HOUSTON — The Trump administration is detaining immigrant children as young as 1 in hotels, sometimes for weeks, before deporting them to their home countries under policies that have effectively shut down the nation’s asylum system during the coronavirus pandemic, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. A private...
Trump Officials Reportedly Discussed Deporting Migrant Families
WASHINGTON — Homeland Security officials considered arresting thousands of migrant families who had final deportation orders and removing them from the U.S. in a flashy show of force, but the idea was tabled as the Trump administration grappled with straining resources and a growing number of Central Americans crossing the...
White House Wants $4.5 Billion in Emergency Border Funding
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Wednesday asked Congress for an additional $4.5 billion in emergency funds for the U.S.-Mexico border as the administration contends with a surge of Central American migrant families, with the bulk of the money for shelter and care. The number of families and children arriving...
ICE 'Overwhelmed' Yet Family Detention Space Goes Unused
HOUSTON — President Donald Trump has warned that Central American families are staging an "invasion" at the U.S.-Mexico border. He has threatened to take migrants to Democratic strongholds to punish political opponents. And his administration regularly complains about having to "catch and release" migrants. At the same time, his administration...
Border Is Overwhelmed, Resulting in Quick Release of Families
WASHINGTON — The number of migrant families and children entering the U.S. from Mexico is so high that Border Patrol is immediately releasing them instead of transferring them to the agency responsible for their release, forcing local governments to help coordinate their housing, meals and travel. "We need to work...
Report: Government Kept Tabs on Journalists, ‘Instigators’
SAN DIEGO — The U.S. government ran an operation to screen journalists, activists and others while investigating last year's migrant caravan from Mexico, a San Diego TV station reported Wednesday, citing leaked documents. Dossiers that included photos from their passports or social media accounts, date of birth and other details...
Notorious California Serial Killer Juan Corona Dead at 85
LOS ANGELES — Juan Corona, who gained the nickname "The Machete Murderer" for hacking to death dozens of migrant farm laborers in California in the early 1970s, has died. He was 85. Corona died Monday at an undisclosed hospital, Vicky Waters of the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reported....
Nearly 6,000 Abuse Complaints at Migrant Children Shelters
WASHINGTON — Thousands of accusations of sexual abuse and harassment of migrant children in government-funded shelters were made over the past four years, including scores directed against adult staff members, according to federal data released Tuesday. The cases include allegations of inappropriate touching, staff members allegedly watching minors while they...
Official Who Oversaw Migrant Kids: Separation Causes Trauma
WASHINGTON — The Health and Human Services official responsible for helping to reunite families separated by the Trump administration said Thursday he had warned colleagues that separating children from their parents would cause lasting, serious psychological trauma. Commander Jonathan White of the U.S. Public Health Service testified before a House...
Watchdog: Many More Migrant Families May Have Been Separated
WASHINGTON — Government investigators say many more migrant children may have been separated from their parents than the Trump administration has acknowledged. A report from the Health and Human Services inspector general's office finds that family separations were taking place before the spring of last year, when the administration announced...