Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview




Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview
Updated September 1, 2021
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
R43599




Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

Summary
The number of unaccompanied alien children (UAC, unaccompanied children) apprehended at
the Southwest border between U.S. ports of entry while attempting to enter the United States
without authorization has increased substantial y in the past decade. UAC apprehensions, which
numbered 16,067 in FY2011, reached what was a record of 68,541 in FY2014. Since then, they
have fluctuated considerably, reaching a then new record of 76,020 in FY2019, before declining
to 30,557 in FY2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first 10 months of FY2021, UAC
apprehensions reached an al -time peak of 112,192.
UAC are children under age 18 who lack both lawful immigration status in the United States, and
a parent or legal guardian in the United States, or a parent or legal guardian in the United States
who is available to provide care and physical custody. U.S. policy on UAC treatment and
processing is guided by the Flores Settlement Agreement of 1997, the Homeland Security Act of
2002, and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2008.
Children from the Northern Triangle countries, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, now
dominate what in prior years was largely a Mexican migrant flow. The TVPRA requires
differential treatment of Mexican children, who can be voluntarily returned to Mexico, compared
to that for children from al other countries, who are sheltered in the United States and put into
formal removal proceedings in immigration courts. This origin-country compositional shift has
affected federal spending and the federal agencies responsible for unaccompanied children.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS), and the Department of Justice (DOJ) share responsibility for UAC processing, treatment,
placement, and immigration case adjudication. CBP apprehends and detains UAC arrested at the
border. DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) handles custody transfer and
repatriation responsibilities, apprehends UAC in the interior of the country, and represents the
government in removal proceedings. HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) coordinates
and implements the care and placement of UAC in appropriate custodial settings. DOJ’s
Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) adjudicates UAC removal cases.
The Obama, Trump, and Biden Administrations, as wel as Congress, have taken steps since 2014
to respond to the UAC migrant situation. During the 2014 surge, the Obama Administration
established a working group to coordinate agency responses, opened the first large temporary
shelters, initiated programs to address root causes of child migration in Central America, and
created the Central American Minors (CAM) Refugee and Parole Program.
The Trump Administration also used temporary facilities while instituting a broad range of
policies to reduce the flow of al migrants il egal y crossing the Southwest border and limit who
could apply for asylum. It discontinued the CAM program and implemented a biometric/
biographic information-sharing agreement between ORR and DHS that it subsequently modified.
In 2020, HHS’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) exercised an authority under
Title 42 of the U.S. Code (public health) that al owed CBP to promptly expel UAC at the border.
The incoming Biden Administration faced a new record UAC surge and significantly reduced
ORR housing capacity. It excepted unaccompanied children from Title 42 expulsions, revoked the
biometric/biographic information-sharing agreement between ORR and DHS, employed more
temporary influx facilities to relieve CBP from housing thousands of children in its border
stations, reactivated the CAM program, and deployed FEMA to assist other federal agencies with
their response to the surge.
Congressional Research Service

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

Congress has responded by providing funding for UAC-related activities in response to annual,
supplemental, and emergency appropriations requests.
Congressional Research Service

link to page 6 link to page 8 link to page 10 link to page 11 link to page 12 link to page 14 link to page 15 link to page 20 link to page 20 link to page 22 link to page 23 link to page 25 link to page 25 link to page 29 link to page 30 link to page 31 link to page 33 link to page 33 link to page 34 link to page 34 link to page 35 link to page 38 link to page 39 link to page 40 link to page 40 link to page 41 link to page 42 link to page 43 link to page 44 link to page 45 link to page 45 link to page 45 link to page 8 link to page 8 link to page 19 link to page 21 link to page 36 Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

Contents
Background.................................................................................................................... 1
UAC Apprehension Levels ............................................................................................... 3
Legal Foundation of Current Policy ................................................................................... 5
Processing and Care of Apprehended UAC ......................................................................... 6
Customs and Border Protection.................................................................................... 7
Immigration and Customs Enforcement ........................................................................ 9
Office of Refugee Resettlement ................................................................................. 10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services .................................................................. 15
Executive Office for Immigration Review ................................................................... 15

Administration and Congressional Action ......................................................................... 17
Obama Administration Action ................................................................................... 18
Trump Administration Action .................................................................................... 20
Increasing UAC Shelter Capacity.......................................................................... 20
ORR Sponsor Background Checks and Post-Placement Procedures............................ 24
Information Sharing between ORR, ICE, and CBP .................................................. 25
Zero Tolerance Immigration Enforcement Policy..................................................... 26
Regulations to Replace the Flores Set lement Agreement.......................................... 28
Title 42 Public Health Emergency ......................................................................... 28
Mexican Immigration Policies .............................................................................. 29
Biden Administration Action ..................................................................................... 29
ORR Shelter Capacity ......................................................................................... 30
Other Actions to Address the UAC Surge ............................................................... 33
Explanations for the UAC Surge ........................................................................... 34
Congressional Funding .................................................................................................. 35
FY2015 ............................................................................................................ 35
FY2016 ............................................................................................................ 36
FY2017 ............................................................................................................ 37
FY2018 ............................................................................................................ 38
FY2019 ............................................................................................................ 39
FY2020 ............................................................................................................ 40
FY2021 ............................................................................................................ 40
FY2022 ............................................................................................................ 41


Figures
Figure 1. UAC Apprehensions at the Southwest Border, by Country of Origin, FY2008-
FY2021*..................................................................................................................... 3
Figure 2. UAC Apprehensions and Referrals to ORR Custody, FY2008-FY2021*................... 14

Tables
Table 1. UAC Initial Case Completion by Outcome and Legal Representation ........................ 16
Table 2. Temporary ORR Facilities for Unaccompanied Children ......................................... 31
Congressional Research Service

link to page 46 Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview


Contacts
Author Information ....................................................................................................... 41

Congressional Research Service

link to page 8 link to page 8 link to page 8 Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

Background
Unaccompanied alien1 children (UAC, unaccompanied children) are defined in statute as children
who
 lack lawful immigration status in the United States,2
 are under the age of 18, and
 are without either a parent or legal guardian in the United States, or a parent or
legal guardian in the United States who is available to provide care and physical
custody.3
Most unaccompanied children are apprehended between U.S. ports of entry (POEs) along the
southwestern border with Mexico. Apprehensions are made by the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP), an
agency within the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s), Customs and Border Protection
(CBP). Less frequently, unaccompanied children are deemed inadmissible at U.S. POEs along the
border by CBP’s Office of Field Operations or apprehended in the interior of the country by
DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).4
During the 2000s, the number of apprehended unaccompanied children who were subsequently
put into removal proceedings and referred to the Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) averaged 6,700 annual y and ranged from a low of
about 4,800 in FY2003 to a peak of about 8,200 in FY2007.5
Starting in FY2011, UAC apprehensions at the Southwest border increased substantial y. By
FY2014, they reached a then-record of 68,541, leading some Members of Congress as wel as the
Obama Administration to characterize the issue as a humanitarian crisis.6 UAC apprehensions
have since remained relatively high while fluctuating considerably (see “UAC Apprehension

1 T he term alien refers to people who are not U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals. Aliens include foreign nationals who are
legally present as well as those not legally present. T he term is defined in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952,
as amended (INA), Section 101(a)(3), 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(3).
2 T his results from entering the country without inspection (illegally), entering legally with fraudulent documents, or
entering the country legally but overstaying the duration of admittance (i.e., a visa overstay). For backgro und
information, see CRS Report R43892, Alien Rem ovals and Returns: Overview and Trends.
3 6 U.S.C. §279(g)(2). Although these children may have a parent or legal guardian who resides in the United States,
they are classified as unaccompanied if the parent or legal guardian cannot provide im m ediate care. Children
accompanied by any adult who is not a parent or a designated legal guardian, including family members such as older
siblings or aunts and uncles, are also classified as unaccompanied.
4 In this report, figures presented for UAC apprehensions (between U.S. POEs) do not include figures for UAC who are
deemed inadmissible (at U.S. POEs). T he latter constitute a relatively small portion of all UAC pr ocessed at the U.S.
border and are processed by federal agencies in the same manner as UAC apprehended between POEs. Publicly
available figures for the past three fiscal years of inadmissible UAC are presented below in “ UAC Apprehension
Levels.”

5 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Refugee Resettlement, Office of Refugee
Resettlem ent Year in Review—FY2013
, December 20, 2013; and HHS, Administration for Children and Families,
Fiscal Year 2020, Justification of Estim ates for Appropriations Com m ittees, p. 38.
6 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, hearing, 113th
Cong., 2nd sess., June 11, 2014 (hereinafter, “ Oversight of the Departm ent of Hom eland Security, June 11, 2014 ).
Congressional Research Service
1

link to page 8 link to page 10 Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

Levels” below).7 Most recently, UAC apprehensions at the Southwest border reached an al -time
peak of 112,192 in the first 10 months of FY2021.8
Unaccompanied children’s motivations to migrate to the United States are often multi-faceted and
can be chal enging to measure analytical y.9 During the 2014 peak, the Congressional Research
Service (CRS) analyzed several major push factors contributing to UAC out-migration, many of
which are stil relevant.10 These included crime, economic conditions, poverty, and the presence
of violent transnational gangs in migrants’ countries of origin. CRS also examined pull factors
attracting UAC to the United States, such as economic opportunity, family reunification, and
more favorable treatment of non-Mexican migrant children by U.S. immigration law.11 At the
time, critics of the Obama Administration’s policy response suggested that the sizeable increase
in UAC flows resulted from a perception of child-related, immigration policy loopholes.12 Critics
often cited the 2008 statute13 that al ows UAC from countries other than Mexico and Canada to
enter and remain in the United States while awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge (see
“Legal Foundation of Current Policy” below). Similar criticisms have been leveled more recently
in response to the continued high level of UAC apprehensions at the Southwest border.14
Recent analyses of the causes of Central American migration to the United States cite lack of
employment opportunity and employment instability;15 socioeconomic and security conditions;16
corruption and weak governance;17 and climate change, natural disasters, and ensuing food
insecurity.18 Others argue that the Biden Administration’s more lenient immigration enforcement

7 UAC apprehension data for individual years prior to FY2008 are not publicly available. In FY2001, UAC
apprehensions numbered 5,385 and UAC referrals from CBP to ORR averaged about 7,100 for the years FY2004-
FY2012. See archived CRS Report RL33896, Unaccom panied Alien Children: Policies and Issues (available to
congressional clients upon request); and HHS, Administration for Children and Families, Fiscal Year 2017,
Justification of Estim ates for Appropriations Com m ittees, p. 243.
8 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, “Southwest Land Border Encounters,” https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/
southwest -land-border-encounters. T his total represents 9% of total apprehensions of all migrant types (897,213) at the
Southwest border by the U.S. Border Patrol.
9 See for example, Matthew Lorenzen, “The Mixed Motives of Unaccompanied Child Migrants from Central
America’s Northern T riangle,” Journal on Migration and Hum an Security, vol. 5 ( 2018), pp. 744-767.
10 See archived CRS Report R43628, Unaccompanied Alien Children: Potential Factors Contributing to Recent
Im m igration
. For information on the link between transnational gangs and unaccompanied alien children, see CRS
Report R45292, MS-13 in the United States and Federal Law Enforcem ent Efforts; and Jessica Vaughan, “ MS-13
Resurgence: Immigration Enforcement Needed to T ake Back Our Streets,” Center for Immigration Studies, February
21, 2018.
11 For a more recent analysis, see United Nations High Commission for Refugees, Families on the Run, 2020.
12 Critics cited the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, begun under the Obama Administration in
2012, which grants certain foreign nationals some protection from removal in two-year increments if they arrived in the
United States as children and meet other requirements. See, for example, Oversight of the Departm ent of Hom eland
Security, June 11, 2014
. For background information on the DACA policy, see archived CRS Report R44764, Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA): Frequently Asked Questions
.
13 T he William Wilberforce T rafficking Victims Protect ion Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA, P.L. 110-457).
14 See, for example, Lora Ries, “T he Left’s Immigration Policies Are Endangering Children,” T he Heritage Foundation,
March 22, 2021; and Andrew R. Arthur, “ Unaccompanied Alien Children and the Crisis at the Border, Center for
Immigration Studies, April 1, 2019.
15 Catholic Relief Services, Between Rootedness and the Decision to Migrate, October 2020.
16 See CRS In Focus IF11151, Central American Migration: Root Causes and U.S. Policy.
17 See, for example, Charles T . Call, “T he imperative to address the root causes of migration from Central America,”
Brookings Institution, January 29, 2021.
18 See, for example, World Bank Group, “Internal Climate Migration in Latin America,” Groundswell Policy Note #3,
2018; Natalie Kitroeff and Daniele Volpe, “ ‘We Are Doomed’: Devastation From Storms Fuels Migration in
Congressional Research Service
2

link to page 34 link to page 34 link to page 8
Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

policies relative to those of the Trump Administration19 have encouraged al migrants, and
particularly unaccompanied children, to seek asylum in the United States (see “Biden
Administration Action”).
This report reviews UAC apprehension levels since FY2008.20 It discusses the statutes and
policies governing treatment, care, and custody of unaccompanied children as wel as the
responsibilities of the primary federal agencies involved. The report also reviews administrative
and congressional actions to address UAC surges from FY2014 to the present.
UAC Apprehension Levels
Relatively high levels of UAC apprehensions emerged 10 years ago, starting from 16,067 in
FY2011, to 24,481 in FY2012, and increasing to 38,759 in FY2013 (Figure 1). In FY2014, CBP
apprehended 68,541 UAC, more than in any of the previous six years and more than four times as
many as in FY2011. Since FY2014, UAC apprehensions have fluctuated considerably each year.
Figure 1. UAC Apprehensions at the Southwest Border, by Country of Origin,
FY2008-FY2021*

Sources: FY2008-FY2013: United States Border Patrol, “Juvenile and Adult Apprehensions—Fiscal Year 2013.”
FY2014-FY2018: Customs and Border Protection, “U.S. Border Patrol Southwest Border Apprehensions by

Honduras,” New York Times, June 7, 2021; Kevin Sieff, “T he reason many Guatemalans are coming to the border? A
profound hunger crisis.,” Washington Post, April 1, 2021; Sabrina Rodriguez, “It’s Not a Border Crisis. It’s a Climate
Crisis,” Politico, July 19, 2021; Jacob Soboroff and Julia Ainsley, “ T rump admin ignored its own evidence of climate
change’s impact on migration from Central America,” NBC News, September 21, 2019; and Jeff Masters, “ Fifth
Straight Year of Central American Drought Helping Drive Migration,” Scientific American, December 23, 2019.
19 See, for example, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, “Unaccompanied Alien Children and Family Units Are
Flooding the Border Because of Catch and Release Loopholes,” press release, February 15, 2018 ( issued during the
T rump Administration).
20 FY2008 represents the first year in which CRS could locate publicly available annual UAC apprehension data.
Congressional Research Service
3

link to page 10 link to page 10 Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

Sector FY2018.” FY2019-FY2021: U.S. Border Patrol, “Southwest Land Border Encounters,”
https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-land-border-encounters.
Notes: *FY2021 includes the first 10 months of the fiscal year. Data on UAC deemed inadmissible are excluded
from Figure 1 because CBP did not include them prior to FY2017. Data for FY2020 and FY2021 represent
encounters that include both apprehensions under Title 8 as wel as expulsions under Title 42.
In 2020, at the outset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump Administration temporarily
restricted the entry of certain foreign nationals at land and coastal borders to limit the potential
spread of the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an order
referred to as Title 42 (from the section of the U.S. Code dealing with public health) on March 21,
2020, that suspended the introduction of certain foreign nationals traveling from Mexico and
Canada into the United States.21 Under Title 42, CBP promptly expel ed most unaccompanied
children to Mexico, their country of last transit, instead of processing them under immigration
law (Title 8). The use of Title 42 combined with the pandemic’s restrictive impact on migration
contributed to a drop in encounters (apprehensions and expulsions) of unaccompanied children
from 76,020 in FY2019 to 30,557 in FY2020.
In November 2020, a federal district court judge halted the application of the March CDC order
to unaccompanied children because it violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization
Act (TVPRA) and other laws governing UAC processing (see “Legal Foundation of Current
Policy”
below).22 On January 29, 2021, a federal circuit court judge stayed the November
injunction,23 which would have al owed the Biden Administration to continue expel ing
unaccompanied children under Title 42. In February 2021, the Administration formal y exempted
unaccompanied children from Title 42 expulsions, requiring that they be processed under Title 8
and put into formal immigration proceedings.24
In the first 10 months of FY2021, UAC encounters rebounded to a new peak of 112,192,
representing 9% of the 1,276,194 USBP encounters at the Southwest border.25 The UAC
encounters figure exceeds levels for al previous fiscal years, even while representing only five-
sixths of the fiscal year. DHS expects UAC apprehensions to continue at their current elevated
levels for the remainder of FY2021.26
In FY2020 and FY2021, there were 142,749 combined UAC encounters. Of these, 127,164 (89%)
were Title 8 apprehensions and 15,585 (11%) were Title 42 expulsions. Most of the expulsions

