only minors detained by ICE and does not include minors arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. December 2025 data covers only part of the month.<br \/>Source: ProPublica analysis of ICE data released through the Freedom of Information Act<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"attribution__credit\">Jeff Ernsthausen \/ ProPublica<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<p>Sometimes the deportation orders issued in immigration court have been coming so fast that lawyers say even they have a hard time explaining them to their clients. Within a span of three hours on a single morning in April in a downtown New York immigration courtroom, Judge Jem Sponzo issued deportation orders for 25 minors, almost everyone on her docket appearing virtually that morning. Some of the hearings were only a few minutes long, and some of the minors were too young to understand what was happening to them.<\/p>\n<p>Among the children in court that day was an 8-year old girl from Ecuador who was seeking asylum and SIJ. The girl\u2019s mother had already won asylum in a separate case. But Sponzo ordered the girl to be deported anyway.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In another case, an attorney pleaded for more time to prepare enough evidence to support an asylum petition for her client from Guatemala. The attorney said her client\u2019s home in Guatemala was dominated by an abusive father whose violence made it hard for her to gather information she needed for the case. Sponzo politely denied the request, saying, \u201cI empathize and thank you for your efforts.\u201d Then she ordered the child deported.<\/p>\n<p>A high school senior from Guatemala who lives in Queens, with side-swept black hair and wearing a short sleeve athletic shirt, appeared on a video screen from a room with piled-up clothes on the bed and an American flag tacked on the wall. He stayed on mute while his lawyer asked for more time for his applications for SIJ and asylum to be processed. Sponzo said no and ordered him deported. His lawyer said in an interview her client is now afraid he could be picked up by ICE at any time.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of the day, several of the attorneys said they felt blindsided by the judge\u2019s rapid-fire denials. Although they all said they would appeal her rulings, which could buy their clients some time to stay in the U.S., one said the deportation orders would \u201chang over their heads like a loaded gun.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Olivia Cassin, a former immigration judge who oversaw juvenile dockets in New York, said that before Trump returned to office, there was widespread recognition that it took time for immigrant minors\u2019 SIJ and asylum petitions to work their way through the backlogged system. For SIJ recipients, getting a green card often takes years. Judges typically gave minors that time. Now the authorities overseeing immigration courts have instructed them not to do so. Sponzo cited those instructions at the end of many of the cases she heard that day in April.<\/p>\n<p>Cassin is one of the more than 100 immigration judges who have been fired since Trump returned to office. Some of the judges who lost their jobs said they believe they were pushed out because the administration saw them as not aligned with its agenda. But they also say they\u2019ve received no official explanation for their firings. Sponzo was also fired recently. She could not be reached for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Justice Department did not respond to questions about the firings.<\/p>\n<p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-since-the-start-of-trump-s-second-term-immigration-courts-have-averaged-more-than-10-000-removals-of-minors-per-month\">Since the Start of Trump\u2019s Second Term, Immigration Courts Have Averaged More Than 10,000 Removals of Minors Per Month<\/h3>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-propublica-html\">\n\t<iframe title=\"Removals and voluntary departures of minors\" aria-label=\"Stacked column chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-Tu3Uq\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/Tu3Uq\/1\/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"376\" data-external=\"1\"><\/iframe><figcaption class=\"attribution\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"attribution__caption\">Source: ProPublica analysis of court data from the Executive Office for Immigration Review<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"attribution__credit\">Jeff Ernsthausen\/ProPublica<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not just the overhaul of the immigration courts that is having an effect on immigrant kids. Early on in Trump\u2019s second term, officials moved to curb funding for advocacy groups that provide legal services to unaccompanied minors. It also put an end to a Biden-era policy known as \u201cdeferred action,\u201d<strong> <\/strong>which protected minors who had been granted SIJ from deportation. SIJ on its own does not confer legal status, and the deferred action policy was implemented to cover those with SIJ until they could get their green cards.<\/p>\n<p>After advocacy groups took the administration to court, federal judges ordered the government to restore funding for legal assistance and<strong> <\/strong>access to deferred action for SIJ recipients. Despite those rulings, some legal advocates say they still have not been paid what they\u2019re owed. And earlier this month, several groups said federal agents appeared at their Washington-area offices, seeking to look at client files, even though they didn\u2019t have warrants. The advocates said they saw the move as an attempt to intimidate them<em>.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As for granting deferred action, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a statement that the agency would do so only under \u201ccompelling circumstances on a case-by-case basis.\u201d DHS, which oversees USCIS and ICE, emphasized in an email that having SIJ \u201cdoes NOT confer lawful status,\u201d adding that \u201cany recipient may be subject to removal.\u201d The agency did not respond to a question about the agents who visited advocates\u2019 offices.