The Office of Refugee Resettlement is reportedly holding several unaccompanied minors in off-the-book shelters throughout the United States, an investigation by Reveal found.
The total number of sites is unknown, but Reveal reports that there are at least five such shelters in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. They are holding at least 16 boys and girls after they were transferred from known refugee shelters. The shelters reportedly specialize in caring for children with mental health and behavior challenges.
The federal government has not made the existence of the shelters public "or even disclosed them to the minors' own attorneys in a landmark class action case," writes Reveal.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Holly Cooper, an attorney who represents the class of unaccompanied minors in the agency's care, said the government did not report every minor's location and believes the ORR continues to withhold information about other locations.
The ORR's standards do allow for out-of-network transfers if the federal facilities cannot provide specialized services. But failing to provide both attorneys for the detained children and a detailed census of the minors in custody appears to violate "longstanding rules for the care of immigrant children," such as the Flores Agreement. Former ORR Director Robert Carey said there was no such arrangement for migrant children in 2015 and 2016, as far as he knew.
The ORR has not yet commented on Reveal's report, though the office did acknowledge the request. Read the full report at Reveal.
-
The week’s best photosIn Pictures Ready for lift-off, the odd one out, and more
-
The Week Unwrapped: Have pedigree dogs had their day?Podcast Plus what can we learn from Slovenia’s rejection of assisted dying? And can politicians admit their weaknesses?
-
4 often overlooked home maintenance tasks that could cost you laterThe Explainer A little upkeep now can save you money down the road
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