21 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Control of
Communicable Diseases; Foreign Quarantine: Suspension of Introduction of Persons Into United States From
Designated Foreign Countries or Places for Public Health Purposes,” 85 Federal Register 16559, March 24, 2020; and
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “ Notice of Order Under
Sections 362 and 365 of the Public Health Service Act Suspending Introduction of Certain Persons From Countries
Where a Communicable Disease Exists,” 85 Federal Register 17,060, March 26, 2020.
22 Suzanne Monyak, “DC Judge Blocks Policy T o Expel Migrant Kids From Border,” Law360, November 18, 2020.
23 Alyssa Aquino, “DC Circ. Lifts Block On Migrant Children Expulsion Policy,” Law360, January 29, 2021.
24 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Notice of T emporary
Exception From Expulsion of Unaccompanied Noncitizen Children Pending Forthcoming Public Health
Determination,” 86 Federal Register 9942, February 17, 2021. CDC reaffirmed that exemption in July. See U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “ Title 42 Order Reassessment
and Exception for Unaccompanied Noncitizen Children,” media statement, July 16, 2021.
25 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, “Southwest Land Border Encounters,” https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/
southwest -land-border-encounters.
26 Alicia A. Caldwell and Michelle Hackman, “Border Crossings by Migrant Children to Rise Sharply, U.S. Estimates
Show,” Wall Street Journal, March 26, 2021.
Congressional Research Service
4

link to page 11 Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

(10,939, or 70%) occurred during FY2020, and in both fiscal years, expulsions mainly affected
children from Mexico (11,506, or 74%).
As noted above, figures presented for UAC apprehensions (between U.S. POEs) do not include
figures for UAC who are deemed inadmissible or expel ed at U.S. POEs. Those UAC encounters
numbered 1,599 for the first 10 months of FY2021, or just under 2% of total UAC encounters
during that period.27
Mexican children no longer dominate UAC apprehensions as they did prior to FY2012.28 In
FY2009, for example, children from Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries (El Salvador,
Guatemala, and Honduras) represented 82% and 17%, respectively, of the 19,668 UAC
apprehensions that year. By FY2021, those proportions had flipped, with Mexican and Northern
Triangle children respectively representing 18% and 77% of al UAC apprehensions. This
country-of-origin shift has affected federal agencies that process and shelter unaccompanied
children because of the different responses to children from contiguous countries versus children
from al other countries (see “Processing and Care of Apprehended UAC” below).29
The majority of UAC apprehensions in the first 10 months of FY2021 have occurred within the
Rio Grande (TX), El Paso (TX), and Tucson (AZ) border sectors (51%, 17%, and 13%,
respectively).30 Data on UAC who were in ORR care each month indicate that during the first
eight months of FY2021, the female UAC proportion was 30% and the proportion of UAC under
age 15 was 24%.31
Legal Foundation of Current Policy
A court settlement and two laws most directly guide U.S. policy on the treatment and
administrative processing of UAC: the Flores Settlement Agreement of 1997, the Homeland
Security Act of 2002, and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008.
During the 1980s, al egations of UAC mistreatment by the former Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS)32 led to a series of lawsuits against the U.S. government that
eventual y resulted in a 1997 consent decree, the Flores Settlement Agreement (Flores
Agreement
).33 The Flores Agreement established a nationwide policy for the detention, treatment,
and release of UAC and recognized the particular vulnerability of UAC as minors while detained

27 Prior to FY2017, CBP did not publish statistics on UAC deemed inadmissible, making it difficult to compare
apprehensions before and after that fiscal year. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, “ Southwest Land Border
Encounters,” https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-land-border-encounters.
28 UAC from “all other” countries made up less than 5% of total UAC apprehensions over the period presented. T he
absolute number of such UAC apprehensions totaled 1,165 in FY2020 and 5,253 in the first 10 months of FY2021.
U.S. Border Patrol, “Southwest Land Border Encounters,” https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-land-
border-encounters.
29 For an example of how high UAC apprehension levels have affected federal agencies, see Letter from Kirstjen M.
Nielsen, Secretary of Homeland Security, to United States Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, March 29, 2019.
30 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, “Southwest Land Border Encounters (By Component),” https://www.cbp.gov/
newsroom/stats/southwest -land-border-encounters-by-component .
31 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Latest UAC Data—FY2021,” June 24, 2021, https://www.hhs.gov/
programs/social-services/unaccompanied-children/latest-uc-data-fy2021/index.html.
32 T he Homeland Security Act of 2002 dissolved the former Immigration and Naturalization Service ( INS) and
assigned its functions to the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and Health and Human Services.
33 Flores v. Meese—Stipulated Settlement Agreement (U.S. District Court, Central District of California, 1997). Many
terms of the agreement have been codified at 8 C.F.R. §236.3, §1236.3.
Congressional Research Service
5

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

without a parent or legal guardian.34 It required that immigration officials detaining minors
provide (1) food and drinking water, (2) medical assistance in emergencies, (3) toilets and sinks,
(4) adequate temperature control and ventilation, (5) adequate supervision to protect minors from
others, and (6) separation from unrelated adults whenever possible. For several years following
the Flores Agreement, criticism continued over whether the INS had fully implemented the
drafted regulations.35
Five years later, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (HSA, P.L. 107-296) divided responsibilities
for the processing and treatment of UAC between the newly created DHS and ORR. To DHS, the
law assigned responsibility for the apprehension, transfer, and repatriation of UAC. To ORR, the
law assigned responsibility for coordinating and implementing the care and placement of UAC in
appropriate custody, reunifying UAC with their parents abroad if appropriate, maintaining and
publishing a list of legal services available to UAC, and collecting statistical information on
UAC, among other responsibilities.36 The HSA also established the statutory definition of UAC as
unauthorized minors not accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Despite these developments,
advocates continued to argue that the Flores Agreement had stil not been fully implemented.
Responding to ongoing concerns that CBP was not adequately screening apprehended UAC for
evidence of human trafficking or persecution, Congress passed the Wil iam Wilberforce
Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA, P.L. 110-457). The TVPRA
directed the Secretary of DHS, in conjunction with other federal agencies, to develop policies and
procedures to ensure that UAC in the United States who are removed are safely repatriated to
their countries of nationality or of last habitual residence.
The TVPRA set forth special rules for UAC from contiguous countries (i.e., Mexico and Canada),
requiring that they be screened for evidence of human trafficking within 48 hours of
apprehension. It mandated that unaccompanied children determined not to be human trafficking
victims or not to have a fear of returning to their home country or country of last habitual
residence be returned to their countries without additional penalties. It also required the Secretary
of State to negotiate agreements with Mexico and Canada to manage UAC repatriation.
The TVPRA mandated that unaccompanied children from noncontiguous countries—as wel as
UAC from contiguous countries apprehended at the border and determined to be human
trafficking victims or to have a fear of returning to their home country or country of last habitual
residence, or who are apprehended away from the border—be transferred to the care and custody
of ORR and placed in standard removal proceedings.
Processing and Care of Apprehended UAC
Several DHS agencies handle the apprehension, processing, and repatriation of UAC, while ORR
handles the care and custody of UAC. The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) in
the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) conducts immigration removal proceedings.
CBP apprehends, processes, and temporarily holds UAC along U.S. borders. DHS’s ICE
physical y transports UAC referred to ORR from CBP to ORR custody. ORR is responsible for
sheltering UAC while they await an immigration hearing. DHS’s U.S. Citizenship and

34 See U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, CBP’s Handling of Unaccompanied Alien
Children
, OIG-10-117, Washington, DC, September 2010.
35 See U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, Unaccompanied Juveniles in INS Custody,
Executive Summary, Report no. I-2001-009, September 28, 2001.
36 ORR assumed care of UAC on March 1, 2003. P.L. 107-296, Section 462.
Congressional Research Service
6

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

Immigration Services (USCIS) is responsible for the initial adjudication of asylum applications
filed by UAC after the children have been placed in removal proceedings. EOIR conducts
immigration proceedings that determine whether UAC may be al owed to remain in the United
States or must be deported to their home countries. ICE is responsible for repatriating UAC who
are ordered removed from the United States. The following sections describe each agency’s role.
Customs and Border Protection
CBP’s USBP and Office of Field Operations (OFO) apprehend and process unaccompanied
children that arrive between U.S. POEs or at POEs, respectively.37 Most UAC are apprehended
between POEs and are transported to USBP facilities. UAC arriving at POEs are escorted to CBP
secondary screening areas.
When CBP confirms that a foreign national under age 18 lacks U.S. lawful immigration status
and is unaccompanied by a parent or legal guardian, the minor is classified as an unaccompanied
alien child under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), and processed for immigration
violations. The consulate that represents the child’s country of citizenship is notified that DHS
has detained him or her. CBP also collects and enters identifying information about the UAC into
DHS databases.38 With the exception of Mexican and Canadian UAC who meet the three criteria
discussed below, the TVPRA requires that USBP turn UAC over to ICE for transport to ORR
within 72 hours of determining that the children meet the UAC definition.
As mentioned, the TVPRA directed the Secretary of Homeland Security, in conjunction with the
Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to
develop policies and procedures to ensure that UAC are repatriated safely to their country of
nationality or last habitual residence. Of particular significance, the TVPRA requires CBP to
follow certain criteria for UAC who are nationals or habitual residents of a contiguous country.39
Although the screening provision only applies to UAC from contiguous countries, DHS issued a
policy in March 2009 that effectively mandated screening for al UAC.40
The INA requires that CBP personnel screen unaccompanied children from contiguous countries
within 48 hours of apprehension to determine if the following statements are true:
 the UAC has not been a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons and
there is no credible evidence that the minor is at risk of being trafficked upon
return to his/her country of nationality or last habitual residence;
 the UAC does not have a fear of returning to his/her country of nationality or last
habitual residence owing to a credible fear of persecution; and

37 USBP oversees immigration and customs enforcement between POEs. OFO oversees the inspection of travelers and
goods at POEs. All UAC are processed, regardless of where they enter, but only UAC that arrive between U.S. POEs
are apprehended.
38 UAC processing includes gathering biographic data such as name, age, citizenship, and accompanied or
unaccompanied status. USBP agents also collect biom etric data on UAC (e.g., fingerprints) and query relevant
immigration, terrorist, and criminal databases.
39 8 U.S.C. §1232(a)(2).
40 T estimony of Office of Immigration and Border Security Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Kelly Ryan, U.S.
Congress, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Trafficking Victim s Protection Reauthorization Act: Renewing the
Com m itm ent to Victim s of Hum an Trafficking
, 112th Cong., 1st sess., September 14, 2011.
Congressional Research Service
7

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

 the UAC is able to decide independently to return voluntarily to his/her country
of nationality or last habitual residence.41
If CBP determines that al three of the above statements are true about a UAC and, therefore, that
he or she is inadmissible under the INA,42 the UAC must return to his or her home country. In
such cases, CBP can permit the child to withdraw his/her application for admission,43 al owing
the minor to return voluntarily to his or her country of nationality or last habitual residence.
The TVPRA contains provisions for the treatment of UAC from contiguous countries while in the
care and custody of CBP, and it provides guidance for CBP personnel on repatriating minors. It
requires the Secretary of State to negotiate agreements with Mexico and Canada for repatriation
of their UAC that serve to protect the children from trafficking. These agreements, at minimum,
must include provisions that (1) ensure the handoff of the minor children to an appropriate
government official; (2) prohibit returning UAC outside of “reasonable business hours;” and (3)
require border personnel of the contiguous countries be trained in the terms of the agreements.
Unaccompanied children from noncontiguous countries who are not subject to TVPRA’s special
repatriation procedures for UAC from Mexico or Canada (i.e., withdrawal of application for
admission) are placed in standard removal proceedings pursuant to INA Section 240. The TVPRA
specifies that in standard removal proceedings, UAC are eligible for voluntary departure under
INA Section 240B at no cost to the child.44
As noted, OFO processes UAC apprehended at POEs at CBP secondary screening areas and UAC
apprehended between POE are processed at USBP facilities. In January 2008, CBP issued a
memorandum entitled “Hold Rooms and Short Term Custody.”45 Following the issuance of this
policy, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) criticized the Border Patrol for failing to uphold
related provisions in current law and the Flores Agreement.46 In 2010, the DHS Office of
Inspector General (OIG) issued a report concluding that while CBP was in general compliance
with the Flores Agreement, it needed to improve its handling of UAC.47 In 2015, CBP issued

41 P.L. 110-457, Title II, §235(a)(2)(A). Some observers allege that USBP agents routinely screen apprehended
Mexican unaccompanied children inadequately in order to summarily return most of them to Mexico. See , for example,
Kiera Coulter et al., “A Study and Analysis of the T reatment of Mexican Unaccompanied Minors by Customs and
Border Protection,” Journal on Migration and Human Security, vol. 8 (2020), pp. 96-110; Government Accountability
Office (GAO), Unaccom panied Alien Children: Actions Needed to Ensure Children Receive Required Care in DHS
Custody
, GAO-15-521, July 2015; and Betsy Cavendish and Maru Cortazar , Children at the Border: The Screening,
Protection and Repatriation of Unaccom panied Mexican Minors
, Appleseed, Washington, DC, 2011 (hereinafter,
Children at the Border”). In contrast, OFO agents at U.S. POEs in FY2020 reportedly referred half of all presenting
unaccompanied children to ORR. See Amnesty International, “Facts and figures: Deportations of unaccompanied
migrant children by the USA and Mexico,” June 11, 2021.
42 Before admitting a foreign national to enter the United States, CBP must confirm or establish the individual’s
admissibility according to the grounds for inadmissibility in INA §212(a), 8 U.S.C. §1182(a).
43 Under INA §235(a)(4), apprehension at the border constitutes an application for admission to the United States. In
this case, “withdrawal of application for admission” permits the UAC to return immediately to Mexico or Canada and
avoid administrative or other penalties.
44 For more information on voluntary departure, voluntary return, and withdrawal of application for admission, see
CRS Report R43892, Alien Rem ovals and Returns: Overview and Trends.
45 UAC are held in “hold rooms” at Border Patrol stations. T he 2008 memorandum, which is publicly available but
redacted, outlines agency policy on the care and treatment of individuals in CBP care and custody. See U.S. Customs
and Border Patrol, “Hold Rooms and Short T erm Custody,” January 31, 2008.
46 See, for example, Children at the Border.
47 U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, CBP’s Handling of Unaccompanied Alien
Children
, OIG-10-117, Washington, DC, September 2010. T he OIG report did not address whether CBP was
complying with the T VPRA and was unable to determine whether CBP personnel had sufficient training to comply
Congressional Research Service
8

link to page 25 Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

standards to address the interaction of its personnel with detained individuals.48 Yet, NGOs
continued to criticize CBP for its treatment of UAC and other detainees.49 In 2018, a multi-
disciplinary team from DHS’s OIG conducted unannounced site inspections at nine CBP facilities
within the El Paso and Rio Grande Val ey border sectors in Texas. The OIG reported that the CBP
facilities appeared to be operating in compliance with the 2015 standards.50
In 2017, the judge overseeing the Flores Agreement appointed the CBP Chief Accountability
Officer as the CBP Juvenile Coordinator (JC) to oversee the agency’s compliance with the
agreement. In 2019, CBP created the Juvenile Coordinator’s Office (JCO) to assist with this
responsibility. The JC and JCO reportedly conduct announced and unannounced site visits to
assess CBP facilities and interview children and/or parents regarding their temporary CBP
custody experiences.51
During the early months of 2021, CBP processing facilities that temporarily housed
unaccompanied minors were fil ed far beyond capacity following record levels of monthly UAC
apprehensions.52 The crowded conditions resulted from a processing backup created by reduced
ORR capacity to accept the children from CBP into its shelter network. That capacity shortfal , in
turn, resulted from some shelters having closed in response to declining demand during the
COVID-19 pandemic. Open ORR shelters also reduced capacity to adhere to CDC social
distancing guidelines.53 ORR has since expanded its housing capacity by using temporary influx
and emergency intake facilities (see “Increasing UAC Shelter Capacity” below), and CBP facility
overcrowding has declined accordingly.54
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
ICE is responsible for physically transferring UAC from CBP to ORR custody. ICE also may
apprehend UAC in the U.S. interior during immigration enforcement actions. In addition, ICE
attorneys represent the government in removal proceedings before EOIR.
ICE is also responsible for the physical removal of al foreign nationals, including UAC, who
have final orders of removal or who have elected to depart voluntarily from the United States
while in removal proceedings.55 ICE notifies the country of the foreign national being removed

with the provisions in the Flores Agreem ent.
48 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, National Standards on Transport, Escort, Detention, and Search , October
2015.
49 See Human Rights Watch, In the Freezer: Abusive Conditions for Women and Children in US Immigration Holding
Cells
, February 2018; and the University of Chicago Law School, International Human Rights Clinic, the American
Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Border Litigation Project, and ACLU Border Rights, Neglect and Abuse of
Unaccom panied Imm igrant Children by U.S. Custom s and Border Protection
, May 2018.
50 U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, Results of Unannounced Inspections of
Conditions for Unaccom panied Alien Children in CBP Custody
, OIG-18-87, September 28, 2018.
51 T estimony of Benjamine “Carry” Huffman, CBP Executive Assistant Commissioner, Enterprise Services, U.S.
Congress, House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Border Security, Facilitation, and Operations,
Unaccom panied Children at the Border: Federal Response and the Way Forward , 117th Cong., 1st sess., June 10, 2021.
52 See, for example, Rosa Flores and Sara Weisfeldt, “Border facilities holding migrant children are ‘stretched beyond
thin’ with ‘profound overcrowding,’ court monitors say,” CNN, April 5, 2021.
53 See, for example, Mark Greenberg, “Hampered by the Pandemic: Unaccompanied Child Arrivals Increase as Earlier
Preparedness Shortfalls Limit the Response,” Migration Policy Institute, March 2021.
54 Camilo Montoya-Galvez, “Overcrowding reduced at largest border facility for migrant children , but challenges
remain,” CBS News, May 6, 2021.
55 For more information on Voluntary Departure, see CRS Report R43892, Alien Removals and Returns: Overview and
Congressional Research Service
9

