RESEARCH STARTER

Child immigrants

Child immigrants are individuals under the age of eighteen who migrate to a new country, often facing unique challenges and vulnerabilities. In the United States, millions of child immigrants exist, including those from undocumented families who may have lived in the country for much of their lives yet face the risk of deportation to countries where they may not speak the language or understand the culture. Historically, America has been a melting pot of immigrants, with assimilation processes varying significantly among different ethnic groups, influenced by factors such as appearance and cultural similarities to the native population.

The classification of child immigrants is diverse, encompassing adopted children, children of documented and undocumented immigrants, and unaccompanied minors fleeing violence or economic hardship. Legislation has evolved to address their rights, including the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, which facilitates citizenship for adopted foreign children, and policies like DACA that protect certain undocumented minors. However, unaccompanied minors often face significant risks during their journeys, including exploitation and detention under challenging conditions.

In recent years, the political landscape has shifted regarding immigration, with heightened scrutiny and criticism directed at governmental policies affecting child immigrants. Patterns of migration have returned to historic levels post-COVID-19, but ongoing challenges remain, including legal protections and humane treatment for these vulnerable populations.

Full Article

DEFINITION: Immigrants who have not yet reached the legal age of majority—typically people younger than eighteen

SIGNIFICANCE: The estimated millions of child immigrants residing in the United States in the twenty-first century presented unique anomalies for those charged with enforcing immigration laws. Children often become the innocent victims of such laws—especially those who belong to families of undocumented aliens. Although these children frequently lived much of their lives within the United States, they are often deported as illegals and returned to countries whose languages they do not speak and customs they do not know.

The United States is a society built by immigrants who flowed into the country in vast numbers during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Whether these newcomers were fast or slow to adapt to their new surroundings, their children—as second-generation immigrants—quickly learned the language and customs of their surroundings. Their assimilation was accelerated by intermarriage and was generally smoother for immigrants from most of Europe—as they bore a general similarity of appearance to the majority population of native-born Americans of European descent. Slower to be assimilated were those who—because of skin pigmentation and other features—looked different from most of the European immigrants. Asians often created their own ethnic enclaves, and such enclaves—such as Chinatowns—continued to thrive as many as three or four generations after their founders arrived in the United States.

In many of America’s large cities, tight-knit ethnic communities were formed by those of similar backgrounds. However, by the second or third generations, the structures of most such communities tended to weaken as younger members became upwardly mobile and entered professions outside their communities, rather than remaining in the ranks of unskilled laborers.

Accepting American Ways

The most crucial step toward assimilation is learning the language of one’s adopted country. In many immigrant families—particularly those from eastern European nations—immigrant parents insisted only English be spoken in their homes. Consequently, their children tended to gain English fluency quickly.

Many eastern European immigrants arrived at seaports on the East Coast of the United States and settled in such coastal cities as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. In cities that provided free or inexpensive education, or in some cases—as in New York City—through higher education, the children of immigrants hastened to take full advantage of the educational opportunities available to them.

Classification of Child Immigrants

Child immigrants are classified within a number of categories—ranging from infants adopted from foreign countries by American citizens to the children of noncitizens, documented and undocumented, who may be seeking citizenship independently, or as members of families. Although most legislation on immigration professes respect for family unification, significant problems arise for the children of undocumented immigrants.

All children born in the United States or in its territories are automatically legal US citizens. Their birth certificates are proof of their citizenship—even if they are born to undocumented parents. However, the child's citizenship has little bearing on the parents' immigration status. These parents remain undocumented immigrants, and—if apprehended—are subject to deportation.

American citizens often seek to adopt children from other countries. Historically, such children—who were usually babies at the time of their adoption—did not automatically become US citizens. However, if their adoptions were approved by the appropriate federal government authorities, the adopting parents—on proving their willingness and ability to assume the full responsibilities of parenthood—routinely obtained citizenship for their adopted children.

The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 streamlined the process through which internationally adopted children may gain American citizenship. In the past, children who were approved for adoption were routinely granted citizenship after entering the United States. Under the provisions of the 2000 law, however, US citizenship is granted immediately upon the approval of adoption in the child’s native country so the adopted infant can enter the United States as a fully documented citizen.

