WASHINGTON — Children and young adults who have pending asylum claims in the U.S. are being arrested and placed in detention centers as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants. Immigration advocates and Texas Democrats in Congress are denouncing the action, saying the Trump administration should focus its enforcement efforts on immigrants who are dangerous.
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Texas Democrats and immigrant advocates are criticizing recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detentions involving asylum-seeking families and students, including two San Antonio children walking to a school bus stop and a high school senior leaving his work
Some immigration lawyers and lawmakers say that federal immigration authorities are targeting nonviolent immigrants and should instead prioritize criminals
The Department of Homeland Security said that having a pending asylum claim does not confer any legal status in the U.S. and that “being in detention is a choice”
Maria Betania Uzcategui-Labrador and her stepchildren hugged their immigration attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, after they were released from a federal detention center in South Texas. Lincoln-Goldfinch told Spectrum News that the mother was walking her children to a school bus stop last month in San Antonio when federal immigration authorities detained them.
“Victor really suffered having that happen and not being able to stop it, and then Maria Betania and the kids also suffered through their ordeal. They were in a jail facility that was very uncomfortable, unpleasant for them,” Lincoln-Goldfinch told Spectrum News.
Originally from Venezuela, Uzcategui-Labrador, her husband Victor and their children entered the U.S. in 2021 and are seeking asylum. Lincoln-Goldfinch said that while their asylum application is pending, the parents are allowed to work.
“Victor has a very real case for asylum. He and his family have been politically active, connected to political leaders of the opposition, and know people very close to them who have been jailed and tortured,” Lincoln-Goldfinch said.
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, said the family should never have been detained. The kids, 11 and 8 years old, attend a school in Alamo Heights.
“I think most San Antonians agree that, regardless of your politics, that ICE should not be targeting school bus stops to round people up,” Castro said. “They targeted a school bus stop and took in two kids and their stepmom, and have likely traumatized those kids, unfortunately, for life.”
Texas Democrats in Congress and immigrant advocates have been raising concerns about how students have been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin, is demanding the release of one such detainee, 18-year-old Luis Fernando Cabrera. The senior at Northeast Early College High School was stopped by a state trooper because of an expired registration. He was driving home from a closing shift at Popeyes. Cabrera, who was born in Mexico, came to the U.S. with his family when he was 11 years old. They are seeking asylum.
“He and I talked about his mom and his sister and his friends all getting to be together with him a couple of weeks from today as he walks across the stage at graduation, and we want to be able to make that happen for him,” Casar said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement to Spectrum News that Fernando Cabrera “will receive full due process and remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of his removal proceedings.”
The spokesperson added that he and Uzcategui-Labrador “illegally entered the U.S.” and “this administration is not going to ignore the rule of law.”
Federal officials have said that having a pending asylum claim does not confer any legal status in the U.S. and that “being in detention is a choice.”
But Lincoln-Goldfinch said that the U.S. is supposed to accept people fleeing persecution and that ICE should instead prioritize enforcement on criminals.
“ICE has these aggressive quotas placed upon them, and they go for easy targets,” Lincoln-Goldfinch said. “The system is flooded with good people, not dangerous people, and what that means is that the dangerous people aren’t prioritized, and that should give anyone who has public safety concerns in their mind a bit of pause.”
Trump ran on a hardline deportation campaign, and his administration has encouraged undocumented immigrants to leave on their own.
“We encourage all illegal aliens to take control of their departure with the CBP Home App. The United States is offering illegal aliens $2,600 and a free flight to self-deport now. We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return,” DHS said in a statement.