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

from the United States.56 To safeguard the welfare of al UAC, ICE has established policies for
repatriating UAC, including
 returning UAC only during daylight hours;
 recording transfers by ensuring that receiving government officials or designees
sign for custody;
 returning UAC through a port designated for repatriation;
 providing UAC the opportunity to communicate with a consular official prior to
departure for the home country; and
 preserving the unity of families during removal.57
To implement a removal order for a UAC, however, the U.S. government must secure travel
documents from his or her country. As such, the United States depends on the wil ingness of
foreign governments to accept the return of their nationals. Each country has documentary
requirements for repatriation of their nationals.58 While some al ow ICE to use a valid passport to
remove a foreign national (if the foreign national possesses one), others require ICE to obtain a
specific repatriation document.59 According to one report, obtaining travel documents can become
problematic, because countries may change their documentary requirements or object to a
juvenile’s return.60
Once the foreign country has issued travel documents, ICE arranges the UAC’s transport. If the
return involves plane travel, ICE personnel accompany the UAC to his or her home country. ICE
uses commercial airlines for most UAC removals. ICE provides two escort officers for each
UAC.61 Mexican UAC are repatriated in accordance with nine Local Repatriation Agreements
(LRAs) covering the full length of the U.S.-Mexico border, which require that ICE notify the
Mexican Consulate for each UAC repatriated. Additional specific requirements apply to each
LRA (e.g., specific hours of repatriation).62
Office of Refugee Resettlement
ORR’s Unaccompanied Alien Children Program provides for custody and care of unaccompanied
minors who have been apprehended and referred by CBP, ICE, or other federal agencies. The

Trends.
56 ICE uses a country clearance to notify a foreign country, through a U.S. Embassy abroad, that a foreign national is
being repatriated. In addition, when ICE personnel escort the alien during the repatriation, the country clearance
process notifies the U.S. Ambassador abroad that U.S. gover nment employees will be travelling to the country.
57 ICE Congressional Relations, email correspondence, May 16, 2014, and confirmed by CRS, August 6, 2019.
58 Depending on the country and where the UAC is housed, consular officer from that country will conduct in-person or
phone interviews. Olga Byrne and Elise Miller, The Flow of Unaccom panied Children Through the Im m igration
System
, Vera Institute of Justice, Washington, DC, March 2012, p. 27 (hereinafter , “ The Flow of Unaccom panied
Children
”).
59 Annex 9 of the Civil Aviation Convention, Section 5.21, requires that countries issue travel documents, but the
convention lacks an enforcement mechanism.
60 The Flow of Unaccompanied Children, p. 27. For more information, see CRS In Focus IF11025, Immigration:
“Recalcitrant” Countries and the Use of Visa Sanctions to Encourage Cooperation with Alien Removals
.
61 An additional officer is added for each group exceeding five UAC. T he gender of the officers corresponds to the
gender of the children repatriated. ICE Congressional Relations, email correspondence, May 16, 2014, and confirmed
by CRS, August 6, 2019.
62 Ibid. For more information, see U.S. Department of Homeland Security, “Updated U.S. Mexico Local Repatriation
Arrangements,” https://www.dhs.gov/publication/updated-us-mexico-local-repatriation-arrangements, May 28, 2019.
Congressional Research Service
10

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

TVPRA requires that UAC in HHS custody “be promptly placed in the least restrictive setting
that is in the best interest of the child.”63 The HSA requires ORR to develop a plan to ensure the
timely appointment of legal counsel for each UAC,64 ensure the child’s interests are considered in
decisions and actions relating to care and custody, and oversee the infrastructure and personnel of
UAC residential facilities, among other responsibilities.65 Like CBP, ORR screens each UAC to
determine if the child has been a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons; if there is
credible evidence that the child would be at risk if returned to his/her country of nationality or last
habitual residence; and if the child has a possible claim to asylum.66
ORR arranges to house the unaccompanied child within its network of shelters while seeking to
place him or her with a sponsor, usual y a family member. According to ORR, the majority of the
youth are cared for initial y through a network of about 200 state-licensed shelters in 22 states.67
These ORR-funded and supervised care providers offer classroom education, mental health and
medical health services,68 case management, and socialization and recreation. ORR oversees
different types of shelters to accommodate unaccompanied children with different circumstances ,
including standard shelter care, secure care, and transitional foster care.69 Unaccompanied
children spent an average of 35 days in ORR care in FY2014, 38 days in FY2016, 60 days in
FY2018, and 102 days in FY2020. In the first six months of FY2021, ORR reported that children
spent an average of 35 days in ORR shelters.70

63 §§235(a)-235(d) of T VPRA; 8 U.S.C. §1232(c)(2).
64 Section 462(b) of the HSA describe conditions for the care and placement of UAC in federal custody. Regarding
legal counsel, the statutory language states: “…the Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement shall be responsible
for ... coordinating and implementing the care and placement of unaccompanied alien children who are in Federal
custody by reason of their immigration status, including developing a plan to be submitted to Congress on how to
ensure that qualified and independent legal counsel is timely appointed to represent the interests of each such child,
consistent with the law regarding appointment of counsel that is in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.”
65 Section 235(c) of the T VPRA and Section 462(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (HSA, P.L. 107-296)
describe conditions for the care and placement of UAC in federal custody.
66 As noted previously, all UAC are initially screened by CBP for trafficking victimization or risk as well as possible
claims to asylum, regardless of country of origin. CBP shares some of this information with ORR. For more
information, see U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, “ Separated Children
Placed in Office of Refugee Resettlement Care,” HHS-OIG Issue Brief, OEI-BL-18-00511, January 2019.
67 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Refugee
Resettlem ent, Unaccom panied Alien Children Program
, Fact Sheet, May 5, 2021, (hereinafter, “ ORR UAC Fact
Sheet
”); and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Report to
Congress on Unaccom panied Alien Children Program
, Facility Oversight (undated). Some communities and states
have objected to unaccompanied children being placed in their jurisdictions (either in ORR shelters or through family
placements) as well as the lack of notification of such placements by ORR. See for example, U.S. Congress, House
Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, Im pact on Local Com m unities of the
Release of Unaccom panied Alien Minors and the Need for Consultation and Notification
, hearing, 113th Cong., 2nd
sess., December 10, 2014.
68 For more information on ORR services provision for unaccompanied children, see U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, ORR Guide: Children Entering the United States
Unaccom panied,
updated February 17, 2021 (hereinafter, “ORR Guide”), Section 3.
69 Standard shelter care refers to a minimally restrictive level of care for most UAC without special needs. Secure care
facilities are generally reserved for children with behavioral issues, a history of violent offenses, or who pose a threat to
themselves or others. For more information on shelters and ORR’s policies for placing unaccompanied children in
secure settings, see ORR Guide, Sections 1.21 and 1.24; and Flores v. Meese—Stipulated Settlem ent Agreem ent (U.S.
District Court, Central District of California, 1997), Exhibit 2.
70 Sources for FY2014: ORR UAC Fact Sheet, May 2014; for FY2016 and FY2018: ORR Legislative Affairs, email to
CRS on February 2, 2019; for FY2020: ORR “ Facts and Data,” https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/about/ucs/facts-and-data,
March 11, 2021; and for FY2021: ORR UAC Fact Sheet.
Congressional Research Service
11

link to page 30 Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

ORR shelter personnel facilitate the release of UAC to family members or other sponsors who are
able to care for them.71 The Flores Agreement outlines the following preference ranking for
sponsor types: (1) a parent; (2) a legal guardian; (3) an adult relative; (4) an adult individual or
entity designated by the child’s parent or legal guardian; (5) a licensed program wil ing to accept
legal custody; or (6) an adult or entity approved by ORR.72 Removal proceedings initiated by
CBP continue following an unaccompanied child’s placement with a sponsor.
In making these placement determinations, ORR conducts a background investigation of potential
sponsors and requires them to complete a sponsor assessment process that identifies risk factors
and other potential safety concerns. Background checks include a criminal public records check
and a sex-offender registry check. If ORR has a safety concern about a related sponsor or seeks to
release the child to an unrelated sponsor, background checks are also conducted on al adult
household members and individuals identified in the potential sponsor’s care plan.73 In a range of
circumstances, ORR may require a home study as an additional precaution.74 In most cases, ORR
must notify a UAC’s consulate of his or her custody.
ORR must make a determination prior to unification that the sponsor is capable of providing for
the child’s physical and mental wel -being.75 In addition, the parent or guardian is required to
complete a Parent Reunification Packet to attest that he or she agrees to take responsibility for the
UAC and provide proper care.76 ORR reports that most children it serves are reunified with
family members.77
In cases where a sponsor cannot be located, UAC are placed in a long-term care setting, such as
community based foster care or extended care group home.78 According to ORR, long-term foster

71 ORR UAC Fact Sheet.
72 Flores v. Meese—Stipulated Settlement Agreement (U.S. District Court, Central District of California, 1997), p. 10.
73 ORR requires fingerprinting for potential sponsors who are unrelated individuals; non -immediate family members;
individuals who have never previously served as the unaccompanied child’s primary caregiver; or immediate relatives
(and non-sponsor household members) where ORR has identified risk factors, ordered a home study, or considers the
UAC to be especially vulnerable. Fingerprints are cross-checked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI)
National Criminal History Check and state repository records. In the process, DHS arrest records are also queried.
74 A home study is an in-depth investigation of the potential sponsor’s ability to ensure the child’s safety and well-
being and involves background checks of both the sponsor and any adult household members, one or more home visits,
a face-to-face interview with the sponsor and potentially with other household members, and post -release services.
Pursuant to the T VPRA, home studies are required when the child (1) is a victim of a severe form of trafficking in
persons, (2) has a recognized disability as defined by Section 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or (3) has been
a victim of harmful abuse. ORR also requires home studies for sponsors who possess risk factors for abuse, for
unrelated sponsors seeking to sponsor multiple children, and for unrelated sponsors of children under age 13. See ORR
Guide,
Section 2.
75 ORR UAC Fact Sheet. During the T rump Administration, ORR increased the amount and type of information
collected from prospective sponsors. See “ Information Sharing between ORR, ICE, and CBP” below.
76 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children & Families, Unaccompanied Alien
Children Program, ORR Fam ily Reunification Packet for Sponsors (English/Espa ñol), https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/
resource/unaccompanied-childrens-services, April 2, 2021.
77 In the first six months of FY2021, 91% of discharged UAC were released by ORR to a sponsoring family member.
(Of this group 46% were parents or legal guardians, and 45% were other close relatives.) About 9% of discharged UAC
were released to other sponsors, such as distant relatives and unrelated adult individuals. Source: U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, “Latest UC Data – FY2021,” https://www.hhs.gov/programs/social-services/
unaccompanied-children/latest -uc-data-fy2021/index.html, May 7, 2021. Unaccompanied minors who are not
discharged represent children without identified sponsors who exited ORR care, including children who aged out
(reached age 18), children who accepted voluntary departure or who received a designation as an Unaccompanied
Refugee Minor, or other discharge options.
78 According to ORR, a child is a candidate for long term care if: he or she is expected stay in ORR custody for at least
Congressional Research Service
12

link to page 29 link to page 29 Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

care involves “ORR-funded community-based foster care placements and services to which
eligible unaccompanied children are transferred after a determination is made that the child wil
be in ORR custody for an extended period of time. Unaccompanied children in ORR long-term
foster care typical y reside in licensed foster homes, attend public school, and receive
community-based services.”79
Post-placement, ORR requires that its shelter care providers conduct a Safety and Well Being
Follow-Up Call
30 days after the child’s release to confirm the child’s safety, living
arrangements, school enrollment, and awareness of upcoming court dates.80 For cases that
required a home study, ORR provides Post-Release Services that link children and their sponsors
to community based services. Similar services are also offered by the agency’s National Call
Center
. Children, sponsors, and others can report confirmed or suspected incidents of sexual
abuse or harassment that occurred at ORR shelters through the agency’s UAC Sexual Abuse
Hotline
. Concerns have been raised repeatedly that ORR’s post-placement procedures are
insufficient to ensure the wel -being and safety of al placed children (see “ORR Sponsor
Background Checks and Post-Placement Procedures”).81

four months for lack of a viable sponsor; a legal service provider has identified the child as potentially eligible for
immigration relief (unless waived by ORR); and the child is under age 17½ when placed. ORR may also consider a
long-term care placement for an unaccompanied child who will have a longer stay due to other circumstances. Such
placement is prioritized for children under age 13, sibling groups with one child younger than 13, pregnant and
parenting teens, and children with special needs, including mental health needs. See ORR Guide, Section 1.2.6.
79 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Refugee
Resettlement, email correspondence, May 23, 2019. For more information, see ORR Guide, Section 3.6.
80 ORR Guide, Section 6.1.
81 For an assessment of ORR’s post -placement services, see Mark Greenberg, Kylie Grow, Stephanie Heredia, Kira
Monin, and Essey Workie, Strengthening Services for Unaccom panied Children in U.S. Com m unities, Migration Policy
Institute, June 2021.
Congressional Research Service
13

link to page 8 link to page 19 link to page 8 link to page 19
Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

Figure 2. UAC Apprehensions and Referrals to ORR Custody, FY2008-FY2021*

Source: Apprehensions: See sources for Figure 1 above; Referrals: FY2008-FY2020: HHS, Administration for
Children and Families, Fiscal Year 2022, Justification of Estimates for Appropriations Committees, p. 38; FY2021: HHS,
Office of Inspector General, Toolkit: Insights From OIG’s Work on the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s Efforts To Care
for Unaccompanied Children
, OEI-09-21-00220, May 2021, Exhibit 1; and unpublished data provided by ORR
Legislative Affairs Office to CRS for June and July 2021.
Notes: *FY2021 figures represent the first 10 months of the fiscal year, through July 2021. FY2021 ORR referral
figure is through May 13, 2021. Data for FY2020 and FY2021 represent encounters that include both
apprehensions under Title 8 as wel as expulsions under Title 42.
Figure 2 shows both annual UAC apprehensions and annual referrals of unaccompanied children
to ORR since FY2008. As expected, ORR referrals increase with apprehensions, and as children
from Central America increasingly dominated total UAC apprehensions, the percentage of
apprehended UAC referred to ORR also increased. In FY2009, when unaccompanied children
from the three Northern Triangle countries comprised 17% of al UAC apprehensions, the
proportion of children referred to ORR was 34% of total apprehensions. In FY2019, when
unaccompanied children from Northern Triangle countries comprised 86% of al UAC
apprehensions, the proportion of UAC referred to ORR was 91%.82 This trend reversed in
FY2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic lowered the Central American proportion of al
unaccompanied minors apprehended at the Southwest border. It resumed in FY2021 following the
termination of Title 42 treatment for unaccompanied children.
A portion of unaccompanied children in ORR custody wil turn age 18 while stil in ORR
custody, thereby aging out of UAC status as defined in statute. When that occurs, ORR’s legal
authority to retain custody of the children ends. ORR must then turn those children over to ICE
custody where they are typical y detained in adult detention facilities. Concerns have been raised
about the potential y traumatic impact to children of abruptly transitioning from a child welfare

82 See sources for Figure 1 and Figure 2. As noted above, not all UAC are referred to ORR; for instance, many UAC
from contiguous countries voluntarily return home.
Congressional Research Service
14

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

setting to an adult detention setting on or soon after their 18th birthdays.83 Some have attributed
this practice to a lack of ORR transition planning for older children.84 In 2020, a federal judge
found that ICE frequently failed to consider alternative housing options for children who aged out
of ORR custody.85
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
As noted, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is responsible for the initial
adjudication of asylum applications filed by unaccompanied children.86 If either CBP or ICE
determines that an apprehended child is a UAC and transfers him/her to ORR custody, USCIS
general y wil take jurisdiction over any asylum application, even where evidence shows that the
child reunited with a parent or legal guardian after CBP or ICE made the UAC determination.
USCIS also has initial jurisdiction over asylum applications filed by UAC with pending claims in
immigration court, with cases on appeal before the Board of Immigration Appeals, or with
petitions under review with federal courts. UAC must appear at any hearings scheduled in
immigration court, even after petitioning for asylum with USCIS.87
Executive Office for Immigration Review
The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) conducts removal proceedings and
adjudicates immigration cases.88 An immigration removal proceeding al ows the foreign national
and the U.S. government to present testimony so an immigration judge can determine whether the
foreign national is removable or qualifies for some form of relief from removal (i.e., permission
to remain in the United States either temporarily or permanently). The TVPRA requires that HHS
ensure, “to the greatest extent practicable,” that UAC have access to legal counsel. It also
authorizes HHS to appoint independent child advocates for child trafficking victims and other
vulnerable unaccompanied children.89
EOIR’s policies for conducting UAC removal hearings are intended to ensure that children
understand the nature of the proceedings, effectively present evidence about their cases, and have
appropriate assistance. The policy guidelines discuss possible adjustments to create “an