US citizens who adopt older children holding foreign citizenship can usually obtain US citizenship for these children if they are younger than eighteen. However, they must present convincing evidence that they are not adopting merely so the children can obtain citizenship. Such practices have been dubbed “adoptions of convenience,” which are similar to “marriages of convenience”—agreements entered into for the sole purpose of obtaining citizenship. Adoptive parents must usually verify they have supported their adopted children for substantial periods—usually two years—prior to filing applications for citizenship.

Naturalization of Stepchildren and Orphans

Stepchildren constitute another category pertaining to child immigration. When American citizens marry spouses whose children are not citizens, they can apply to have their new stepchildren declared US citizens. Stepparents do not necessarily have to adopt their stepchildren to make them eligible for citizenship, but they must demonstrate that they have contributed significantly to the children’s support and upbringing for a minimum period of time if the children are not orphaned.

When children have orphan status, the requirement for non-orphans is not enforced. An orphan is defined as a child whose natural parents have died, disappeared, or abandoned the child. Such children are eligible for permanent resident status if they are being adopted by US citizens. A child who has lost one parent may be designated an orphan if the surviving parent has not remarried and is incapable of supporting the child in question. The surviving parents must surrender their parental rights in order for their children to be declared orphans.

Single adults seeking to adopt must be at least twenty-five years old to qualify as petitioners. However, married people need not meet this age requirement. Adopting parents need only meet the adoptive parent requirements of the states in which they file their petitions.

Twenty-first Century Legislation

In October 2000, President Bill Clinton signed the Intercountry Adoption Act, which adhered to the Hague Convention on International Adoption. This bill was intended to simplify the process for adopting children from foreign countries. Although the new law was a significant step forward, it did not take effect immediately. The federal government first had to establish a central adoption authority—the details of which had to be established and agreed to by all participating parties.

In a continuing effort to streamline the adoption of children from foreign countries in 2009, the Families for Orphans Coalition supported a bill in the US Senate and the House of Representatives for legislation to be called the Foreign Adopted Children Equality Act. The bill was sponsored by John Boozman and Diane Wilson in the Senate and by Mary Landrieu and James Inhofe in the House. Under the provisions of this act, citizenship would be granted immediately to all foreign children being adopted by US citizens so they would enter the United States as full-fledged citizens—rather than as petitioners for citizenship. This act would eliminate the need for adopted children in this category to obtain immigration visas in order to enter the United States. Rather, they are declared “citizens from birth.” Whereas children who enter the United States on immigration visas—albeit legally—might at some future date be denied scholarships, passports, or entry into the US Armed Forces—the new status would bestow upon foreign adoptees all the rights and privileges of anyone born in the United States.

Passage of legislation such as the Adoptee Citizenship Act, proposed in 2019, would potentially prevent heartbreaking situations for intercountry adoptees who arrive in the US on immigrant visas but remain vulnerable to deportation. Under existing laws, adopted children who have lived nearly their entire lives in the United States may be deported—even for minor juvenile offenses—because they do not automatically receive US citizenship. Advocacy groups estimate that tens of thousands of adopted individuals face this risk. By the mid-2020s, however, the bill had not been passed.

In 2021, the Biden Administration ceased the Trump Administration’s 2019 public charge regulations and returned to the use of the 1999 field guidance. This change was intended to encourage immigrant families to seek health care without fear of deportation or investigation. The 2019 public charge regulations caused even lawfully present immigrants to avoid government assistance and, therefore, avoid necessary healthcare during the global pandemic—the fears created were noted to likely continue for many years.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program—established in 2012 to protect certain immigrants—enabled over 900,000 immigrants to remain in the US. Though new applications for this program were suspended, nearly 600,000 DACA recipients lived in the US in September 2022. The Biden administration published a rule in October 2022 to allow those individuals to renew their status and remain in the US.

Title 42 is a section of the Public Health Services Act which allows the Directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prevent immigrant entry into the US. In 2020, under this act, the Trump administration implemented rigid rules and expedited expulsion of migrants, reacting to COVID-19. Because of legal challenges, the Biden administration was unable to repeal this decision—but the restrictions at the border ended on May 11, 2023, when the public health emergency ceased.

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Procedures

All persons applying for US citizenship—except for very young children—must undergo interviews conducted by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). At these interviews, applicants are fingerprinted and given two tests—one to demonstrate their ability to speak, write, and read English and the other to demonstrate their knowledge of basic American government and history. Older applicants are occasionally granted exemptions from the language test. Those who pass the tests are immediately informed they have passed—those who do not pass one or both tests may apply to retake the tests at a later date.

