Photos Leaked of Detained Youth in Texas as Problems Continue

From October 2013 to July 2014 about 63,000 unaccompanied children enterred the United States illegally.  Many are fleeing violence in Central America associated with various Mexican and Central American drug cartels, MS 13 and other groups.  It is certainly possible that some parents or children misunderstood the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and believed that some young people upon arriving in the United States might be given some type of temporary permission to remain.  Although DACA is available only to young people who were physically present in the United States on June 15, 2007, the Department of Homeland Security has allowed thousands of children who entered illegally to remain temporarily in the United States out of custody and with an order to appear before a Department of Homeland Security officer or an immigration judge.

It is unclear whether many of these young people will appear for a removal hearing, especially considering that most have no defense to removal.  Under the 1982 case Plyler v. Doe, the Supreme Court held that it was unconstitutional for a public K-12 school to refuse instruction or admission to a child based on immigration status - that children illegally present in the United States had the same right to attend school as any other child.  So it is at least possible that some of the children released from detention this summer will be in US public schools this fall.

Some of the children may have asylum claims, but generally courts have held that refusing or resisting gang membership, being targeted by a gang for reasons of exploitation and being subjected to even extreme violence because of crime and lawlessness was insufficient to prevail in an application for asylum.  See, Matter of S-E-G, 24 I.&N. Dec. 579 (BIA 2008) and Matter of M-E-V-G-, 26 I&N Dec. 227 (BIA 2014).

It is immoral to send children back into war-like situations where drug cartels, army and police are shooting at each other.  But it may encourage more unaccompanied children to come if word travels that the US is releasing children on bond and they then don't appear for hearings and remain free illegally inside of the United States.