Washington, D.C. –
Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) strongly condemns today’s passage of a budget reconciliation bill by the U.S. House of Representatives that eviscerates long-standing legal protections for unaccompanied and separated children seeking safety in the United States. This legislation, under the guise of a funding measure, functionally eliminates the U.S. protection system for these uniquely vulnerable children, leaving them dangerously exposed to trafficking, abuse, and exploitation.
“The House has taken a dangerous leap backwards by passing a reconciliation bill that strips away core protections and anti-trafficking provisions for children who arrive in the United States alone, which traditionally have held bipartisan support,” said Jennifer Podkul, Chief of Global Policy and Advocacy at KIND. “This bill endangers some of the most vulnerable children seeking safety by sending them back into the hands of traffickers, abusers, and others wishing to do them harm. It effectively nullifies the bipartisan Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), which the Senate enacted by a vote of 99-0 in 2008, overturning other vital legal safeguards such as the Flores Settlement Agreement, mandating strip searches on children as young as 12 years old by CBP agents, and imposing exorbitant, punitive fees that would effectively prevent these children from accessing safety and due process.”
The legislation:
- Imposes prohibitive fees that would largely bar children from accessing protection. Unaccompanied children and their families would often have to pay more than $15,000 to seek safety in the United States. The costs include:
- $5,000 – for apprehension at the border
- $8,500 – to be released to a sponsor, including loving parents and legal guardians
- $1,000 – to apply for asylum
- $500 – to apply for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status
- $100 – to request a delay in court to find a lawyer
- Eliminates the right of most children at the border to present their protection claims to an immigration judge, all but guaranteeing these children’s due process-free return into the hands of traffickers and other bad actors
- Denies children access to attorneys. By appropriating $3 billion to the Office of Refugee Resettlement yet prohibiting the agency from allocating even a single dollar of that sum to the provision of legal representation, the bill would deprive unaccompanied children of their best and often only defenders against exploitation and trafficking.
“As the Senate takes up consideration of this measure, we urge Senators to honor their values and commitments and reject these provisions to stand up for vulnerable children instead of playing politics with their protection,” Podkul added.
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Media Contact: Megan McKenna, mmckenna@supportkind.org, 202-631-9990