What a badly written article.
There are just under 2,000 children in HHS custody, according to federal data. The majority of the unaccompanied migrant children who arrive to the US southern border are from Guatemala, Honduras or El Salvador.
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The administration has identified more than 600 children from Guatemala in the custody of the Health and Human Services Department, which is charged with their care until they can be released, to potentially deport as a part of a pilot program in coordination with the Guatemalan government, according to two sources.
The children, ranging in age, are believed to not have a parent in the US, though they may have a relative, one of the sources said. It’s unclear what immigration process the administration plans to use to remove the children, though discussions have included voluntary departure.
Internally, officials have called the removals repatriations and not deportations, sources told CNN, implying the children impacted are not being involuntarily removed. Advocates and former officials, however, expressed skepticism about children’s understanding of their removal, particularly because many don’t have attorneys.
Generally, for example, kids in custody are not affirmatively offered the option to leave voluntarily, and those who request it must have it approved by an immigration judge.