83 See, for example, John Burnett, “Migrant Youth Go From A Children ’s Shelter T o Adult Detention On T heir 18th
Birthday,” NPR, February 22, 2019; and Emily Stewart, “Immigrant children can be detained, prosecuted, and deported
once they turn 18,” Vox, June 21, 2018.
84 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on the Departments of Labor, Health and
Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, Departm ents of Labor, Health, and Hum an Services, and
Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2020
, report to accompany H.R. 2740, 116th Cong., 1st sess.,
H.Rept. 116-62, May 15, 2019, p. 147 (hereinafter, “ H.Rept. 116-62”). T he committee cited reports that approximately
two-thirds of unaccompanied children turning 18 years old while in the care and custody of ORR are transferred
directly to ICE custody.
85 Suzanne Monyak, “DC Judge Knocks ICE For Detaining T eens, Altering Evidence,” Law360, July 2, 2020. T he ICE
policies are the subject of ongoing litigation. See Grace Dixon, “ Judge Urged T o OK Plan T o End ICE T een
Detention,” Law360, June 14, 2021.
86 For information on asylum, see CRS Report R45539, Immigration: U.S. Asylum Policy.
87 For background information on the UAC asylum process, see archived CRS Report R43664, Asylum Policies for
Unaccom panied Children Com pared with Expedited Rem oval Policies for Unauthorized Adults: In Brief
.
88 For more information on immigration courts, see U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration
Review, “Executive Office for Immigration Review: An Agency Guide,” December 2017.
89 T VPRA (P.L. 110-457), Section 235(b).
Congressional Research Service
15

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

atmosphere in which the child is better able to participate more fully in the proceedings.” Under
these guidelines, immigration judges should
 establish special dockets for UAC that are separate from the general population;
 al ow child-friendly courtroom modifications (e.g., judges not wearing robes,
al owing the child to have a toy, permitting the child to testify from a seat rather
than the witness stand, al owing more breaks during the proceedings);
 provide courtroom orientations to familiarize the child with the court;
 explain the proceedings at the outset;
 prepare the child to testify;
 employ child-sensitive questioning; and
 encourage the use of pro bono legal counsel if the child is not represented.90
On July 9, 2014, in response to a UAC surge, EOIR issued new guidelines that prioritized cases
involving unaccompanied children and non-detained families above other cases in the
immigration courts and placed these cases on the same level as those of detained foreign
nationals.91 EOIR has since revised these priorities three times. Its most recent guidance, issued
January 17, 2018, does not prioritize UAC cases.92
Table 1. UAC Initial Case Completion by Outcome and Legal Representation
(FY2018, FY2019, FY2020 and first half of FY2021)
Cases With Legal
Cases Without Legal
Representation
Representation
Total Cases
Outcome
Cases
% of Total
Cases
% of Total
Cases
% of Total
Removal
8,267
37%
17,371
90%
25,638
61%
Termination
9,968
44%
1,163
6%
11,131
27%
Voluntary Departure
2,789
12%
769
4%
3,558
8%
Relief Granted
1,473
6%
13
<1%
1,486
4%

90 U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review, Operating Policies and Procedures
Memorandum 17-03: Guidelines for Im m igration Court Cases Involving Juveniles, Including Unaccom panied Alien
Children
, MaryBeth Keller, Chief Immigration Judge, December 20, 2017. T his memorandum updates OPPM 07 -01
from May 22, 2007.
91 EOIR’s priorities were (1) unaccompanied child; (2) adults with a child or children detained; (3) adults with a child
or children released on alternatives to detention; and (4) recently detained border crossers. See statement of Juan P.
Osuna, Director of Executive Office of Immigration Review, U.S. Department of Justice, The President’s Em ergency
Supplem ental Request for Unaccom panied Children and Related Matters
, in U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on
Appropriations, hearings, 113th Cong., 2nd sess., July 10, 2014. Some subsequently criticized these policies for rushing
the adjudication process. See, for example, U.S. Congress, House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on
Immigration and Border Security, Oversight of the Executive Office for Im m igration Review, statement of Ranking
Member Zoe Lofgren, hearing, 114th Cong., 1st sess., December 3, 2015, transcript serial no. 114 -57, pp. 34-35.
92 EOIR’s priorities for case completion include (1) all cases involving individuals in detention or custody; (2) cases
subject to a statutory or regulatory deadline; (3) cases subject to a federal court -ordered deadline; and (4) cases
otherwise subject to an established benchmark for completion. As such, UAC are not included in these categories.
Additional priorities are outlined in Appendix A of the 2018 guidance. See U.S. Department of Justice, Executive
Office for Immigration Review, memorandum from James R. McHenry III, Director, Case Priorities and Im m igration
Court Perform ance Measures
, January 17, 2018.
Congressional Research Service
16

link to page 21 link to page 21 Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

Cases With Legal
Cases Without Legal
Representation
Representation
Total Cases
Outcome
Cases
% of Total
Cases
% of Total
Cases
% of Total
Other
117
<1%
10
<1%
127
<1%
Total
22,614
100%
19,326
100%
41,940
100%
Source: Executive Office for Immigration Review, unpublished data provided to CRS, June 10, 2021.
Notes: Figures may not sum to totals presented because of rounding.
CRS reviewed recent EOIR data covering October 1, 2017, through March 31, 2021 (Table 1).
Over this 42-month period, EOIR received 72,558 new UAC cases and completed 41,940 cases.93
Of the total completed cases, 25,638 (61%) resulted in removal orders, of which 19,235 (75%)
were issued in absentia, meaning that the UAC had not shown up to the hearing.94 Of the
completed cases that did not result in a removal order, 11,131 (27%) were terminated,95 3,558
(8%) resulted in voluntary departure,96 and 127 (<1%) resulted in other outcomes.97 In 1,486
cases (4% of completed cases in this period), children received some form of immigration relief.
Typical forms of immigration relief for UAC include asylum, special immigrant juvenile (SIJ)
status for abused, neglected, or abandoned children who are declared dependent by state juvenile
courts,98 and T nonimmigrant status for victims of trafficking.99
Outcomes varied considerably depending upon whether children received legal representation. Of
the 22,614 children with legal representation, 37% (8,267) were ordered removed; of those, 40%
(3,322) were removed in absentia, and 7% (1,473) received some form of immigration relief. In
contrast, of the 19,326 children without legal representation, 90% (17,371) were ordered
removed; of those, 92% (19,235) were removed in absentia; and very few children (10) received
some form of immigration relief.
Administration and Congressional Action
The Obama, Trump, and Biden Administrations, as wel as Congress, have taken action since
2014 to respond to the increased levels of UAC apprehensions. During 2014, when UAC
apprehensions reached a record at the time, the Obama Administration developed a working
group to coordinate efforts of the federal agencies involved in responding to the issue. The
Obama Administration also temporarily opened additional shelters and holding facilities to
accommodate the large number of UAC apprehended at the border, initiated programs to address

93 Executive Office for Immigration Review, Office of Legislative Affairs, email correspondence with CRS, July 12,
2021. EOIR may have received the cases prior to FY2018 that it completed during this period. Case receipts are based
on initial filing date, and some children may have aged out of status during this time.
94 In absentia statistics are not shown in Table 1 but were provided by EOIR at CRS’s request.
95 T ermination refers to a decision by an immigration judge to dismiss the case associated with a particular charging
document. T he conventional charging document given to a UAC who is put into removal proceedings is the Notice to
Appear
. If such a case is terminated, t he child is not subject to removal related to the dismissed charging document. If
DHS choses to subsequently pursue the case, it must issue a new charging document .
96 A UAC may elect to leave the United States voluntarily at any point during his or her removal proceedings. For more
information on voluntary departure, see CRS Report R43892, Alien Rem ovals and Returns: Overview and Trends.
97 EOIR describes other outcomes as “administrative closure for reasons other than prosecutorial discretion, by joint
motion, or otherwise in accordance with applicable precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA).”
98 For more information, see CRS Report R43703, Special Immigrant Juveniles: In Brief.
99 For more information, see CRS Report RL34317, Trafficking in Persons: U.S. Policy and Issues for Congress.
Congressional Research Service
17

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

root causes of child migration from Central America to the United States, and requested funding
from Congress to support ORR’s increased caseload from the FY2014 surge.
The Trump Administration, also facing high levels of UAC and family unit apprehensions, took
steps to provide housing for unaccompanied minors while also attempting to reduce both the flow
of al migrants il egal y crossing the Southwest border100 and the number of families who filed
what Administration officials perceived were meritless asylum claims solely to gain U.S. entry.101
The Administration also implemented a biometric and biographic information-sharing agreement
between ORR and DHS that was intended to ensure greater child safety and immigration
enforcement.
The Biden Administration, facing a new UAC surge, has excepted unaccompanied children from
Title 42 expulsions, revoked the biometric/biographic information-sharing agreement between
ORR and DHS, deployed FEMA to assist other federal agencies, and substantial y increased the
use of large temporary facilities to process unaccompanied children.
Obama Administration Action
In response to the surge of UAC apprehensions, the Obama Administration in June 2014
announced the formation of a Unified Coordination Group headed by the Administrator of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), with representatives from key agencies.102
The FEMA administrator’s role was to “lead and coordinate Federal response efforts to ensure
that Federal agency authorities and the resources granted to the departments and agencies under
Federal law … are unified in providing humanitarian relief to the affected children, including
housing, care, medical treatment, and transportation.”103
From the outset of the 2014 surge, CBP maintained primary responsibility for border security
operations at and between POEs and, working with ICE, provided for the care of unaccompanied
children in temporary DHS custody.104 DHS coordinated with the Departments of Health and
Human Services, State, and Defense, as wel as the General Services Administration and other
agencies, to ensure a coordinated and prompt response within the United States in the short term,
and in the longer term to work with migrant-sending countries to undertake reforms to address the
causes behind the recent flows.105
To manage the UAC influx, ORR relied upon its network of shelters operated by nonprofit
organizations with experience providing UAC-oriented services (e.g., medical care, education).
HHS also coordinated with the Department of Defense (DOD), which temporarily made facilities

100 For a comprehensive summary of major immigration enforcement efforts under the T rump Administration, see
Jessica Bolter, Dism antling and Reconstructing the U.S. Im m igration System : A Catalog of Changes under the Trum p
Presidency
, Migration Policy Institute, July 2020.
101 See, for example, T he White House, “ President Donald J. T rump Is Working to Stop the Abuse of Our Asylum
System and Address the Root Causes of the Border Crisis,” fact sheet, April 29, 2019, and “ Our Nation’s Weak
Asylum Laws are Encouraging an Overwhelming Increase In Illegal Immigration,” fact sheet, November 1, 2018.
102 U.S. Department of Homeland Security, “Statement by Secretary Johnson on Increased Influx of Unaccompanied
Immigrant Children at the Border,” press release, June 2, 2014; and T he White House, Office of the Press Secretary,
Presidential Mem orandum —Response to the Influx of Unaccom panied Alien Children Across the Southwest Border,
June 2, 2014.
103 Ibid.
104 As one of its missions, ICE works to dismantle organizations that smuggle UAC into the United States.
105 U.S. Department of Homeland Security, “Statement by Secretary Johnson on Increased Influx of Unaccompanied
Immigrant Children at the Border,” press release, June 2, 2014.
Congressional Research Service
18

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

available for UAC shelter at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, Naval Base Ventura County,
California, and Fort Sil , Oklahoma. Arrangements to house UAC at al three sites ended August
2014.106 Subsequently, two other DOD locations, Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico and
Fort Bliss, Texas, were used to shelter UAC in early 2016 and in late 2016-early 2017,
respectively.107
In FY2014, DOJ’s Legal Orientation Program, tasked with providing legal orientation
presentations to sponsors of unaccompanied children in EOIR removal proceedings, served over
12,000 custodians for children released from ORR custody.108 To provide children entering the
immigration court system with legal representation during removal proceedings, EOIR partnered
with the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), a federal agency that
administers AmeriCorps.109 Together they created “Justice AmeriCorps” in 2015, a grant program
that enrolled approximately 100 lawyers and paralegals as AmeriCorps members.110
In June 2014, DHS initiated a program to work with the Central American countries on a public
education campaign to dissuade UAC from attempting to migrate il egal y to the United States.111
Additional Administration initiatives include collaborating with Central American governments to
combat gang violence, strengthening citizen security, spurring economic development, and
supporting the reintegration and repatriation of returned citizens.112
In September 2014, the Obama Administration announced a new Central American Minors
(CAM) Refugee and Parole Program to provide a safe, legal, and orderly alternative to U.S.
migration for unaccompanied children to join relatives in the United States.113 The program,
targeting children from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, was meant to discourage them
from migrating to the United States, by enabling at least some of them to be considered for
refugee status while at home. (In August 2017, the Trump Administration terminated the CAM
program. The Biden Administration has since reactivated the program and expanded its eligibility
criteria.114)

106 David Rogers, “Kid shelters at military posts to close,” Politico, August 4, 2014.
107 See archived CRS Insight IN10937, History of Use of U.S. Military Bases to House Immigrants and Refugees.
108 In 2010, DOJ’s Office of Legal Access Programs established the Legal Orientation Program for Custodians of
Unaccompanied Children (LOPC). T he program’s goals are “ to inform the children’s custodians of their
responsibilities in ensuring the child’s appearance at all immigration proceedings, as well as protecting the child from
mistreatment, exploitation, and trafficking, as provided under the T rafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act
of 2008.” T he LOPC, a collaboration between EOIR, ORR, and nongovernmental partners, operates a national call
center that provides scheduling assistance and basic legal information to UAC custodians.
109 For more information on the CNCS and AmeriCorps, see CRS Report RL33931, The Corporation for National and
Com m unity Service: Overview of Program s and Funding
.
110 Department of Justice and the Corporation for National and Community Service, “Justice Department and CNCS
Announce New Partnership to Enhance Immigration Courts and Provide Critic al Legal Assistance to Unaccompanied
Minors,” press release, June 6, 2014. T he Justice AmeriCorps program was administered from January 1, 2015, to
August 31, 2017.
111 T he White House, Office of the Press Secretary, “Fact Sheet: Unaccompanied Children from Central America,”
June 20, 2014.
112 Ibid.
113 For background information on the CAM program, see archived CRS Report R44020, In-Country Refugee
Processing: In Brief
.
114 For more information on the termination of the program and the current status of certain cases still affected, see U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services, “In-Country Refugee/Parole Processing for Minors in Honduras, El Salvador
and Guatemala (Central American Minors—CAM),” https://www.uscis.gov/CAM.
Congressional Research Service
19

link to page 36 link to page 30 Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

Trump Administration Action
Actions by the Trump Administration regarding unaccompanied children largely emphasized
efforts to provide temporary housing for unaccompanied children as wel as reduce the number of
adults migrating to the United States with children as “family units.”115 They included increasing
the use of temporary influx shelters in response to an increasing UAC caseload; sharing more
sponsor information between ORR, CBP, and ICE; reclassifying children whose parents were
prosecuted for il egal entry as UAC and housing them in ORR shelters; and proposing new
regulations to expand the amount of time children can spend in detention beyond the existing 20-
day limit.
Increasing UAC Shelter Capacity
To respond to surges of unaccompanied children arriving at the Southwest border alone or as part
of family units who were subsequently separated, ORR employed temporary “influx care
facilities”116 to supplement its existing network of state-licensed shelters. (For a current list of
temporary facilities, see Table 2.) These facilities are considerably larger than most standard
ORR-supervised shelters and are typical y located on federal y owned land or leased properties,
thereby exempting them from state or local childcare licensing standards. Between March 2018
and July 2019, ORR temporarily opened three such shelters, in Tornil o, TX (Tornil o shelter),
Homestead, FL (Homestead shelter), and Carrizo Springs, TX, and then closed them when they
were no longer needed.
At the end of December 2018, ORR was housing more than 14,000 children in al of its shelters
(including influx shelters), an increase from a reported 9,200 children in January 2017.117 In
December 2018, in response to the growing number of UAC in ORR custody, as wel as a
reported request from shelter operator BCFS Health and Human Services,118 the Trump
Administration relaxed the requirements of its information collection and sharing policy with
regard to potential UAC sponsors. (See “Information Sharing between ORR, ICE, and CBP”
below). According to one news report, the number of children housed in al ORR-supervised
shelters subsequently dropped from about 14,700 in December to 11,500 by mid-January 2019.119
Tornillo Shelter, Texas
Located 35 miles southeast of El Paso on the Mexico border, the Tornil o shelter operated from
June 2018 until January 2019. It was run by a private firm, BCFS Health and Human Services
(Emergency Management Division), a company known for providing emergency services

115 For an overview of apprehension trends during the T rump Administration, see CRS Report R46012, Immigration:
Recent Apprehension Trends at the U.S. Southwest Border
.
116 ORR defines “influx care facility” as “a type of care provider facility that is opened to provide temporary
emergency shelter and services for unaccompanied alien children during an influx or emerge ncy.” ORR Guide, Guide
to T erms.
117 Arelis R. Hernández, “T rump administration is holding record number of migrant youths,” Washington Post,
December 21, 2018; and Andres Leighton, “ Nearly 15,000 migrant children in federal custody jammed into crowded
shelters,” CNBC, December 19, 2018.
118 Robert Moore, “T ent City Operator’s Request for Policy Shift Could Reduce the Mass Detention of Migrant
Children,” Texas Monthly, December 15, 2018. Note that BCFS is not an acronym.
119 Miriam Jordan, “T rump Administration to Nearly Double Size of Detention Center for Migrant Teenagers,” New
York Tim es
, January 15, 2019.
Congressional Research Service
20

