Juveniles and Immigration Reform:
What is the Counties’ Role?

Recently in rural north Texas, a Department of Public Safety traffic stop revealed eleven suspected illegal aliens – ten adults and one juvenile - and resulted in a call to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Since there was a minor on scene, the judicial district’s juvenile probation officer was also contacted. ICE detained the ten adults but refused to accept custody and transport the 16-year-old to their facilities with the rest of the group. ICE officers told the local juvenile probation officer that according to a new federal policy they no longer accepted juveniles into their custody. With no criminal charges alleged against the juvenile (being in the U.S. without documentation is considered an administrative violation) the probation officer had no jurisdiction over the youth so he called Child Protective Services to let them know he needed help with placement. CPS refused to take the youth into their care, saying it was an ICE responsibility. Approaching the time limit for detaining a juvenile without cause, the officer exhausted all local resources and finally contacted the Mexican Consulate in Dallas for guidance. In the end, the county absorbed the tab for the expenses incurred for the youth’s meals, lodging and bus ticket to the Mexican Consulate, as well as the juvenile officer’s time away from his routine duties and case management.

The incident prompted a county judge to ask: what does a local official or law enforcement officer do when nobody is willing to accept responsibility for a juvenile suspected of being in this country illegally? And with the strengthening of immigration reform, will more situations like this occur and place unfunded mandates on local governments?

When asked in a phone conversation if ICE accepts juveniles into their custody, Mr. Reginald Sakamoto, Acting Chief of ICE’s Juvenile, Family and Residential Unit located in Washington, D.C., suggested local law enforcement “follow the directions provided in the Homeland Security Act of 2002 as it applies to unaccompanied alien children.” He said, “Typically, individuals under the age of 18 are processed the same as adults but are treated differently. Each situation involving a juvenile [with questionable citizenship] is handled on a case-bycase basis” because there are many variables to consider when determining citizenship and providing for the care and placement of a minor who may or may not have parents or eligible guardians in this country.

The Homeland Security Act of 2002, Section 462, transferred functions under U.S. immigration laws regarding the care and placement of unaccompanied alien children (UAC) from the Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service to the Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). The ORR’s Web site defines the following:

Unaccompanied Alien Children
Services are provided for unaccompanied alien children who are in Federal custody because of their immigration status. Definition: An unaccompanied alien child (UAC) is one who has no lawful immigration status in the United States; has not attained 18 years of age, and with respect to whom; 1) there is no parent or legal guardian in the United States; or 2) no parent or legal guardian in the United States is available to provide care and physical custody.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement is a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The US Department works with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s Department of Family and Protective Services to address the needs of some (non criminal) juveniles whose U.S. citizenship is being determined (especially those suspected of being U.S. citizens with non-citizen parents pending deportation).

Juveniles with criminal charges become the responsibility of state and local governments because their criminal offenses place them in the supervision of either the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) or the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (TJPC).

The Border Children’s Justice Project (BCJP) is a grant program developed by Border Juvenile Chiefs and offered by the TJPC. According to the TJPC web site, the BCJP facilitates collaborative efforts by United States and foreign authorities involving juvenile courts, the United States Border Patrol, law enforcement, United States and foreign consulates, child protective agencies and correction officials. The project is designed to improve the rehabilitative efforts of Texas and foreign authorities and provide a variety of services to offenders and their families.

Several contacts with ICE representatives failed to yield confirmation of a new policy (as conveyed to a juvenile officer by an ICE field officer) prohibiting ICE from accepting juveniles into their custody for questioning. However, the Assistant Director of ICE’s San Antonio Field Office, Agent Adrian Ramirez, said “It’s unfortunate that counties are even worrying about this procedure because it’s a federal responsibility.” Agent Ramirez explained that ICE employs Juvenile Coordinators to handle the special situations encountered with juveniles and confirmed that ICE is required to accept individuals under the age of 18 into custody if they are thought to be non- U.S. citizens, lack legal documentation, have no criminal allegations and no parents/ guardians in the country. The Homeland Security Act took the responsibility of care and placement away from ICE and Border Patrol and placed it with the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

“Prior to 2002, the Immigration and Naturalization Service took illegal (non criminal) juveniles into custody and arranged housing in local contract facilities such as Southwest Key. Now, once in custody, ICE juvenile coordinators contact the ORR for placement assistance” he said. Agent Ramirez said if he had one piece of advice to offer local law enforcement, it would be “to initiate and set-up contacts with local ICE offices and to be sure to always carry the field office’s phone number so that if a greater degree of assistance is needed in the field there’s someone of higher authority to call.”

For more information, visit the following web sites or contact Laura Nicholes at 800-456-5974 or via email to LauraN@county.org.

Office of Refugee Resettlement
Texas Juvenile Probation Commission – Border Children’s Justice Project