<\/p>\n<p>Over the last year, the administration says it has tracked down 146,000 of the unaccompanied minors who entered the country under Biden in order to check on their well-being. The majority of all the minors who entered the country in recent years had been released to one or both parents in the United States or to other close relatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said at a June press conference that some of the welfare checks found minors were doing fine with their families. But he asserted that he\u2019d also tracked down children who were in the hands of rapists and other criminals. \u201cWe start digging into these cases and you start hearing absolute horrific things,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When asked for verifiable details about some of the cases Mullin mentioned, DHS did not respond. A DHS spokesperson later sent a list of 16 people who had sponsored immigrant minors and had previously been charged with crimes including assault, drug trafficking or domestic violence. Meanwhile, Justice Department officials said they\u2019d indicted less than a handful of people on charges of smuggling or exploiting immigrant minors.<\/p>\n<p>No officials from DHS or the Justice Department explained what had become of any of the children connected to those indictments. As for immigrants who had entered the U.S. as children and are now adults, Mullin said, \u201cwe are working on the process of sending them back.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-large bb--size-large p-bb--size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"383\" width=\"1149\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ElderDpt_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?w=1149\" alt=\"A three-paneled sequence shows a young man with dark hair speaking on a black landline telephone. Across the frames, his expressions shift from focused to serious to smiling, captured inside what appears to be a visitation room with a window in the background.\" class=\"wp-image-83774\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ElderDpt_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg 2231w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ElderDpt_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=300,100 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ElderDpt_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=768,256 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ElderDpt_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1024,341 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ElderDpt_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1536,512 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ElderDpt_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2048,683 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ElderDpt_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=863,288 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ElderDpt_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=422,141 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ElderDpt_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=552,184 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ElderDpt_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=558,186 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ElderDpt_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=527,176 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ElderDpt_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=752,251 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ElderDpt_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1149,383 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ElderDpt_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2000,667 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ElderDpt_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=400,133 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ElderDpt_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=800,267 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ElderDpt_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1200,400 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ElderDpt_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1600,534 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1149px) 100vw, 1149px\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">ProPublica spoke with Chavez over video calls from a Louisiana detention center, where he\u2019s been locked up for six months.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<p>Soon after Chavez arrived in detention, one of the men in his cell recognized the teen\u2019s pattern of sleeping through the day as a silent cry for help. Carlos Della Valle, who had migrated to the United States from Mexico, was attuned to Chavez\u2019s struggles because he had a son around the same age. Even in detention, Chavez, with a head full of\u00a0 tousled black hair and big brown eyes, had an easy laugh and smile. Della Valle worried that Chavez was \u201closing valuable time that he\u2019s never going to get back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Winn <a href=\"https:\/\/static1.squarespace.com\/static\/5a33042eb078691c386e7bce\/t\/6019dd452f75af0a17bec824\/1612307782021\/Redacted_CRCL_Complaint_Winn.pdf\">was a tough place<\/a>, advocates and detainees said. Two migrants died there<strong> <\/strong>earlier this year. One of the deaths was reportedly caused <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/ice-detainee-death-winn-a1ab66753aa4a1effdff0b7abef2240f\">by cardiovascular disease, and authorities have not determined<\/a> a cause for the other.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A recent report by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oig.dhs.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/assets\/2026-06\/OIG-26-08-Jun26.pdf\">Department of Homeland Security\u2019s Office of Inspector General<\/a> described unsafe and unsanitary conditions at Winn, including leaking ceilings, dirty food prep areas and an incident in which a guard put a detainee in a prohibited choke hold. A DHS spokesperson said that the agency is working to address the issues raised in the report, adding, \u201cour death rates are lower than most state prisons.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Della Valle began nudging young Chavez out of bed in the mornings and put him to work helping keep their cellblock clean.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Detainees were given an hour a day outside, sometimes less than that. Della Valle told Chavez that keeping himself busy, in whatever constructive ways possible, was the only way to make it through the monotony with his sanity intact.