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

following major disasters like Hurricane Katrina.120 Even though some reported that Tornil o was
opened in response to the demand for UAC shelter space prompted by the Trump
Administration’s zero tolerance policy,121 HHS clarified that children separated as the result of
recent border enforcement actions were specifical y not sheltered at the Tornil o shelter.122 Rather,
older children were transferred to Tornil o just prior to their expected release to sponsors.123
Homestead Shelter, Florida
Located in Florida about 30 miles south of Miami, the Homestead Shelter (Homestead) was the
largest UAC facility operating in the United States and the only one operated by a for-profit
corporation, Comprehensive Health Services Incorporated (CHSI), a subsidiary of Caliburn
International Corporation.124 Like the Tornil o shelter, it was located on federal land.125
HHS began using Homestead as a temporary shelter for unaccompanied children in June 2016
and sheltered approximately 8,500 children over approximately 10 months until it closed
temporarily in April 2017.126 In March 2018, the Homestead shelter reopened.127 In February
2019, it reportedly added 1,000 beds in response to the closing of the Tornil o shelter.128 From
March 2018 to February 26, 2019, the shelter housed more than 6,300 unaccompanied children
and oversaw 4,850 sponsor placements. As of February 26, 2019, Homestead was housing about
1,600 children who had spent an average of 58 days in the shelter.129 On August 3, 2019, ORR
announced that the Homestead shelter had been closed and that al children in it had been placed
with sponsors or relocated to the network of state-licensed UAC shelters.130

120 Several news articles described T ornillo’s infrastructure and living conditions in detail. See for example, T anvi
Misra, “CityLab Daily: T he Life and Death of an American T ent City, Citylab, January 15, 2019.
121 See for example, Arelis R. Hernández, “Inside a gigantic U.S. tent shelter for migrant teens,” Washington Post,
October 12, 2018. For more information on the zero tolerance policy, see CRS Report R45266, The Trum p
Administration’s “Zero Tolerance” Immigration Enforcement Policy
.
122 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Unaccompanied Alien Children sheltered at T ornillo LPOE,
T ornillo, T exas,” Fact Sheet, updated December 26, 2018.
123 Caitlin Dickerson, “Migrant Children Moved Under Cover of Darkness to a T exas T ent City,” New York Times,
September 30, 2018.
124 For information about ORR’s contract with CHSI, see U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of
the Inspector General, The Office of Refugee Resettlem ent Did Not Award and Manage the Hom estead Influx Care
Facility Contracts in Accordance with Federal Requirem ents
, A-12-20-20001, December 2020.
125 John Burnett, “Inside T he Largest And Most Controversial Shelter For Migrant Children In T he U.S.,” NPR,
February 13, 2019.
126 Miami Herald, February 8, 2019. T he article does not specify the date when the shelter reached full capacity.
127 Several news reports suggest that Homestead was reopened without public notice. See for example, Jerry Iannelli,
“Five Awful Stories About Miami’s Child-Migrant Compound,” Miami New Times, November 4, 2018. HHS maintains
that it notified state and local community leaders about the reactivation of the Homestead site in the month prior to its
opening. See U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families,
“Unaccompanied Alien Children Job Corps Site, Homestead, Florida,” Fact Sheet, February 26, 2019 (hereinafter,
“ACF Fact Sheet”).
128 Miami Herald, February 8, 2019; and Miriam Jordan, “T rump Administration to Nearly Double Size of Detention
Center for Migrant T eenagers,” New York Times, January 15, 2019.
129 ACF Fact Sheet, February 26, 2019.
130 Alex Daugherty and Monique O. Madan, “Homestead detention center will shut down, but will cost millions to run
empty till the end,” Miami Herald, October 28, 2019.
Congressional Research Service
21

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

During its operation, Homestead was the subject of controversy. Media reports revealed that
several cases of sexual abuse al egedly occurred at the facility.131 Children reportedly faced an
environment that some characterized as emotional neglect and abuse. In addition, the facility was
located near a toxic military Superfund site.132 These issues reportedly influenced the Biden
Administration not to reopen Homestead in the spring of 2021 despite the urgent need for
additional housing.133
Carrizo Springs, Texas
Located about 120 miles southwest of San Antonio, Texas, the Carrizo Springs influx shelter was
first opened to children on June 30, 2019, with a potential capacity of 1,300 children. The facility,
sited on government-leased land, once housed oil field workers and was operated by BCFS, the
same privately run nonprofit organization that operated the Tornil o facility (described above).134
Carrizo Springs was closed less than a month after it opened.135
Influx Shelters on U.S. Military Installations
As it did during the Obama Administration, HHS coordinated with DOD to discuss and possibly
open temporary influx shelter facilities on U.S. military instal ations. Based on anticipated
increases of UAC referrals, HHS reactivated a temporary emergency influx shelter at Fort Sil
Army Base near Lawton, OK, about 80 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. The facility could
have housed approximately 1,400 children but remained shuttered during the Trump
Administration.136
Shelters in Border Hotels
Several media reports have described how some children were housed in hotels while awaiting
their expulsions under Title 42.137 The housing, arranged by ICE through MVM Inc., a private
contractor, reportedly began in April 2020 and involved hundreds and possibly thousands of UAC
in at least a half dozen locations.138 Child advocates raised concerns that such arrangements,
which also occurred under previous administrations, violated the TVPRA because the hotels were

131 Monique O. Madan, “Sex abuse claims revealed at Homestead shelter, where staff was not vetted for child abuse,”
Miam i Herald, July 15, 2020.
132 See, for example, Alexi C. Cardona, “Recapping the Five Biggest Controversies at the Homestead Migrant
Children’s Camp,” Miam i New Tim es, February 26, 2021.
133 See Stef W. Kight and Hans Nichols, “Biden opposes reopening controversial child migrant shelter,” Axios, March
16, 2021.
134 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, “Unaccompanied Alien
Children Sheltered at Carrizo Springs Site, Carrizo Springs, T exas,” press release, July 22, 2019.
135 See Alicia A. Caldwell, “New Shelter for Migrant T eenagers Lacks Residents,” Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2019;
and James Barragán, “Last group of migrant children to leave Carrizo Springs facility today—less than 1 month after it
opened,” The Dallas Morning News, July 25, 2019.
136 Ken Miller, “Plan halted to house migrant kids at Oklahoma’s Fort Sill,” Army Times, July 28, 2019; and U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, Administratio n for Children Youth, and Families, Legislative Affairs,
email correspondence to CRS, June 13, 2019.
137 Daniel Gonzalez, “124 immigrant children held in 3 Phoenix hotels under T rump policy, court records show,”
Arizona Republic, September 23, 2020; “ Migrant children held in hotels with “ no security” or protection from COVID-
19, civil rights advocate says,” CBS News, July 23, 2020;
138 Caitlin Dickerson, “A Private Security Company Is Detaining Migrant Children at Hotels,” New York Times,
October 21, 2020.
Congressional Research Service
22

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

not sufficiently monitored, employed workers who were not licensed to provide childcare, and
children’s parents or lawyers did not know their whereabouts. Some children were reportedly
kept in hotels for weeks prior to their expulsion.139 DHS officials maintain that hotels had housed
UAC several times during the past decade, and that using them protected the public and others
from the spread of COVID-19 at standard ORR shelters.140 Judge Dolly Gee, who oversees the
Flores Agreement, required DHS to end the practice by September 28, 2020.141
Concerns about ORR Temporary Shelters
ORR maintains that its temporary shelters possess similar standards, policies, and services found
at conventional ORR-supervised state-licensed shelters.142 However, child welfare advocates have
long expressed concerns about the temporary facilities’ large sizes, remote locations,143 durations
of stay,144 and processes for transferring children to the facilities.145 In November 2018, HHS’s
OIG issued a memorandum in which it identified significant vulnerabilities regarding insufficient
personnel background checks and numbers of mental health clinicians at Tornil o.146 The
following month, HHS responded to the OIG describing actions taken in response to the report’s
findings.147 In February 2019, a congressional delegation visiting the Homestead site
characterized its conditions as inhumane and unsuitable for children.148 Other immigration
observers refuted that characterization.149
In February 2019, an internal ORR report indicated that the agency had received 4,556 al egations
of sexual abuse or sexual harassment between FY2015 and FY2018, the more serious of which

139 Daniel Gonzalez, “ICE contractor still holding migrant children in Arizona hotels, acting DHS secretary says,”
Arizona Republic, August 7, 2020.
140 T estimony of Chad Wolf, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs, Hom eland Security Secretary Confirm ation Hearing , 116th Cong., 2nd sess.,
September 23, 2020.
141 Nomann Merchant, “Judge orders US to stop detaining migrant children in hotels.” AP News, September 4, 2020.
142 ORR Guide, Section 7.
143 Muzaffar Chishti and Faye Hipsman, “Unaccompanied Minors Crisis Has Receded from Headlines But Major
Issues Remain,” Migration Information Source, Migration Policy Institute, September 25, 2014.
144 According to one news report, unaccompanied children spent an average of 25 days in the T ornillo shelter out of an
average 59 total days in HHS custody. See Carmen Sesin, “‘Difficult to watch’: House Democrats tour housing for
migrant children,” NBC News, February 19, 2019.
145 See, for example, Joshua Barajas and Amna Nawaz, “T he T ornillo shelter for migrant children was supposed to
close after 30 days. Here’s why it’s still open,” PBS News, November 28, 2018; and Caitlin Dickerson, “Migrant
Children Moved Under Cover of Darkness to a T exas T ent City,” New York Times, September 30, 2018.
146 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Memorandum: The Tornillo Influx
Care Facility: Concerns About Staff Background Checks and Num ber of Clinicians on Staff (A -12-19-20000)
,
November 27, 2018. See also U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Care
Provider Facilities Described Challenges Addressing Mental Health Needs of Children in HHS Custody
, OEI-09-18-
00431, September 2019.
147 Letter from Lynn A. Johnson, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration
for Children and Families, to Amy J. Frontz, Assistant Inspector General for Audit Services, U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, December 21, 2018.
148 See, for example, Carmen Sesin, “'Difficult to watch’: House Democrats tour housing for migrant children,” NBC
News
, February 19, 2019; and Angelina Chaplin, “ Florida Detention Center Expands, Packing In Migrant Children
‘Like Sardines’,” Huffington Post, February 12, 2019.
149 See, for example, Preston Huennekens, “Is the Homestead UAC Shelter Actually a Prison?” Center for Migration
Studies, March 6, 2019.
Congressional Research Service
23

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

(1,303) were reported to DOJ.150 Further investigations revealed shortcomings with ORR’s
system for reporting such incidents within its shelter network.151
ORR Sponsor Background Checks and Post-Placement Procedures
Sizable increases in UAC referrals since FY2008 have chal enged ORR to meet the demand for
its services while maintaining related child welfare protocols and administrative standards.152
These chal enges attracted public attention in January 2016 when a Senate investigation found
that some UAC sponsored by distant relatives and legal guardians were forced to work in
oppressive conditions on an Ohio farm in 2014. The related Senate report outlined a range of
what it characterized as serious deficiencies related to the safe placement of children with distant
relatives and unrelated adults as wel as post-placement follow-up.153 During the Senate
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing that followed, HHS officials
acknowledged limitations of their screening and post-placement follow-up procedures for such
sponsors. They also contended that HHS’s liability terminates once custody of an unaccompanied
minor is relinquished to a sponsor.154 News reports indicate that DHS and HHS agreed to
establish new guidelines within a year to prevent episodes such as the farm-related labor
trafficking incident from reoccurring, an outcome that remained unfulfil ed as of 2018.155
In April 2018, during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, an HHS official testified
that ORR was unable to account for 1,475 of the 7,635 unaccompanied children placed with
sponsors between October and December of 2017.156 According to HHS, ORR began voluntarily
conducting post-placement outreach as a “30-day checkup” to ensure that children and their
sponsors did not require additional services even though HHS maintained that it had no legal
responsibility to locate UAC after placement with sponsors. Some observers suggested that many

150 Office of Refugee Resettlement, “NadUAC1213 Sexual Assaults by Date of Incident,” undated. See also Matt hew
Haag, “T housands of Immigrant Children Said T hey Were Sexually Abused in U.S. Detention Centers, Report Says,”
New York Tim es, February 27, 2019.
151 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, The Office of Refugee Resettlement’s
Incident Reporting System Is Not Effectively Capturing Data To Assist Its Efforts To Ensure the Safety of Minors in
HHS Custody
, OEI-09-18-00430, June 2020.
152 T he GAO raised concerns about ORR’s lack of planning for its capacity needs, inconsistent monitoring of service
provision by its nonprofit grantee organizations that provide shelter services, limited contact with children following
their placement, and unreliable and unsystematic administrative recording of post -placement follow-up procedures. See
U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), Unaccom panied Children: HHS Can Take Further Actions to Monitor
Their Care
, GAO-16-180, February 2016; and U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), DHS and HHS Have
Taken Steps to Im prove Transfers and Monitoring of Care, but Actions Still Needed
, GAO-18-506T , April 26, 2018.
Similar concerns have been raised by Congress. See U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight of the Care of Unaccom panied Alien
Children
, Staff Report, 115th Cong., 2nd sess., August 13, 2018.
153 United States Senate, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Permanent Subcommittee on
Investigations, Protecting Unaccom panied Alien Children from Trafficking and Other Abuses: The Role of the Office of
Refugee Resettlem ent
, staff report, undated.
154 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Permanent Subcommittee on
Investigations, Adequacy of the Departm ent of Health and Hum an Services’ Efforts to Protect Unaccom panied Alien
Children From Hum an Trafficking
, hearing, 114th Cong., 2nd sess., January 28, 2016.
155 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), DHS and HHS Have Taken Steps to Improve Transfers and
Monitoring of Care, but Actions Still Needed
, GAO-18-506T , April 26, 2018.
156 T estimony of Steven Wagner, Acting Assistant Secretary, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Congress,
Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations,
Oversight of HHS and DHS Efforts to Protect Unaccom panied Alien Children from Hum an Trafficking and Abuse ,
115th Cong., 2nd sess., April 26, 2018.
Congressional Research Service
24

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

nonresponsive sponsors may be residing in the United States il egal y and may be reluctant to
respond to official post-placement outreach.157 A 2016 HHS OIG report found a similar
proportion of UAC unaccounted for, post-placement.158
Information Sharing betw een ORR, ICE, and CBP
As noted, ORR tries to find sponsors, typical y family members, for UAC to live with while they
await their removal proceedings. For years, immigration enforcement advocates and some
Members of Congress decried that an indeterminate but sizeable proportion of UAC sponsors
were unauthorized aliens, and that ORR neither collected, nor shared with DHS, information on
sponsors’ legal status. Immigration advocates contended that such information sharing mandates
would discourage the sponsorship of unaccompanied children.
In April 2018, ORR, ICE, and CBP entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) providing
for the sharing of information from the time that UAC are referred by either CBP or ICE to ORR,
through their time in ORR custody, and upon their release from ORR custody to a sponsor.159
Under the MOA, ORR agreed to collect and share with ICE and CBP information about
unaccompanied children in their custody, such as, their arrests, unauthorized absences, deaths,
abuse experienced, and violent behavior, as wel as age determination findings and gang
affiliation information. The MOA also mandated the sharing of information about potential
sponsors and al adults living with them. Such information included citizenship, immigration
status, criminal history, and immigration history.
According to the agreement, ORR would share with ICE this information as wel as biographic
and biometric (fingerprint) information about potential sponsors and their household members. In
return, ICE would provide ORR with the summary criminal and immigration histories of the
potential sponsors and al adult members of their households so that ORR could make more
complete suitability determinations regarding the UAC sponsors.
The Trump Administration and immigration enforcement advocates described the policy as
necessary to ensure the safety and wel -being of children placed with sponsors.160 Immigrant
advocates contended that the new policy would increase the number of children that remain in
federal custody while they seek immigration relief, increase detention costs, and extend family
separation.161 They also questioned the relevance of an adult’s immigration status to a child’s safe
placement with a sponsor.162

157 Amy Harmon, “Did the T rump Administration Separate Immigrant Children From Parents and Lose T hem?” New
York Tim es
, May 28, 2018.
158 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement
Im proved Coordination and Outreach to Prom ote the Safety and Well-Being of Unaccom panied Alien Children
, OEI-
09-16-00260, July 2017.
159 Memorandum of Agreement Among the Office of Refugee Resettlement of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Pro tection of the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security Regarding Consultation and Information Sharing in Unaccompanied Alien Children
Matters, April 13, 2018.
160 See, for example, Andrew R. Arthur, “T he Worst Provision in the Funding Bill: T hink about the children,” Center
for Immigration Studies, February 16, 2019.
161 See, for example, Melissa Hastings et al., “T he ORR and DHS Information -Sharing Agreement and its
Consequences,” Justice for Immigrants, January 2019. Child welfare advocates have expressed grave concerns on how
family separation impacts children. See, for example, American Academy of Pediatrics, Letter from Colleen A. Kraft,
President, to T he Honorable Kirstjen M. Nielsen, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, March 1, 2018.
162 T al Kopan, “ICE arrested undocumented adults who sought to take in immigrant children,” San Francisco
Congressional Research Service
25