Children Born Abroad to US Citizens

Children born in foreign countries to US citizens receive American citizenship immediately if both their parents are already US citizens. When only one parent is a US citizen, the children must reside in the United States for at least five years, including at least two after the child reaches fourteen. In the latter situation, full citizenship must be applied for—but granting it is routine.

Unaccompanied Child Immigrants

In extreme cases regarding countries experiencing a prodigious amount of violence—such as situations related to gangs and drugs—terror, or economic hardship, an increased number of unaccompanied child immigrants have made the dangerous journey to settle in America without authorization—many have family in the United States. In 2014, the drastic surge in the number of children risking their lives to cross through Mexico over the border into the United States from Central American countries such as Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala caused President Barack Obama to recognize the influx as a great humanitarian concern—eventually enlisting the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to oversee a relief effort. According to the Pew Research Center, there was a 117 percent increase in the number of unaccompanied children age twelve and younger who had been apprehended at the border by June 2014—the Migration Policy Institute reported that by the end of that year, almost seventy thousand unaccompanied minors had been caught at the border. To the United States, the majority of these children are smuggled, staying in questionable "safehouses" along the way and typically riding on top of a train—despite the risk of falling off. If they do reach the border, they are usually taken into custody and held in detention facilities—which were overcrowded for the majority of the 2010s and 2020s. By 2015, the immigration status of many unaccompanied children remained unresolved, and reports indicated that the number of minors crossing the US border had surged once more by year’s end. This trend continued into the mid-2020s.

Beginning in 2016, the plight of underaged immigrant children took backstage to the overall issue of immigration. Beginning with his first public statement announcing his candidacy in 2015, Donald Trump made immigration a central theme of his three presidential campaigns (2016, 2020, 2024) and two presidencies (2017–2021, 2025-). The American public came to accept immigration as a core national issue—immigration reduction and border control evolved into important party platforms for both political parties.

The COVID-19 pandemic—which began in 2020—had the effect of shrinking the US economy and reducing the number of immigrants into the US. Demand for labor increased following the economic rebound in the subsequent years. Coupled with worsening economic and security environments in native countries, immigration efforts resumed in historic numbers—this included large numbers of unaccompanied children. United States law defined the mandatory protections US authorities provided migrant children in their custody during the adjudication of their cases. Nonetheless, US political sentiment in the mid-2020s turned against immigration. As support for immigration into the US reached quarter-century lows, criticisms of both the Trump and Biden administrations emerged over allegations their immigration policies violated legal protections for minors.

The Trump administration’s approach to border control was regarded by critics to be harsh and dangerous for children. By 2020, a years-long crisis at the border separated more than 5,000 children from their parents. By late 2020, the parents of at least 545 of these children had not been located. Complicating this further, COVID-19 called for new, strict immigration protocols, and asylum seekers were turned away which negatively impacted immigrant children. Though children under seven were required by law to be held in detention no longer than seventy-two hours, the overwhelming number of individuals in detention caused this to be exceeded more often than not. Expelling children back to Mexico or South American countries put them at great risk of assault, gang violence, or other unsafe conditions. Parents were given the impossible choice of being separated from their children or taking them back to these harsh conditions. In the early 2020s, a record 128,904 unaccompanied minors entering the US shelter system in fiscal year 2022. Authorities reportedly lost track of tens of thousands of these children after release to sponsors, raising significant safety and accountability concerns. In May 2022, more than 12,000 unaccompanied minor children reentered the US border after being expelled the previous year.

United States law defined the mandatory protections US authorities provided migrant children in their custody during the adjudication of their cases. Nonetheless, US political sentiment in the mid-2020s turned against immigration. As support for immigration into the US reached quarter-century lows, criticisms of the Trump and Biden administrations emerged over allegations their immigration policies violated legal protections for minors.

On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order No. 14159, which imposed stricter immigration rules. The order required all undocumented immigrants, including children fourteen years old or older, to register within thirty days of entering the United States.


Bibliography

"Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2019: Bill Summary." Forum, 2019, forumtogether.org/article/adoptee-citizenship-act-of-2019-bill-summary. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.

Alvarez, Julia. How the García Girls Lost Their Accents. Algonquin Books, 1991.