<\/p>\n<p>Chavez briefly took a job in the barber shop that paid the standard wage for someone in detention \u2014\u00a0 $1 a day \u2014 but he said that giving haircuts to around 80 men in a shift was so grueling that he only lasted a month. Instead, Chavez and Della Valle pored over passages from the Bible together. They sat together for most every meal. Chavez learned to mix packets of powdered juice just the way Della Valle liked it.<\/p>\n<p>Della Valle offered to help Chavez navigate the immigration system. He knew it well. In 1997 he\u2019d twice illegally entered the United States. He was deported the first time but illegally entered again, married a U.S. citizen soon after and settled in Pennsylvania.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Because of his reentry, which is a felony, he has been ineligible to regularize his status. But he lived underground with little worry. Immigration authorities generally avoided targeting immigrants with long ties to their communities, like him. Not anymore.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities intercepted Della Valle when he and his wife were returning from a Virgin Islands<strong> <\/strong>vacation, though they released him on bond at the time. Months later, however, he was taken into ICE detention. By the time he met Chavez, he had spent months being <a href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/news\/local\/immigration\/article313309443.html\">transferred among close to a dozen holding facilities<\/a>. He worried about what detention might do to Chavez. Other men in his cellblock, who nicknamed Chavez \u201cEl Ni\u00f1o,\u201d worried too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was hard to see him, you know, because he\u2019s just a boy. He\u2019s not a grown man,\u201d\u00a0 Della Valle said. \u201cI had to do whatever I could for him.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-medium bb--size-medium p-bb--size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"1128\" width=\"752\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260602-Sanchez-Philly-4_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?w=752\" alt=\"A close-up profile portrait of a man with short hair and light stubble looking thoughtfully out a window beside a dark curtain.\" class=\"wp-image-83772\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260602-Sanchez-Philly-4_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260602-Sanchez-Philly-4_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=200,300 200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260602-Sanchez-Philly-4_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=768,1152 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260602-Sanchez-Philly-4_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=683,1024 683w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260602-Sanchez-Philly-4_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1024,1536 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260602-Sanchez-Philly-4_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1365,2048 1365w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260602-Sanchez-Philly-4_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=863,1295 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260602-Sanchez-Philly-4_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=422,633 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260602-Sanchez-Philly-4_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=552,828 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260602-Sanchez-Philly-4_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=558,837 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260602-Sanchez-Philly-4_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=527,791 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260602-Sanchez-Philly-4_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=752,1128 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260602-Sanchez-Philly-4_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1149,1724 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260602-Sanchez-Philly-4_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1067,1600 1067w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260602-Sanchez-Philly-4_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=400,600 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260602-Sanchez-Philly-4_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=800,1200 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260602-Sanchez-Philly-4_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1200,1800 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260602-Sanchez-Philly-4_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1600,2400 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">After noticing how Chavez was handling detention, Carlos Della Valle befriended the teenager and tried to comfort him. Now released and back home with his wife, Della Valle is advocating for Chavez\u2019s release as well.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Zaydee Sanchez\/ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<p>While the administration has made progress bending immigration courts to its will, there\u2019s evidence that federal courts, where <a href=\"https:\/\/projects.propublica.org\/habeas-tracker\">tens of thousands of immigrants have challenged their detentions as illegal<\/a>, are pushing back.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The National Immigration Project, a nonprofit legal advocacy group, tracked the cases of 263 immigrants who entered the country as unaccompanied minors and SIJ applicants. The group found that federal judges ordered releases or bond hearings in all but 12 of them since the start of the second Trump administration. In March, U.S. District Judge Gary Brown issued a scathing rebuke in one such case, writing, \u201cThe laws of human decency condemn such villainy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The administration can set policy, he wrote, but he added that \u201cit is forbidden from trampling our system of laws \u2014 a system which has safeguarded this nation for close to 250 years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Among those recently released was 20-year-old Fredy Martinez. Born in Honduras, he was a teenager when he crossed the border as an unaccompanied minor. He had graduated from high school in Texas and was delivering a DoorDash order on his bike when he was detained, according to court documents about his case. He was held for eight months at a sprawling and deeply troubled tent detention camp in El Paso, Texas \u2014 which has seen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2026\/03\/03\/texas-ice-detention-measles-east-montana-dilley-el-paso\/\">a measles outbreak<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gao.gov\/products\/gao-26-108886\">detainee deaths<\/a>, including one ruled a homicide \u2014 before a federal judge found his detention was illegal and ordered him released. DHS did not respond to a question about the center.