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

After the policy was implemented, ICE began to arrest unauthorized aliens who came forward to
sponsor unaccompanied children. From July through November 2018, ICE is reported to have
arrested 170 potential sponsors—109 of whom had no previous criminal histories—and placed
them in deportation proceedings.163 Matthew Albence, a then-senior ICE official who testified
before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in September 2018,
confirmed these activities and asserted that an estimated 80% of active UAC sponsors and family
members living with them were residing in the country il egal y.164
Some have linked the new information-sharing agreement with increases in the average number
of days unaccompanied children spend in ORR custody.165 During FY2015 and FY2016,
unaccompanied children spent an average of 34 and 38 days in ORR custody, respectively.166 In
FY2017, that average increased to 48 days. In FY2018, the figure increased to 60 days, and for
the first three months of FY2019, it stood at 89 days167 before declining to 55 days as of February
2020.168 Other factors, such as the number of children that require shelter, may have affected the
average time unaccompanied children were spending in ORR custody, making it difficult to
attribute changes in average ORR custody time solely to the information-sharing MOA between
ORR and DHS.
As noted above, the Administration in December 2018 relaxed some requirements of its
information collection and sharing policy. It continued to require background checks for al
members of the sponsor’s household over age 18, but limited the collection and sharing with DHS
of fingerprint data to sponsors only, not other adults in the sponsor’s household.169
Zero Tolerance Immigration Enforcement Policy
On May 7, 2018, DOJ implemented a “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for persons who
entered the United States il egal y between ports of entry. Under the zero tolerance policy, DOJ
sought to prosecute al adult foreign nationals apprehended crossing the border il egal y, without
making exceptions for asylum seekers or migrants with minor children. Close to 3,000 children
were initial y reported to have been separated from accompanying parents and legal guardians as

Chronicle, December 10, 2018.
163 Ibid.
164 T estimony of Matthew Albence, executive associate director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S.
Congress, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, The Im plications of the
Reinterpretation of the Flores Settlem ent Agreem ent for Border Security and Illegal Im m igration Incentives
, 115th
Cong., 2nd sess., September 18, 2018.
165 See T anvi Misra, “CityLab Daily: T he Life and Death of an American T ent City,” Citylab, January 15, 2019; and
National Center for Youth Law, Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, and the University of California
Davis School of Law Immigration Clinic, The Flores Settlem ent Agreem ent & Unaccom panied Children in Federal
Custody
, February 2019.
166 Data on annual average days in ORR custody from FY2015 -FY2018 provided to CRS by Office of Refugee
Resettlement, Office of Legislative Affairs and Budget, February 12 , 2019.
167 See Miami Herald, February 8, 2019.
168 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Refugee
Resettlem ent, Unaccom panied Alien Children Program
, fact sheet, April 1, 2020.
169 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, “Unaccompanied Alien
Children Program,” Fact Sheet, December 2018. On March 12, 2021, DHS and HHS issued a joint statement
announcing the termination of the 2018 agreement and the signing of a new Memorandum of Agreement “ that
promotes the safe and timely transfer of children” while maintaining child safeguards for vetting sponsors. See U.S.
Department of Homeland Security, Office of Public Affairs, “HHS and DHS Joint Statement on T ermination of 2018
Agreement,” press release, March 12, 2021.
Congressional Research Service
26

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

the result of the zero tolerance policy.170 DOJ’s policy represented a change in the level of
enforcement of an existing statute rather than a change in statute or regulation.171
Criminal y prosecuting adults (regardless of nationality) makes them subject to detention in
federal criminal adult detention facilities. Under the zero tolerance policy, when a parent entered
the U.S. il egal y with a minor and was detained in criminal detention, DHS treated the child as
an unaccompanied alien child and transferred him or her to ORR custody. Once the parent’s
criminal prosecution for il egal entry or reentry ended and any sentence was served, the parent
could be reunited with the child.
Following mostly critical public reaction, President Trump issued an executive order on June 20,
2018, mandating that DHS maintain custody of alien families during the pendency of any
criminal trial or immigration proceedings.172 CBP subsequently stopped referring most il egal
border crossers to DOJ for criminal prosecution. ICE continued, family detention space
permitting, to detain family units for up to 20 days. A federal judge then issued an injunction
prohibiting family separation and requiring that al separated children be promptly reunited with
their families.173
Reuniting families presented a considerable chal enge to ORR, CBP, and ICE. Immigrant
advocates criticized the Trump Administration’s efforts at family reunification for what some
described as an uncoordinated implementation process that lacked an effective plan to reunify
separated families.174 Reports subsequently issued by the OIG for both DHS and HHS indicated
that CBP had omitted information about the separated children’s family members after classifying
them as unaccompanied alien children and referring them to ORR, and described limitations with
its information technology system for tracking such children.175 The resulting delay in reunifying
families meant that two to three thousand additional children spent an indeterminate amount of
additional time in ORR shelters.176

170 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “HHS Issues Statement on Ms. L, et al., Status Report Regarding
Plan for Compliance for Remaining Class Members,” press release, July 13, 2018. T his figur e was also reported in
several news reports including Dan Diamond, “HHS says hundreds more migrant kids may have been separated than
earlier count,” Politico, July 5, 2018; and Caitlin Dickerson, “T rump Administration in Chaotic Scramble to Reunify
Migrant Families,” New York Tim es, July 5, 2018.
171 Prior Administrations prosecuted illegal border crossings relatively infrequently. When they did engage in concerted
efforts to crack down on this activity, they generally did not prosecute asylum seekers or fami lies. Prior
Administrations also separated arriving migrant parents from their accompanying children (and treated the minors as
unaccompanied children) in more limited circumstances, specifically where the agency had concerns about the
legitimacy of the family relationship or the safety of the child. Ibid.
172 Executive Order 13841, Affording Congress an Opportunity to Address Family Separation , 83 Federal Register
29435, June 25, 2018.
173 See Ms. L v. ICE, case 3:18-cv-00428-DMS-MDD, Document 83, (S.D. Cal. June 26, 2018).
174 See, for example, Kevin Sieff, “T he chaotic effort to reunite immigrant parents with their separated kids,”
Washington Post, June 21, 2018; and Jonathan Blitzer, “ T he Government has no plan for reuniting the immigrant
families it is tearing apart,” New Yorker, June 18, 2018.
175 U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, “Special Review—Initial Observations
Regarding Family Separation Issues Under the Zero T olerance Policy,” OIG-18-84, September 27, 2018; and U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, “ Separated Children Placed in Office of
Refugee Resettlement Care,” HHS-OIG Issue Brief, OEI-BL-18-00511, January 2019.
176 See Ian Lovett and Louise Radnofsky, “Amid Chaos at Border, Some Immigrant Families Reunite,” Wall Street
Journal
, June 24, 2018; Ritu Prasad, “ Undocumented migrant families embark on chaotic reunion process,” BBC, June
25, 2018; Kaitlyn Schallhorn, “What Trump’s ‘zero-tolerance’ immigration policy means for children separated from
families at border, Fox News, June 19, 2018; and Caitlin Dickerson, “ T rump Administration in Chaotic Scramble to
Reunify Migrant Families,” New York Times, July 5, 2018.
Congressional Research Service
27

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

In the period since the zero tolerance policy was effectively paused in June 2018, at least 1,000
additional children were separated, bringing the total reported number of separated children to
between 5,300 and 5,500.177
Regulations to Replace the Flores Settlement Agreement
On September 7, 2018, DHS and HHS jointly published proposed regulations on the
apprehension, processing, care, and custody of alien children that would have replaced the Flores
Agreement.178 The proposed regulations mainly addressed detention for children within family
units but also contain some provisions affecting unaccompanied children. While adhering to the
basic purpose of the Flores Agreement “in ensuring that al juveniles in the government’s custody
are treated with dignity, respect, and special concern for their particular vulnerability as minors,”
the rule would have amended current licensing requirements for family residential centers to
al ow families to be detained together during the full length of their immigration proceedings.
This rule would thereby have al owed ICE to overcome the 20-day immigration detention
restriction for families that was imposed as part of the Flores Agreement. The final rule was
issued on August 23, 2019.179
Opponents of the proposed rule criticized it for potential y al owing children to be indefinitely
detained with their parents in unsafe and inappropriate conditions.180 Supporters contended that,
in its current form, the Flores Agreement incentivizes unlawful migration to the United States and
the filing of meritless asylum claims.181 Soon after the rule was issued, the federal judge
overseeing the Flores Agreement permanently enjoined it.182
Title 42 Public Health Emergency
As noted above, in March 2020 the CDC declared a public health emergency under Title 42 of the
U.S. Code that al owed CBP to promptly expel unaccompanied children at the border without
considering their asylum claims.183 The use of Title 42 sharply reduced the number of
unaccompanied children that CBP referred to ORR. In the first six months of FY2020, UAC
apprehensions by CBP and CBP referrals to ORR totaled 18,096 and 13,339, respectively.184
Following Title 42, those figures for the second half of FY2020 declined to 12,461, and 1,970,

177 For more information, see CRS Report R45266, The Trump Administration’s “Zero Tolerance” Immigration
Enforcem ent Policy
.
178 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Homeland Security, “Apprehension,
Processing, Care, and Custody of Alien Minors and Unaccompanied Alien Children,” 83 Federal Register 45486-
45534, September 7, 2018.
179 U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Apprehension,
Processing, Care, and Custody of Alien Minors and Unaccompanied Alien Children, ” 84 Federal Register 44392-
44535, August 23, 2019.
180 See, for example, Philip Wolgin, “T he High Costs of the Proposed Flores Regulation,” Center for American
Progress, October 19, 2018.
181 See, for example, Matthew Sussis, “T he History of the Flores Settlement: How a 1997 agreement cracked open our
detention laws,” Center for Immigration Studies, February 11, 2019.
182 See Flores v. Barr, case 2:85-cv-04544-DMG-AGR, Document 690, (C.D. Cal. September 27, 2019).
183 For more information, see CRS Legal Sidebar LSB10582, Asylum Processing at the Border: Legal Basics.
184 Source for apprehensions figure: U.S. Border Patrol, “Southwest Land Border Encounters,” https://www.cbp.gov/
newsroom/stats/southwest -land-border-encounters. Source for referrals figure: U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, “Latest UC Data – FY2020,” https://www.hhs.gov/programs/social-services/unaccompanied-children/latest-
uc-data-fy2020/index.html. HHS presents only 30-day average referrals, which CRS multiplied by the number of days
in each month and summed these products to produce the total.
Congressional Research Service
28

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

respectively.185 The declines occurred because UAC expulsions under Title 42 made up the large
majority of enforcement actions, and expulsions preclude referrals to ORR.186 In November 2020,
a federal judge halted the use of Title 42 for UAC.187 In January 2021, an appeals court stayed
that injunction.188
Mexican Immigration Policies
In November 2020, immediately following the U.S. election, the Mexican government passed a
law limiting the extent to which minor children from other countries, accompanied or
unaccompanied, could be detained in Mexico.189 Previously, many children were detained in
Mexico. In 2019, for example, the Mexican government reportedly detained more than 50,000
children, largely from Honduras and Guatemala.190 In the first eight months of 2020, detained
children in Mexico numbered roughly 7,500. Following passage of the November law, Mexican
authorities released many previously detained children. What proportion may have migrated to
the U.S. border and requested asylum is unknown.
Despite these legal changes, observers have noted the largely unheralded role of the Mexican
government to reduce U.S.-bound migration by restricting and repatriating Northern Triangle
migrants, including unaccompanied minors. Between 2015 and 2020, Mexican authorities
reportedly repatriated between 50% and 90% of the almost 71,000 unaccompanied migrant
children they took into custody.191
Biden Administration Action
Soon after taking office, the Biden Administration stopped expel ing unaccompanied children
under Title 42.192 That action and other circumstances have contributed to a record surge of
unaccompanied children arriving at the Southwest border.193

185 Ibid.
186 As a result of T itle 42 and the COVID-19 pandemic, relatively fewer children from Northern T riangle countries
migrated to the Southwest border in the second half of FY2020 compared to the first half. Consequently, Mexican
unaccompanied children made up 35% of all UAC apprehensions in the first half of FY2020, but 64% in the second
half. Since most Mexican UAC are not referred to ORR but are voluntarily returned, ORR referrals declined more
significantly (85%) than apprehensions (32%) in the second half of FY2020.
187 See Suzanne Monyak, “DC Judge Blocks Policy to Expel Migrant Kids from Border,” Law360, November 18,
2020; and P.J.E.S. v. Chad F. Wolf, case 1:20-cv-02245-EGS-GMH, Document 80, (U.S. District Court, Washington,
D.C., November 18, 2020).
188 See Alyssa Aquino, “DC Circ. Lifts Block On Migrant Children Expulsion Policy,” Law360, January 29, 2021; and
P.J.E.S. v. David Pekoske, case 20-5357, Document 1882899, (U.S. Court of Appeals, Washington D.C., January 29,
2021).
189 For more information on Mexico’s role in U.S. immigration enforcement more generally, see CRS In Focus
IF10215, Mexico’s Im m igration Control Efforts.
190 Christopher Sherman, “Mexico to stop holding child migrants in detention centers,” APNews, November 12, 2020
191 Amnesty International, Pushed Into Harm’s Way: Forced Returns of Unaccompanied Migrant Children to Danger
by the USA and Mexico
, June 2021.
192 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Notice of T emporary
Exception From Expulsion of Unaccompanied Noncitizen Children Pending Forthcoming Public Health
Determination,” 86 Federal Register 9942, February 17, 2021.
193 See, for example, Nick Miroff and Maria Sacchetti, “Migrant teens and children have challenged three
administrations, but Biden faces rush with no precedent,” Washington Post, March 22, 2021; and Michael D. Shear,
Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Eileen Sullivan, “ Young Migrants Crowd Shelters, Posing T est for Biden,” New York Tim es,
June 14, 2021.
Congressional Research Service
29

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

ORR Shelter Capacity
The Biden Administration was confronted with limited ORR shelter capacity (described below),
which resulted in CBP rapidly expanding its temporary housing capacity to accommodate
arriving children, a situation that drew considerable media attention and criticism from child
welfare advocates.194 CBP operates Border Patrol stations as wel as centralized processing
centers that are intended to house migrants of al ages for at most a few hours and a few days,
respectively.195 At one point in March 2021, CBP was housing almost 5,800 unaccompanied
children in its own facilities,196 including more than 4,100 children at a Donna, TX, facility that
was intended for 250.197 More than 2,000 of these children had been held in CBP custody for
more than 72 hours, and 39 children had been held for more than two weeks.198
The reduced ORR housing capacity stemmed from both the declines in UAC referrals to the
agency during FY2020, and CDC’s public health protocols enacted in response to the COVID-19
pandemic. Because of sharply diminished numbers of UAC referrals in FY2020, some shelters
either reduced capacity or did not renew their contracts upon expiration. In addition, the CDC
protocols on COVID-19 required ORR shelters that were operating to reduce the number of
children housed in order to comply with its social distancing guidelines.199 Consequently, a
smal er number of conventional shelters were operating at significantly reduced capacity at the
start of FY2021—less than half the capacity required to accommodate demand for shelter
space—hampering ORR’s ability to respond to the UAC surge.200
In March 2021, CDC directed ORR to relax its COVID-19 related restrictions and accommodate
unaccompanied children in its shelters at 100% capacity, despite potential health risks.201 CDC
justified rescinding the COVID-19 guidelines at ORR shelters as preferable to having children
experience prolonged stays in CBP facilities.202 Reportedly, many conventional shelters faced

194 See, for example, Rosa Flores, Sara Weisfeldt and Catherine E. Shoichet, “Kids detained in overcrowded border
facility are terrified, crying and worried, lawyers say,” CNN, March 13, 2021; Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Michael D.
Shear, “Biden Faces Challenge From Surge of Migrants at the Border,” New York Times, March 8, 2021; and Hilary
Andersson and Anne Laurant, “Children tell of neglect, filth and fear in US asylum camps, ” BBC, May 23, 2021. CBP
faced similar criticisms during earlier surges. See, for example, Dara Lind, “ T he horrifying conditions facing kids in
border detention, explained,” Vox, June 25, 2019.
195 For more information on CBP and ORR shelter types, see Danilo Zak, Explainer: Emergency Shelters and Facilities
Housing Unaccom panied Children
, National Immigration Forum, updated June 25, 2021.
196 Mark Greenberg, “U.S. Government Makes significant Strides in Receiving Unaccompanied Children but Major
Challenges Remain, Migration Policy Institute, May 2021.
197 Elliot Spagat and Nomaan Merchant, “Over 4,000 migrants, many kids, crowded into T exas facility,” APNews,
March 31, 2021.
198 Ibid. By the end of April 2021, the number of unaccompanied children in CBP facilities had dropped below 1,000.
See Erin Coulehan, “Report: Number of unaccompanied migrant children at CBP facilities drops, daily apprehensions
persist,” Border Report, April 30, 2021. See also U.S. Customs and Border Protection, “CBP Announces June 2021
Operational Update,” press release, July 16, 2021.
199 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID-19 Infection
Control Inventory and Planning (ICIP) Tool for Hom eless Service Providers
, June 11, 2020. A review of ORR’s
protocols at its shelters indicated that they were generally p repared to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. See U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, Office of Refugee Resettlem ent Ensured
That Selected Care Providers Were Prepared To Respond to the COVID-19 Pandem ic
, Report No. A-04-20-02031,
November 2020.
200 See, for example, Mark Greenberg, “Hampered by the Pandemic: Unaccompanied Child Arrivals Increase as Earlier
Preparedness Shortfalls Limit the Response,” Migration Policy Institute, March 2021.
201 Stef W. Kight, “CDC lets child migrant shelters fill to 100% despite COVID concern,” Axios, March 5, 2021.
202 Priscilla Alvarez, “Biden administration tells facilities for migrant children to reopen to pre-pandemic levels,” CNN,
Congressional Research Service
30

link to page 36 Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

chal enges hiring staff, because applicants were wary of working in congregate settings.203 While
some unaccompanied children in ORR custody have reportedly been vaccinated,204 vaccination of
others is complicated by the lack of a COVID-19 vaccine for children under age 12.205
In addition, the Biden Administration opened previously closed and new temporary shelter
facilities, sometimes called Influx Care Facilities or Emergency Intake Sites.206 Such facilities can
be set up relatively quickly compared to conventional ORR-supervised state-licensed shelters that
require between six and nine months to open.207 Temporary facilities are not subject to state
licensing requirements, are typical y operated by private companies, and reportedly cost ORR
about $775 daily per child compared to about $290 daily for conventional shelters.208
As of August 27, 2021, ORR was overseeing five facilities that together possessed a capacity to
house roughly 14,100 children (Table 2).209 At the surge’s peak in March 2021, ORR reportedly
required 20,000 beds to keep pace with the influx. It used the temporary facilities for older
children in order to reserve space in smal er, state-licensed conventional shelters for “tender age”
children under age 13.210 At the end of June 2021, unaccompanied children were spending
between 30 and 40 days in ORR custody.211
Table 2. Temporary ORR Facilities for Unaccompanied Children
(Status as of August 27, 2021)
Date
Month
Opened in
Closed
Facility
Type
Location
Capacity
2021
in 2021
Carrizo Springs
ICF
Carrizo Springs, TX
856
February 22

