United States

The United States has ratified one of the six Conventions and Protocols that assist in the protection of children in the context of migration – the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

There is no law in the United States to prevent children from being detained. In 2009, the U.S. had stopped using large-scale family detention but since 2014 the harmful practice of detaining children and their parents has been used extensively. There are currently three family detention facilities in the United States- two located in South Texas (in Karnes City and Dilley) and one in Pennsylvania (in Berks county). Combined, these facilities have over 3,000 beds used to lock-up parents and children, with government plans for expansion. Unaccompanied children may also be detained, although special laws require that the best interests of the child govern custody determinations and placement.

The United States has some processes in place that support migrant children while migration processes are underway, but significant improvements need to be made. Many of the processes in place are not consistent, varying on the demographic of the children or the agency that comes into contact with the child. Outdated age determination techniques are utilised, such as dental and skeletal radiographs. No clear process for Best Interest Determination is available. Some guardianship models exist for unaccompanied children, and strong case management exists, but it is not available for children who arrive with their families and are detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

In the United States, families with children are housed in processing centers for the beginning of their migration process, which have worse conditions that immigration detention centres. Studies have shown that conditions in these places include freezing temperatures, inadequate provision of food, and lack of access to hygiene. Concerningly, there are many reports of abuse, and routinely children are housed with unrelated adults. Currently, there are immigration detention centers specifically for children and families, with a capacity to lock-up about 3,000 parents and children despite the fact that the U.S. government is legally mandated to release children to family members as quickly as possible and to place children in the least restrictive setting appropriate to their age and needs. Unaccompanied children are usually released from detention, but there are cases where they can be detained.

The United States has had successful experience with alternatives to detention, although they are only used intermittently. These include the recent Family Case Management Pilot (FCMP) and other local initiatives that have proven to be less costly than immigration detention and cause less harm to the well-being of children and families. These alternatives are not to be confused with electronic monitoring devices, or ‘ankle bracelets’, which criminalize migration and are classified by the International Detention Coalition as an alternative form of detention.

Some rights are provided for in the United States system, but significant improvement is required. Children in detention and in community settings have access to education, although the quality of education in immigration detention is low. Parents of children seeking asylum are able to work, although significant waiting periods can impede the family unit from being able to function and be self-sufficient. There is no government housing, or financial support for housing, provided by the government. Access to healthcare is of a low quality. An informal process for firewall protection is in place with some services at the federal level, although periodically these have not been implemented. Additionally, there is a strong trend across localities to implement local level firewall protections, which has been met with resistance from the federal government.

Some oversight processes exist in the United States, but they rely largely on ad-hoc rather than systematised approaches. Statistics are published, but not in real time or on a regular basis, and they are not disaggregated to indicate child-specific detention statistics. The Inspector General has access to monitor places of immigration detention, although the scope and use of this power is unclear.

The United States intercepted more than 57,000 families with children in 2017, and more than 27,000 unaccompanied children. The vast majority of these children are subject to immigration detention, and families are often held for extended periods of a month or more. 12 points were deducted in line with the scoring system.

No bonus points were assigned to the United States. There is no political commitment to end child detention, very little international human rights framework in the State, and no pilot programs are underway to expand alternatives to detention. Expressed intentions of the government indicate that these polices are likely to remain, which have seen thousands of children detained. Even short periods of immigration detention are harmful for child health and well-being, with effects that last a lifetime.