<\/p>\n<p>Another teenager named Carlos from Guatemala said in an interview that he was detained on his way to work at a car wash in Rockland County, New York, when he was 18, despite having been granted SIJ and deferred action. He was flown over 1,000 miles to a detention facility in Louisiana, though not the same one as Chavez. Carlos asked to be identified only by his first name because of his ongoing immigration case.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After his arrest, he said, \u201cI was just thinking that I would never see my family again.\u201d Carlos was held for more than two months before a federal judge set him free.<\/p>\n<p>The DHS spokesperson did not answer questions about any individual cases. They said federal court rulings against the administration \u201cshould come as no surprise,\u201d since \u201cmany activist judges have attempted to thwart President Trump from fulfilling the American people\u2019s mandate.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-large bb--size-large p-bb--size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"766\" width=\"1149\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-43_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg?w=1149\" alt=\"A person holds a smartphone displaying an active call screen and keypad, with a blue patterned bedspread and stuffed animals blurred in the background.\" class=\"wp-image-85476\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-43_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-43_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-43_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-43_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-43_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-43_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-43_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg?resize=863,575 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-43_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-43_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-43_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-43_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg?resize=527,351 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-43_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg?resize=752,501 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-43_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-43_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg?resize=459,306 459w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-43_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-43_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-43_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg?resize=800,533 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-43_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260528-Sanchez-Alabama-Sister-101-43_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg?resize=1600,1067 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1149px) 100vw, 1149px\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Chavez and his sister try to speak daily when he calls from detention, helping each other cope with the separation.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Zaydee Sanchez\/ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<p>Six months into his detention, Chavez is on his own. He was ordered deported but is appealing the decision and filed a habeas petition.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/news\/local\/immigration\/article315572355.html\">Della Valle has been released<\/a>, thanks to his wife\u2019s outspoken advocacy. His release was bittersweet for Chavez. But Della Valle has not forgotten him.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Della Valle and his wife, Angela Della Valle, have helped Chavez\u2019s sister, Mayuri Chavez, to pay off his outstanding traffic tickets and prepare his defense. The couple started a letter-writing campaign for him. They\u2019ve passed out flyers with a picture of a chair Chavez made in carpentry class, asking people to color it in and send him messages of encouragement.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Della Valle said he feels pangs of guilt about leaving Chavez behind. He still speaks to Chavez most days and tries to keep the teen\u2019s spirits up, but worries his words don\u2019t carry the same weight now that he\u2019s out. Della Valle tries to convince himself that Chavez will be OK, saying, \u201cI think me being out might be good for him because he knows that there\u2019s hope.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-small bb--size-small-right p-bb--size-small-right\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"395\" width=\"527\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/drawings_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?w=527\" alt=\"Several decorated coloring pages are arranged on a wooden table, each featuring a drawing of a simple wooden plank chair with the phrase \u201cbring Elder home\u201d in colorful lettering at the top.\" class=\"wp-image-83773\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/drawings_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg 2759w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/drawings_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=300,225 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/drawings_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=768,576 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/drawings_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1024,768 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/drawings_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1536,1152 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/drawings_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2048,1536 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/drawings_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=863,647 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/drawings_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=422,316 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/drawings_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=552,414 