Midland
EIS
Midland, TX
609
March 21
June
ORR at Fort Bliss
EIS
Ft. Bliss, TX
10,000
March 30

Pecos
EIS
Pecos, TX
1,950
April 6


March 5, 2021.
203 Eileen Sullivan, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Luke Broadwater, “Overcrowded Border Jails Give Way to Packed
Migrant Child Shelters,” New York Times, May 10, 2021; and Dara Lind, “‘No Good Choices’: HHS Is Cutting Safety
Corners to Move Migrant Kids Out of Overcrowded Facilities,” ProPublica, April 1, 2021.
204 Nathaniel Weixel, “Biden administration vaccinating migrant children against COVID-19,” The Hill, June 9, 2021.
205 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Field Guidance #17 –
COVID-19 Vaccination of Unaccom panied Children (UC) in ORR Care
, June 10, 2021.
206 Influx Care Facilities (ICFs) and Emergency Intake Sites (EISs) are temporary unlicensed facilities, sometimes
located on federal property, that provide ORR-overseen shelter and UAC services during periods of unusually high
ORR referral volume. While ICFs have been used by ORR since 2014, EISs were established in March 2021. EISs
provide a higher standard of care than that found in CBP facilities, but reportedly, HHS has not committed to ha ve such
facilities comply with state laws, regulations, and codes, as it has with ICFs. See Danilo Zak, “ Explainer: Emergency
Shelters and Facilities Housing Unaccompanied Children,” National Immigration Forum, May 4, 2021; and Dara Lind,
“‘No Good Choices’: HHS Is Cutting Safety Corners to Move Migrant Kids Out of Overcrowded Facilities,”
ProPublica, April 1, 2021.
207 Bipartisan Policy Institute, “This Week in Immigration,” Episode 94, podcast interview with Mark Greenberg,
Migration Policy Institute, May 17, 2021 .
208 Siliva Foster-Frau, “First migrant facility for children opens under Biden,” Washington Post, February 22, 2021.
209 Office of Refugee Resettlement, Legislative Affairs Office, email correspondence with CRS dated May 27, 2021.
210 Nick Miroff, Andrew Ba T ran, and Leslie Shapiro, “Hundreds of minors are crossing the border each day without
their parents. Who are they?,” Washington Post, March 11, 2021.
211 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Latest UC Data – FY2021,” June 24, 2021.
Congressional Research Service
31

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

Date
Month
Opened in
Closed
Facility
Type
Location
Capacity
2021
in 2021
Dimmit (Carrizo Springs II)
EIS
Carrizo Springs, TX
436
April 6
July
Delphi
EIS
Donna, TX
1,354
April 6
July
San Diego Convention Center
EIS
San Diego, CA
1,450
March 27
July
Long Beach Convention Center
EIS
Long Beach, CA
771
April 22
August
Pomona Fairplex
EIS
Pomona, CA
1,100
May 2

Starr Commonwealth
EIS
Albion, MI
189
April 13

Lackland Air Force Base
EIS
San Antonio, TX
372
April 17
June
Kay Baily Hutchison Convention Center
EIS
Dal as, TX
2,300
March 17
June
Freeman Expo Center
EIS
San Antonio, TX
2,400
March 30
June
National Association of Christian Churches EIS
Houston, TX
500
April 2
April
Pennsylvania International Academy
EIS
Erie, PA
418
April 17
April
Source: Office of Refugee Resettlement, Office of Legislative Affairs, email to CRS, May 27, 2021; and Danilo
Zak, Explainer: Emergency Shelters and Facilities Housing Unaccompanied Children, National Immigration Forum,
updated June 25, 2021.
Notes: ICF = Influx Care Facility. EIS = Emergency Intake Site.
Concerns have been raised by some about the sizable sums being spent for these temporary
shelters, the lack of child welfare experience of the organizations with whom ORR contracted, the
absence of a bidding process for some contracts, and Biden Administration links with the
enterprises that were awarded contracts.212
Child advocacy groups have expressed additional concerns about temporary facilities’ large sizes,
lack of state licensing standards and oversight, remote locations, and reported understaffing.213
Media reports indicate that ORR may not be holding these facilities to the same standards as its
conventional shelters.214 ORR has countered that these facilities are necessary in periods of
sudden and unusual y high caseloads.215
Among temporary facilities, the Fort Bliss EIS has drawn considerable attention.216 In July 2021,
for example, two federal workers detailed to the facility filed a whistleblower complaint to

212 Adriana Gomez Licon, “US awards huge shelter contracts amid child migrant increase,” AP News, May 5, 2021; and
Lachlan Markey and Stef W. Kight, “Exclusive: T exas nonprofit got massive border contract after hiring Biden
official,” Axios, April 14, 2021.
213 Child welfare advocates consider conventional state-licensed shelters preferable to temporary facilities. See, for
example, Letter from Pramila Jayapal, United States Representative, to Xavier Becerra, Secretary, Departme nt of
Health and Human Services; Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary, Department of Homeland Security; Cindy Huang,
Director, Office of Refugee Resettlement; and T roy Miller, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner,
Customs and Border Protection, April 13, 2021; and United States Representative Rosa DeLauro, “ DeLauro Urges the
Biden Administration to Redesign the Unaccompanied Children Program and Limit Use of Influx Facilities,” press
release, February 10, 2021.
214 See, for example, Roxanne Van Ruiten, “Anxiety, depression rampant at HHS migrant children’s shelter at Fort
Bliss, former workers say,” CBS-3 WRBL, June 4, 2021; and Dara Lind, “‘No Good Choices’: HHS Is Cutting Safety
Corners to Move Migrant Kids Out of Overcrowded Facilities,” ProPublica, April 1, 2021.
215 U.S. Department Health and Human Services, “Carrizo Springs Influx Care Facility,” press release, June 21, 2021.
216 See, for example, Stephanie Shields, “Immigration advocacy groups protest migrant facility for children at Fort
Congressional Research Service
32

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

Congress and HHS al eging that the employees of the private contractor running the facility had
no child welfare experience, no Spanish language skil s, and no relevant prior training.217 While
not al eging il egal activity, the complaint described what it characterized as gross
mismanagement and a threat to public health and safety. The number of unaccompanied children
at Fort Bliss, which peaked at 4,800 in May 2021 (the highest recorded number for any ORR
facility), declined to under 800 in July 2021.218 Other temporary facilities have also faced
al egations of mismanagement and possessing conditions considered unsuitable for children.219
Other Actions to Address the UAC Surge
The Biden Administration took other steps in response to the surge of unaccompanied children.
As noted above, it terminated the 2018 ICE-ORR information-sharing agreement that observers
contend discouraged UAC sponsorship.220 It has reportedly made disaster aid funding available to
border communities for migrant-related assistance221 and redirected agents from the northern
border to the southern border.222 To expedite family reunification and ease some housing pressure
on its shelter network, ORR has temporarily waived background check requirements for
household members living with prospective sponsors223 and authorized its shelter operators to pay
for some children’s transportation costs.224 In March 2021, the Biden Administration announced
that it would reactivate and expand eligibility for the CAM Program that the Trump
Administration had terminated.225

Bliss,” Border Report, June 9, 2021; and Roxanne Van Ruiten, “Anxiety, depression rampant at HHS migrant
children’s shelter at Fort Bliss, former workers say,” CBS, June 4, 2021.
217 Government Accountability Project, “Protected Whistleblower Disclosures of Gross Mismanagement by the
Department of Health and Human Services at Fort Bliss, T exas Causing Specific Dangers to Public Health and Safety,”
Letter to the U.S. House of Representatives, Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Oversight and Reform, and to
the U.S. Senate, Committees on Heath, Education, Labor and Pensions, and Homeland Security and Government
Affairs, and to the Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, July 7, 2021.
HHS’s inspector general has announced an investigation into the facility. See Priscilla Alvarez, “Government watchdog
launches review into troubled Fort Bliss facility for migrant children,” CNN, August 2, 2021.
218 Lauren Giella, “Fort Bliss Shelter for Unaccompanied Minors Sees 40% Drop in Children Housed T here,”
Newsweek, June 29, 2021.
219 See, for example, Eileen Sullivan, “For Migrant Children in Federal Care, a ‘Sense of Desperation’,” New York
Tim es
, June 24, 2021; and Dara Lind, “ ‘No Good Choices’: HHS Is Cutting Safety Corners to Move Migrant Kids Out
of Overcrowded Facilities,” ProPublica, April 1, 2021.
220 See, for example, Mark Greenberg, “U.S. Government Makes Significant Strides in Receiving Unaccompanied
Children but Major Challenges Remain,” Migration Policy Institute, May 2021.
221 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), “FEMA Awards $110 Million to the Emergency Food and
Shelter Program to Assist Migrants,” press release, March 18, 2021.
222 Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Michael D. Shear, “Biden Faces Challenge From Surge of Migrants at the Border,” New
York Tim es
, March 8, 2021.
223 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, ORR Field Guidance
#11, Tem porary Waivers of Background Check Requirem ents for Category 2 Adult Household Mem bers and Adult
Caregivers
, March 31, 2021. For a critical view of this policy, see Andrew R. Arthur, “ Reports Suggest HHS Is Cutting
Corners in Vetting Sponsors of Migrant Children,” Center for Migration Studies, May 6, 2021.
224 T ypically, ORR policy requires approved sponsors to pay for such costs, in some cases before children can be
released to them. Nomaan Merchant, “Amid surge, US tries to expedite release of migrant children,” AP News,
February 24, 2021.
225 U.S. Department of State, “Restarting the Central American Minors Program,” press release, March 10, 2021. For
more information, see USCIS, “Central American Minors (CAM) Refugee and Parole Program,” June 11, 2021. For a
critical view of the CAM program, see Nayla Rush, “CAM and PT A: Opening the Back Door: T he likely revival and
expansion of the programs for Central Americans,” Center for Immigration Studies, January 21, 2021; and Nayla Rush,
Congressional Research Service
33

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

The Biden Administration has expanded government agency coordination in response to the UAC
surge. It has directed FEMA to assist with UAC processing and to help relieve the number of
children held in CBP facilities.226 DHS established an interagency Movement Coordination Cel
that streamlines federal operations to expedite the transfer of unaccompanied children from DHS
to ORR custody.227 The Administration recruited volunteers among federal agencies to serve four-
month details helping ORR process unaccompanied children.228 CBP hired teams of social service
workers to handle non-enforcement tasks related to UAC processing.229
In June, the Biden Administration asserted that its policies had reduced the number of
unaccompanied children in CBP custody to pre-surge levels. As of June 8, 2021, CBP held 514
unaccompanied children, who spent an average of 21 hours in custody; none had been in CBP
custody for more than 72 hours.230
Explanations for the UAC Surge
Some observers attribute the UAC surge to a so-cal ed Biden Effect stemming from a perception
of the Administration’s less restrictive immigration enforcement policies relative to those of the
Trump Administration. Such policies, they contend, have signaled to migrants that they should
ignore the Administration’s appeals to remain in their home countries.231 Some suggest that the
Biden Administration’s exemption of unaccompanied children from Title 42 and its continued use
for family units may have inadvertently increased UAC apprehensions by prompting some
parents to self-separate from their minor children who could then migrate to the U.S. border and

“T he Biden Administration Expands Access to CAM: Eligibility to petition for children to join is no longer limited to
lawfully present parents,” Center for Immigration Studies, June 15, 2021.
226 According to DHS, “FEMA is now integrated and co-located with HHS to look at every available option to quickly
expand physical capacity for appropriate lodging. T he workforce of DHS, including CBP, the Federal Prote ctive
Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and volunteers from across the Department through the DHS
Volunteer Force, will help to provide shelter capacity, security, and other support as needed.” U.S. Department of
Homeland Security, “Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas Directs FEMA to Support Response for Unaccompanied
Children,” press release, March 13, 2021. See also Zolan Kanno-Youngs, “Biden Administration Directs FEMA to
Help Shelter Migrant Children,” New York Times, March 15, 2021.
227 T estimony of Benjamine “Carry” Huffman, CBP Executive Assistant Commissioner, Enterprise Services, U.S.
Congress, House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Border Security, Facilitation, and Operations,
Unaccom panied Children at the Border: Federal Response and the Way Forward, 117th Cong., 1st sess., June 10, 2021.
228 During the 2019 surge of family units at the Southwest border, the T rump Administration also solicited volunteers
to assist DHS. See Eric Katz, “Biden Asks Feds Across Government to Volunteer to Assist at the Border,” Government
Executive
, March 26, 2021.
229 See, for example, John Burnett, “T he Border Patrol’s New Migrant Child Care Cadre,” NPR, April 6, 2021.
230 T estimony of David Shahoulian, DHS Assistant Secretary for Border Security and Immigration, U.S. Congress,
House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Border Security, Facilitation, and Operations,
Unaccom panied Children at the Border: Federal Response and the Way Forward , 117th Cong., 1st sess., June 10, 2021.
231 See, for example, Ken Cuccinelli, “Biden in Denial As Border Crisis Escalates Due to His Rhetoric and Immigration
Policies,” Immigration Commentary, T he Heritage Foundation, March 17, 2021; and Mark Krikorian, “T he Biden
Effect Continues at the Border,” National Review, February 26, 2021. For an alternative interpretation, see Jorge
Ramos, “More Immigrants Will Come to the U.S. Under President Biden. T hat’s a Good T hing,” New York Times,
January 8, 2021. For two assessments of causes for the surge of unaccompanied children at the start of the Biden
Administration, see Brandon Mulder, “Fact -check: Is the surge of migrant children arriving at border a result of Biden
policies?,” Austin American-Statesman, March 29, 2021; and Linda Qiu, “Fact -Checking Claims on the Migrant Surge
at the U.S.-Mexico Border, New York Tim es, March 20, 2021. See also Nick Miroff and Maria Sacchetti, “ Migrant
teens and children have challenged three administrations, but Biden faces rush with no precedent,” Washington Post,
March 22, 2021.
Congressional Research Service
34

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

seek asylum as unaccompanied children.232 Other critics of the Biden Administration’s response
to the surge characterize some of its policies toward unaccompanied children—particularly the
CAM program and ORR covering airfare expenses to reunite some unaccompanied children with
their sponsors—as effectively completing the smuggling loop initiated by children’s parents.233
Other observers counter that the UAC surge results from pent-up demand for asylum by migrants
living under precarious conditions in Mexico because of the Trump Administration’s policies.
These included the use of Title 42 for al migrants and the Mexican Migration Protocol.234 They
also point to an unusual confluence of push factors, particularly two hurricanes and the pandemic,
which exacerbated already chal enging conditions in UAC source countries.235
Congressional Funding
When UAC apprehensions reached a then-record high in 2014, policymakers initial y focused on
whether the various agencies responding to it had adequate funding. As the surge began to wane,
congressional attention shifted to mechanisms to prevent its recurrence. In recent years,
congressional focus has emphasized funding ORR operations. ORR’s UAC program is one line
item in its Refugee and Entrant Assistance account.236 Described below are funding requests,
legislative action regarding funding, and executive branch budget execution, including budgetary
transfers, reprogramming of funds, and real ocations since FY2015.
FY2015
In its FY2015 budget released in March 2014, the Obama Administration did not request funding
increases to address the UAC surge. However, on May 30, 2014, the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) updated its cost projections for addressing the growing UAC population. It
requested $2.3 bil ion for FY2015 for ORR’s UAC program and $166 mil ion for DHS for CBP
overtime, contract services for care and support of UAC, and transportation costs.237

232 See, for example, David J. Bier, “Did US Policy Cause Half of ‘Unaccompanied’ Children to Separate From
Parents?,” Cato Institute, April 14, 2021.
233 See, for example, Robert Law, “Reuters Exposes Parents’ Complicity in UAC Smuggling Scheme,” Center for
Immigration Studies, March 27, 2021; and Mark Krikorian and Nayla Rush, “Don’t Come to the U.S. Illegally – We’ll
Come Get You!,” Parsing Immigration Policy, Episode 14, Center for Immigration Studies, July 29, 2021.
234 See Michelle Hackman and Alicia A. Caldwell, “Biden’s Immigration Plan for Surge of Migrants at U.S. Southern
Border: What You Need to Know,” Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2021; and Muzaffar Chishti and Sarah Pierce,
“Border Déjà Vu: Biden Confronts Similar Challenges as His Predecessors,” Policy Beat, Migration Policy Institute,
April 1, 2021.
235 Linda Qiu, “Fact-Checking Claims on the Migrant Surge at the U.S.-Mexico Border,” New York Times, March 20,
2021.
236 Within the UAC program, shelter care accounts for about 75% of all program costs. Other services for UAC, such as
medical care, background checks, and family unification services, make up approximately 20% of the budget, followed
by administrative expenses to carry out the program (5%). See U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
Administration for Children and Families, Fiscal Year 2022, Justification of Estim ates for Appropriations Com m ittee,
p. 62. In addition to the UAC program, the Refugee and Entrant Assistance Program administers the following
programs: T ransitional/Cash and Medical Services, Victims of T rafficking, Social Services, Victims of T orture,
Preventive Health, and T argeted Assistance. For additional information, see CRS Report RL31269, Refugee
Adm issions and Resettlem ent Policy.

