The Trump administration has shared information on more than 460,000 unaccompanied migrant children, their sponsors and household members with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since January 2025, exposing thousands of families to arrest and deportation, according to internal government data reviewed by Reuters.
The data, obtained exclusively by Reuters, shows that more than 12,000 people have been arrested following referrals from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), reversing longstanding protections that separated child welfare from immigration enforcement.
ORR, created to care for unaccompanied migrant children, has traditionally focused on reuniting children with family members regardless of their immigration status. Under the Trump administration, however, the agency has expanded background checks and shared information with ICE as part of a broader immigration crackdown.
The policy has sharply increased the time children spend in federal custody. ORR figures show the average stay has risen from 30 days in fiscal year 2024 to 194 days in June 2026.
Reuters documented several cases in which parents who successfully secured the release of their children were later detained by ICE. In one case, a Mexican mother identified only as Aurora reunited with her six year old daughter after six months in ORR custody, only for both to be arrested days later and held at a family detention centre in Texas before being released pending immigration proceedings.
In another case, a Guatemalan woman identified as Marleny and her partner were arrested shortly after her teenage son was released from ORR custody, leaving the 18 year old responsible for caring for his younger brother.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Reuters that ORR has provided ICE with investigative leads to help locate children placed with “unvetted sponsors,” including some with criminal records. ORR said it plays no role in immigration arrests and referred enforcement questions to DHS.
Former ORR Deputy Director Jen Smyers criticised the policy, saying child welfare protections had been “completely reversed.”
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