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/drawings_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=558,418 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/drawings_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=527,395 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/drawings_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=752,564 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/drawings_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1149,862 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/drawings_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2000,1500 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/drawings_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=400,300 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/drawings_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=800,600 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/drawings_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1200,900 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/drawings_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1600,1200 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 527px) 100vw, 527px\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Children in an Alabama classroom colored pages to support Chavez.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Courtesy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Meanwhile, Chavez has been moved to different cells multiple times. One had only a single functional shower for dozens of men. The video call system often malfunctioned. Someone stole his small notebook, where he had carefully written down all the telephone numbers of the people he was in touch with outside. One night he dreamt he was free. When he woke up and realized he was still in detention, he panicked and had trouble breathing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He said he has been trying to keep up the routine he started when Della Valle was there, but each passing week makes it harder.<\/p>\n<p>In a series of interviews from detention, Chavez worried about losing half his junior year of high school. He missed a required English test and a deadline to turn in a history project, and now that the school year is over, he is unclear if he will be able to make the assignments up to be able to graduate on time. His sister spent a lot of money to get him braces, and without regular adjustments he worries it will all be for nothing. He missed the birth of his new nephew, and he is unsure if he will be able to meet him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had so many plans,\u201d he said, \u201cbut now everything is ruined.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"wp-block-propublica-aside bb--size-medium p-bb--size-medium\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-we-identified-young-people-in-the-immigration-system\">How We Identified Young People in the Immigration System<\/h3>\n<p>For this story, ProPublica analyzed several datasets released by the federal government under the Freedom of Information Act.<\/p>\n<p>To calculate the number of minors being ordered deported or granted voluntary removal each month in immigration court, ProPublica analyzed immigration court data released by the U.S. Department of Justice\u2019s Executive Office for Immigration Review.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For that calculation, we counted someone as a minor if they were under 18 at the time they received a removal or voluntary departure decision from an immigration judge. If someone did not have a birthdate listed in the data, we did not count them as a minor. Our results did not meaningfully change when we estimated how many of the people missing birthdates were likely to be minors.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We calculated the number of unaccompanied minors who were arrested in the interior of the country and were removed or voluntarily departed after being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by analyzing ICE detention data obtained via the Freedom of Information Act. Versions of this dataset were originally released to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse and The New York Times. It covers detentions from October 2018 through mid-December 2025 and has a field flagging detainees as unaccompanied minors.<\/p>\n<p>We excluded people who were arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection from our calculation so that we could isolate the effects of the administration\u2019s interior enforcement efforts, which have been led by ICE. Our figures only include individuals who were detained by ICE at some point in time, including those who were held briefly in hold rooms or hotels, and therefore may represent an undercount of total unaccompanied minors who were removed or voluntarily departed from the country.<\/p>\n<p>In calculating the share of unaccompanied minors who were removed or voluntarily departed who had a criminal background in the U.S., we included anyone listed as having a conviction or pending charge at the time of their removal that was not a traffic- or immigration-related offense.<\/p>\n<p>We ran our methodology and analysis past several former and current Department of Homeland Security officials. We also spoke with experts who have previously analyzed immigration data, including Susan Long of the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse; Ingrid Eagly of the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law; Michael Danielson of the Acacia Center for Justice; and immigration researchers Joseph Gunther and Brandon Marrow.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reporting Highlights Rollback of Protections: The Trump administration has gutted policies that gave immigrant minors access to legal counsel and relief from deportation while they applied to stay in the U.S. Detained and Removed: ProPublica\u2019s analysis found unaccompanied minors are being detained and removed at about three times the rate as during the final years&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ProPublica-Elder-Final-Yellow_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000-1.jpg?resize=2000,1333","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1137,1139,81,1140,289,1138],"class_list":["post-535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-deportations","tag-minors","tag-propublica","tag-tripled","tag-trump","tag-unaccompanied"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}