Armus, Teo. "The Parents of 545 Children Separated at the Border Still Haven’t Been Found." Texas Tribune, Washington Post, 21 Oct. 2025, www.texastribune.org/2020/10/21/donald-trump-immigration-parents-children-separated/. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.

Canter, Laurence A., and Martha S. Siegel. U.S. Immigration Made Easy. 20th ed., Nolo Press, 2021.

Cheatham, Amelia, and Diana Roy. "U.S. Detention of Child Migrants." Council on Foreign Relations, 27 Mar. 2023, www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-detention-child-migrants. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.

Fitzpatrick, Alex, and Kavya Beheraj. "Where Unaccompanied Migrant Children Have Gone, Mapped." Axios, 31 May 2024, www.axios.com/2024/05/31/migrant-children-map-immigration. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.

Hamilton, John. Becoming a Citizen: Government in Action!. ABDO Publishing Company, 2005.

Jones, Jeffrey. "Sharply More Americans Want to Curb Immigration to U.S." Gallup, 12 July 2024, news.gallup.com/poll/647123/sharply-americans-curb-immigration.aspx. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.

Jones, Maldwyn Allen. American Immigration. 2nd ed., U of Chicago P, 1992.

Krogstad, Jens Manuel, Ana Gonzalez-Barrera, and Mark Hugo Lopez. "Children 12 and Under Are Fastest Growing Group of Unaccompanied Minors at U.S. Border." Pew Research Center, 22 July 2014, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/07/22/children-12-and-under-are-fastest-growing-group-of-unaccompanied-minors-at-u-s-border. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025

LeMay, Michael C. Guarding the Gates: Immigration and National Security. Praeger Pub Text, 2006.

LeMay, Michael C., and Elliott Robert Barken, editors. U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Laws and Issues: A Documentary History. Bloomsbury Publishing, 1999.

Najarro, Ileana. "Feds to Schools: Immigrant Students Entitled to Free Public Education, Regardless of Status." EducationWeek, 22 June 2023, www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/feds-to-schools-immigrant-students-entitled-to-free-public-education-regardless-of-status/2023/06. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.

Stanford, Libby. "A More Complete Picture of Immigration’s Impact on U.S. Public Schools." EducationWeek, 6 June 2024, www.edweek.org/policy-politics/a-more-complete-picture-of-immigrations-impact-on-u-s-public-schools/2024/06. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.

“The State of America's Children 2021.” Children's Defense Fund, 2021, www.childrensdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/The-State-of-Americas-Children-2021.pdf. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.

Suro, Roberto. Strangers Among Us: Latino Lives in a Changing America. Vintage, 1999.

Trump, Donald J. "Protecting the American People Against Invasion." Federal Register, 20 Jan. 2025, www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/29/2025-02006/protecting-the-american-people-against-invasion.

Wiltz, Teresa. "Unaccompanied Children from Central America, One Year Later." HuffPost, 24 Aug. 2015, www.huffpost.com/entry/unaccompanied-children-from-central-america-one-year-later_n_55db88b4e4b04ae497041d10. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.

Full Article

DEFINITION: Immigrants who have not yet reached the legal age of majority—typically people younger than eighteen

SIGNIFICANCE: The estimated millions of child immigrants residing in the United States in the twenty-first century presented unique anomalies for those charged with enforcing immigration laws. Children often become the innocent victims of such laws—especially those who belong to families of undocumented aliens. Although these children frequently lived much of their lives within the United States, they are often deported as illegals and returned to countries whose languages they do not speak and customs they do not know.

The United States is a society built by immigrants who flowed into the country in vast numbers during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Whether these newcomers were fast or slow to adapt to their new surroundings, their children—as second-generation immigrants—quickly learned the language and customs of their surroundings. Their assimilation was accelerated by intermarriage and was generally smoother for immigrants from most of Europe—as they bore a general similarity of appearance to the majority population of native-born Americans of European descent. Slower to be assimilated were those who—because of skin pigmentation and other features—looked different from most of the European immigrants. Asians often created their own ethnic enclaves, and such enclaves—such as Chinatowns—continued to thrive as many as three or four generations after their founders arrived in the United States.

In many of America’s large cities, tight-knit ethnic communities were formed by those of similar backgrounds. However, by the second or third generations, the structures of most such communities tended to weaken as younger members became upwardly mobile and entered professions outside their communities, rather than remaining in the ranks of unskilled laborers.

