United States President Donald Trump has revived the practice of detaining migrant families who came into the country illegally with their children.
On Thursday, the United States Immigrant and Customs Enforcement (ICE) worked to detain the first group of migrant parents and children. They were held in a detention facility in Texas that was designed to hold families with minors.
Detaining Migrant Families With Children
The news of the first family of migrants with children detained by ICE came through an internal government report, noting that the group included three kids. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said the migrants have deportation orders.
She also confirmed that President Trump's administration is refitting two Texas immigration detention centers to house families who are illegally in the U.S. McLaughlin said that they will not ignore the rule of law.
One of the detention facilities is the Karnes detention facility, which is found in Karnes City, Texas, which is a small town located east of San Antonio. The other one is located in Dilley, Texas, which is south of San Antonio, according to CBS News.
Read more: Trump Administration's Mass Deportation Plan Orders ICE to Target Unaccompanied Migrant Children
The latest move reverses a policy change by the Biden administration that discontinued the long-standing practice of detaining migrant families. The practice was first implemented on a large scale by the Obama administration to try and discourage families from illegally crossing the southern border.
Following the latest news, advocates and child welfare experts expressed their concern as they denounced family detention. They argue that it is harmful to children and their psychological well-being.
Tackling Immigration Issues
The situation comes as during his first time in office, President Trump also made an effort to deter migration through the southern border by detaining families. McLaughlin said that the best option for illegal migrant families is to self-deport, NPR reported.
Since Trump took office again, ICE has been constrained in its efforts to locate people to arrest and detain. The agency's 20 field offices across the country are now responsible for reaching a quota of at least 75 arrests per day despite limited staffing.
There is also an ongoing effort to target children who entered the country without their parents and were released without court dates. During Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, he and border czar Tom Homan said that plans for mass deportations would initially target migrants who committed crimes.
However, recent developments have shown that the administration's targets mostly consist of families and children who do not have criminal histories. The efforts to bring back family detention centers are being done with the help of private prison companies, as per NBC News.
