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The Department of Homeland Security has begun targeting unaccompanied children in the immigration system with what they call a \u201cvoluntary option\u201d to return to their countries of origin.<\/p>\n
Lawyers representing children who entered the country apart from their immediate family have told LAist they are deeply concerned about the program because it appears children will be asked to waive their rights to see an immigration judge before being removed from the country.<\/p>\n
This effort by DHS comes after the department attempted earlier this year to stop funding a program to provide legal support to children in the immigration system. All funding to the program was halted in March but ordered by District Judge Araceli Mart\u00ednez-Olgu\u00edn to resume in April in accordance with the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act and federal policies. Last month, 76 undocumented minors were nearly flown to Guatemala in the middle of the night, before the deportations were stopped by District Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan.<\/p>\n
Representatives for DHS and HHS have not immediately responded to LAist\u2019s requests for comment.<\/p>\n
What we know so far<\/p>\n
Unverified reports spread through social media and immigration rights advocate circles Thursday, citing supposedly leaked information about an Immigration and Customs Enforcement action called \u201cOperation Freaky Friday\u201d set to begin today.<\/p>\n
The reports suggested ICE was planning to send \u201coffer\u201d letters to unaccompanied children in the immigration system 14 years and older, where they would be promised $2,500 in return for waiving their rights to see an immigration judge.<\/p>\n
It was also claimed that if children refused the offer they would be detained upon turning 18 and their family members living in the U.S. would also be arrested. Plans to threaten detention or arrest have not been independently verified by LAist.<\/p>\n
In a social media post today, a spokesperson for DHS denied the name of the operation, saying that it was made up by \u201canti-ICE activists,\u201d but acknowledged that there is now a program in place that is similar in some regard to what was shared in the unverified reports.<\/p>\n
\u201cICE and the Office of Refugee and Resettlement at HHS [Department of Health and Human Services] are offering a strictly voluntary option to return home to their families,\u201d the DHS account wrote<\/a>, also referencing an option for \u201caccess to financial support when returning home.\u201d<\/p>\n