237 Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, Memorandum to Representative Nita Lowey,
May 30, 2014.
Congressional Research Service
35

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

On July 8, 2014, the Obama Administration requested a $3.7 bil ion supplemental appropriation
for FY2015, much of which was directly related to addressing the UAC surge. The request
included $433 mil ion for CBP, $1.1 bil ion for ICE, $1.8 bil ion for HHS’s UAC program, $64
mil ion for DOJ, and $300 mil ion for the Department of State (DOS).238
In December 2014, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 113-
235) provided nearly $1.6 bil ion for ORR’s Refugee and Entrant Assistance Programs for
FY2015, with the expectation that most of these funds would be directed toward the UAC
program. In addition, P.L. 113-235 included a new provision al owing HHS to augment
appropriations for the Refugee and Entrant Assistance account by up to 10% through transfers
from other discretionary HHS funds.239
In March 2015, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 114-4)
provided $3.4 bil ion to ICE for detection, enforcement, and removal operations, including
transportation of unaccompanied alien children. The act required that DHS estimate the number
of UAC apprehensions expected in the budget year and the number of necessary agent or officer
hours and related costs. It also provided for budgetary flexibility through the optional
reprogramming of funds.240
FY2016
In its FY2016 budget, the Obama Administration requested contingency funding, in addition to
base funding, for several agencies in the event of another surge of unaccompanied children. For
ORR’s UAC program, the Administration requested $948 mil ion in base funding (the same as
FY2015) and $19 mil ion in contingency funding.241 Congress passed the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2016 (P.L. 114-113) which met the base funding request but appropriated no
monies for contingency funding.242
For FY2016 DHS funding, the Administration requested $203.2 mil ion in base funding and
$24.4 mil ion in contingency funding for CBP for costs associated with the apprehension and care
of unaccompanied children.243 The Obama Administration requested $2.6 mil ion in contingency
funding for ICE for transportation costs associated with UAC apprehensions if such

238 T he White House, “Fact Sheet: Emergency Supplemental Request to Address the Increase in Child and Adult
Migration from Central America in the Rio Grande Valley Areas of the Southwest Border,” press release, July 8, 2014.
239 T his paragraph is excerpted from CRS Report R43967, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2015
Appropriations.

240 Section 571 of the act permitted the DHS Secretary to reprogram funds within CBP and ICE and transfer such funds
into the two agencies’ “Salaries and Expenses” accounts for the care and transportation of UAC. Section 572 of the act
allowed for State Homeland Security Program and Urban Area Security Initiative grants that are awarded to states
along the Southwest border to be used by recipients for cost s or reimbursement of costs for providing humanitarian
relief to unaccompanied children.
241 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Fiscal Year 2016,
Justification of Estim ates for Appropriations Com m ittees, p. 21.
242 Ibid, p.8.
243 T he total CBP contingency request was for $134.5 million for costs associated with the apprehension and care of up
to 104,000 UAC. Based on the anticipated low probability of such a high number of UAC apprehensions, the FY2016
budget scored the requested increase at $24.4 million.
Congressional Research Service
36

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

apprehensions exceeded those in FY2015.244 Neither the Senate245 nor the House246 committee-
reported FY2016 DHS appropriations bil s would have funded these requests. The Administration
requested an additional $50 mil ion (two-year funding spread over FY2016 and FY2017) for
EOIR to expand a program to provide legal representation to UAC.247 Congress passed the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (P.L. 114-113) which did not provide funds for EOIR to
expand their UAC legal representation program. In the act, Congress provided CBP with $204.9
mil ion in base funding but did not provide the contingency funding requested. Congress provided
ICE with $24.3 mil ion in UAC transportation funding but did not fund the contingency
transportation request.248
FY2017
For FY2017, the Trump Administration requested $1.3 bil ion for ORR for unaccompanied
children. This UAC program request included $1.2 bil ion in base funding. It also included
contingency funding, which, if triggered by larger than expected caseloads, would start at $95
mil ion and could expand to $400 mil ion.249 For UAC operations within DHS, the Administration
requested $13.2 mil ion for transportation and removal activities, including $3 mil ion in
contingency funding; and $217.4 mil ion for CBP, including $5.4 mil ion in contingency funding.
Congress, in turn, passed two continuing resolutions (CRs) to fund ORR for FY2017. Congress
first passed the Continuing Appropriations and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and
Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017, and Zika Response and Preparedness Act (P.L. 114-
223), which funded ORR, ICE, and CBP from October 1, 2016, through December 9, 2016, at the
same level and under the same conditions as FY2016, less an across-the-board reduction of
0.496%. Under the terms of the CR, HHS retained its authority from the 2016 bil (P.L. 114-113)
to augment this account by up to 10% using transfers from other HHS accounts. HHS reportedly
used this authority to transfer $167 mil ion into the account in November 2016, due to a surge in
the UAC caseload.250
Prior to congressional consideration of a second CR, the Trump Administration requested that any
new CR include a provision providing a higher operating level for the Refugee and Entrant
Assistance account. This stemmed from an increased caseload resulting from the growth in the
number of unaccompanied children from Central American countries apprehended at the
Southwest border. The Administration requested $3.9 bil ion in funding for the account, $2.9

244 Base funding for ICE to transport UAC was not separated out from other ICE transportation activities within its
budget. T he total ICE contingency request was for $27.6 million for costs associated with transportation of up to
104,000 UAC. Based on the anticipated low probability of such a high number of UAC requiring such transportation,
the FY2016 budget scored the requested increase at $2.6 million.
245 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Department of Homeland Security,
Departm ent of Hom eland Security Appropriations Bill, 2016 , 114th Cong., 1st sess., S.Rept. 114-68.
246 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Homeland Security, Department of
Hom eland Security Appropriations Bill, 2016
, 114th Cong., 1st sess., H.Rept. 114-215.
247 U.S. Department of Justice, FY 2016 Budget and Performance Summary, Administrative Review and Appeals,
Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).
248 See U.S. Department of Homeland Security, FY2017 Congressional Budget Justification.
249 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Fiscal Year 2017,
Justification of Estim ates for Appropriations Com m ittee, p. 237.
250 Letter from Sylvia M. Burwell, Secretary of Health and Human Services, to the Honorable Roy Blunt, Chairman of
the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on
Appropriations, November 9, 2016, provided by HHS to CRS. T he general HHS transfer authority provision is located
in Division H, T itle II, Section 205 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 ( P.L. 114-113).
Congressional Research Service
37

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

bil ion of which would be used for unaccompanied children. The Administration separately noted
that it might be possible to meet caseload demands at a lower level than requested. It indicated
that doing so would require at least $500 mil ion for the Refugee and Entrant Assistance
account—of which $430 mil ion would be used for unaccompanied children—as wel as
additional transfer authority in the event of higher than anticipated costs.251
Congress then passed a second FY2017 CR, the Further Continuing and Security Assistance
Appropriations Act, 2017 (P.L. 114-254), which funded most federal agencies through April 28,
2017.252 It funded ORR programs at the same level and under the same conditions as in FY2016,
minus an across-the-board reduction of 0.1901%.253 However, this CR also contained a special
provision authorizing HHS to transfer up to $300 mil ion to fund ORR programs dedicated to
unaccompanied children as of February 1, 2017.254 After March 1, 2017, if the UAC caseload for
FY2017 exceeded by 40% or more the UAC caseload for the comparable period in FY2016, the
CR appropriated up to an additional $200 mil ion in new funding.
Congress subsequently passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (P.L. 115-31), which
funded most federal agencies for the remainder of FY2017. It funded ORR programs at the same
level and under the same conditions as in FY2016. P.L. 115-31 rescinded the provision in P.L.
114-254 to provide up to $200 mil ion in new funding if the UAC caseload met the conditions
described above. Ultimately, final funding approved for ORR’s unaccompanied alien children
program for FY2017, including transfers, totaled $1.4 bil ion.255
FY2018
For FY2018, the Trump Administration requested $948 mil ion for ORR’s UAC program. The
request included an option to augment appropriations for the Refugee and Entrant Assistance
account by up to 10% through transfers from other discretionary HHS funds. The request
excluded contingency funding provisions found in several previous years’ requests.256
Congress responded by passing the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-141), which
funded the Refugee and Entrant Assistance account at $1.9 bil ion. Transfers permitted by
Congress within HHS to this account totaled $186 mil ion. Within the account, funding for the
Unaccompanied Alien Children program was increased to $1.3 bil ion (+$355 mil ion relative to
FY2017).257 HHS also reprogrammed or transferred $385 mil ion from other HHS programs to

251 T he T rump Administration’s anomaly requests for the second CR were based on the assumption that the CR would
run through the end of March 2017, one month less than the duration of the CR that was ultimately enacted.
252 P.L. 114-223.
253 P.L. 114-254, §101(a)(2).
254 P.L. 114-254, §170. The CR specifies that this transfer comes from the HHS Nonrecurring Expenses Fund (NEF).
T he NEF was created by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 ( P.L. 110-161, Division G, T itle II, §223) to
enable the HHS Secretary to collect certain unobligated balances of expired discretionary funds appropriated to HHS
from the General Fund. Funds transferred into the NEF typically support capital acquisitions across HHS, such as
facilities infrastructure and information technology. The FY2017 CR also includes a provision rescinding $100 million
from the NEF (see §170(d).
255 T otal FY2017 budget authority included $466,590,000 transferred from other parts of HHS. U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Fiscal Year 2019, Justification of Estim ates for
Appropriations Com m ittee
, p. 67.
256 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Fiscal Year 2018,
Justification of Estim ates for Appropriations Com m ittee, pp. 11-45.
257 See CRS Report R45083, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2018 Appropriations, p. 29.
Congressional Research Service
38

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

ORR, reportedly to cover the additional expenses stemming from the zero tolerance policy.258
Final actual spending for the UAC program for FY2018, including permissible transfers and
reprogramming, was $1.7 bil ion.259
FY2019
For FY2019, the Trump Administration requested $1.0 bil ion for ORR’s UAC program.260 The
Administration further requested the option to augment appropriations for the Refugee and
Entrant Assistance account by up to 10% through transfers from other discretionary HHS funds.
The budget also created a $200 mil ion contingency fund if caseloads met certain conditions.
Congress responded by passing the Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human
Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019 and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2019 (P.L.
115-245), which funded HHS’s Refugee and Entrant Assistance account at $1.9 bil ion. Within
the account, funding for the Unaccompanied Alien Children program was $1.3 bil ion, the same
as for FY2018. Congress did not fund the requested mandatory contingency fund.261
On May 17, 2019, OMB notified Congress that it anticipated a budget shortfal for the UAC
program of $2.9 bil ion because of a 57% increase in the number of UAC referrals to ORR
compared to the same period during the previous year. The notification indicated that HHS had
already real ocated $286 mil ion to the UAC program using the HHS Secretary’s transfer
authority pursuant to P.L. 115-245 and had reprogrammed $99 mil ion within the Refugee and
Entrant Assistance account.262
Congress responded by passing the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian
Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act, 2019 (P.L. 116-26) which contained nearly
$2.9 bil ion in emergency-designated appropriations for the Refugee and Entrant Assistance
account. These funds were primarily intended to support the growing demands placed on the
UAC program, including the use of influx care facilities in Carrizo Springs, TX, and Homestead,
FL. Among the bil ’s many provisions, it required HHS to reverse any reprogramming within the
account that had been carried out pursuant to the OMB notification.
Final actual spending for the UAC program for FY2019, including supplemental funding,
permissible transfers, and reprogramming, was $4.5 bil ion.263

258 H.Rept. 116-62, p. 11.
259 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Fiscal Year 2021,
Justification of Estim ates for Appropriations Com m ittee, p. 60.
260 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Fiscal Year 2019,
Justification of Estim ates for Appropriations Com m ittee, pages 67-71.
261 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subco mmittee on Departments of Labor, Health and Human
Services, and Education, and Related Agencies, Departm ents of Labor, Health and Hum an Services, and Education,
and Related Agencies Appropriation Bill, 2019
, 115th Cong., 2nd sess., June 28, 2018, S.Rept. 115-289; and U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Fiscal Year 2020, Justification
of Estim ates for Appropriations Com m ittee
, p. 15.
262 Report and Notice of Anticipated Deficiency, Letter from Russell T . Vought, Acting Director, Office of
Management and Budget, to T he Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, May 17, 2019.
263 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Fiscal Year 2021,
Justification of Estim ates for Appropriations Com m ittee, p. 60.
Congressional Research Service
39

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

FY2020
For FY2020, the Trump Administration requested $1.3 bil ion, the same as the FY2019
appropriation. The Administration also requested transfer authority to al ow additional funding of
up to 20% of the appropriated amount into the account, which was above the 15% maximum that
Congress provided in FY2019. The budget also included a request for a mandatory contingency
fund capped at $2.0 bil ion over three years, probabilistical y scored at $738 mil ion for FY2020,
if caseload trends met certain conditions.264
Congress responded by passing the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260), which
funded the Refugee and Entrant Assistance account at $1.9 bil ion. Within the account, Congress
appropriated $1.3 bil ion for the Unaccompanied Alien Children program (the same as FY2019),
did not fund the requested mandatory contingency fund, and maintained transfer authority at
15%.265
FY2021
For FY2021, the Trump Administration requested $2.0 bil ion, $700 mil ion above the FY2020
enacted level.266 As with FY2020’s budget, the Trump Administration also requested transfer
authority to al ow additional funding of up to 20% of the appropriated amount into the account,
above the 15% maximum that Congress provided in FY2020. The budget also included a request
for a mandatory contingency fund capped at $2.0 bil ion over three years, probabilistical y scored
at $200 mil ion for FY2021, if caseload trends met certain conditions.
Congress responded by passing the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260), which
funded the Refugee and Entrant Assistance account at $1.9 bil ion. Within the account, Congress
maintained funding for the Unaccompanied Alien Children program at $1.3 bil ion, did not fund
the requested mandatory contingency fund, and again maintained transfer authority at 15%.267
In response to increased UAC apprehensions in FY2021, ORR reportedly transferred roughly
$2.1 bil ion from other health-related initiatives to fund the Unaccompanied Alien Children
program. The redirected funds include $850 mil ion intended to rebuild the Strategic National
Stockpile, an emergency medical reserve; $850 mil ion intended for COVID-19 testing; and $436
mil ion intended for multiple HHS health initiatives.268 The Biden Administration reportedly
estimated in May 2021 that it would require an additional $4 bil ion before FY2021 ends to fund
the UAC program.269 Additional intra-agency transfers have reportedly occurred.270

264 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Fiscal Year 2020,
Justification of Estim ates for Appropriations Com m ittee, pp. 57-58.
265 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Fiscal Year 2021,
Justification of Estim ates for Appropriations Com m ittee, pp. 58-59.
266 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Fiscal Year 2021,
Justification of Estim ates for Appropriations Com m ittee, pp. 58-59.
267 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Fiscal Year 2022,
Justification of Estim ates for Appropriations Com m ittee, p. 57.
268 Adam Cancryn, “Biden admin reroutes billions in emergency stockpile, Covid funds to border crunch,” Politico,
May 16, 2021.
269 Eileen Sullivan, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, and Luke Broadwater, “Overcrowded Border Jails Give Way to Packed
Migrant Child Shelters,” New York Times, May 10, 2021
270 Adam Shaw, “HHS diverting millions in funding marked for vaccine efforts to housing migrant children,” Fox
News
, August 28, 2021.
Congressional Research Service
40

Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

FY2022
For FY2022, the Biden Administration requested $3.3 bil ion, an increase of $2.0 bil ion above
the $1.3 bil ion enacted for FY2021.271 The increase includes a $30 mil ion set-aside to establish a
Separated Families Services Fund that would provide mental health and other services for
children, parents, and legal guardians who were separated under the Trump Administration.272
The House responded with a proposed $3.4 bil ion budget for the UAC program.273 As of this
writing, the Senate has not taken action.



Author Information

William A. Kandel

Analyst in Immigration Policy



Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan
shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and
under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should n ot be relied upon for purposes other
than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in
connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not
subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be reproduced and distributed in
its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include copyrighted images or
material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you wish to
copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.


271 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Fiscal Year 2022,
Justification of Estim ates for Appropriations Com m ittee, p. 57.
272 Ibid, p. 60.
273 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Labor , Health and Human Services,
Education, and Related Agencies, Report to accompany H.R. 4502, 117th Cong., 1st sess., H.Rept. 117-96 (Washington:
GPO, 2021), pp. 208-215.
Congressional Research Service
R43599 · VERSION 28 · UPDATED
41