Accepting American Ways

The most crucial step toward assimilation is learning the language of one’s adopted country. In many immigrant families—particularly those from eastern European nations—immigrant parents insisted only English be spoken in their homes. Consequently, their children tended to gain English fluency quickly.

Many eastern European immigrants arrived at seaports on the East Coast of the United States and settled in such coastal cities as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. In cities that provided free or inexpensive education, or in some cases—as in New York City—through higher education, the children of immigrants hastened to take full advantage of the educational opportunities available to them.

Classification of Child Immigrants

Child immigrants are classified within a number of categories—ranging from infants adopted from foreign countries by American citizens to the children of noncitizens, documented and undocumented, who may be seeking citizenship independently, or as members of families. Although most legislation on immigration professes respect for family unification, significant problems arise for the children of undocumented immigrants.

All children born in the United States or in its territories are automatically legal US citizens. Their birth certificates are proof of their citizenship—even if they are born to undocumented parents. However, the child's citizenship has little bearing on the parents' immigration status. These parents remain undocumented immigrants, and—if apprehended—are subject to deportation.

American citizens often seek to adopt children from other countries. Historically, such children—who were usually babies at the time of their adoption—did not automatically become US citizens. However, if their adoptions were approved by the appropriate federal government authorities, the adopting parents—on proving their willingness and ability to assume the full responsibilities of parenthood—routinely obtained citizenship for their adopted children.

The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 streamlined the process through which internationally adopted children may gain American citizenship. In the past, children who were approved for adoption were routinely granted citizenship after entering the United States. Under the provisions of the 2000 law, however, US citizenship is granted immediately upon the approval of adoption in the child’s native country so the adopted infant can enter the United States as a fully documented citizen.

US citizens who adopt older children holding foreign citizenship can usually obtain US citizenship for these children if they are younger than eighteen. However, they must present convincing evidence that they are not adopting merely so the children can obtain citizenship. Such practices have been dubbed “adoptions of convenience,” which are similar to “marriages of convenience”—agreements entered into for the sole purpose of obtaining citizenship. Adoptive parents must usually verify they have supported their adopted children for substantial periods—usually two years—prior to filing applications for citizenship.

Naturalization of Stepchildren and Orphans

Stepchildren constitute another category pertaining to child immigration. When American citizens marry spouses whose children are not citizens, they can apply to have their new stepchildren declared US citizens. Stepparents do not necessarily have to adopt their stepchildren to make them eligible for citizenship, but they must demonstrate that they have contributed significantly to the children’s support and upbringing for a minimum period of time if the children are not orphaned.

When children have orphan status, the requirement for non-orphans is not enforced. An orphan is defined as a child whose natural parents have died, disappeared, or abandoned the child. Such children are eligible for permanent resident status if they are being adopted by US citizens. A child who has lost one parent may be designated an orphan if the surviving parent has not remarried and is incapable of supporting the child in question. The surviving parents must surrender their parental rights in order for their children to be declared orphans.

Single adults seeking to adopt must be at least twenty-five years old to qualify as petitioners. However, married people need not meet this age requirement. Adopting parents need only meet the adoptive parent requirements of the states in which they file their petitions.

Twenty-first Century Legislation

In October 2000, President Bill Clinton signed the Intercountry Adoption Act, which adhered to the Hague Convention on International Adoption. This bill was intended to simplify the process for adopting children from foreign countries. Although the new law was a significant step forward, it did not take effect immediately. The federal government first had to establish a central adoption authority—the details of which had to be established and agreed to by all participating parties.

In a continuing effort to streamline the adoption of children from foreign countries in 2009, the Families for Orphans Coalition supported a bill in the US Senate and the House of Representatives for legislation to be called the Foreign Adopted Children Equality Act. The bill was sponsored by John Boozman and Diane Wilson in the Senate and by Mary Landrieu and James Inhofe in the House. Under the provisions of this act, citizenship would be granted immediately to all foreign children being adopted by US citizens so they would enter the United States as full-fledged citizens—rather than as petitioners for citizenship. This act would eliminate the need for adopted children in this category to obtain immigration visas in order to enter the United States. Rather, they are declared “citizens from birth.” Whereas children who enter the United States on immigration visas—albeit legally—might at some future date be denied scholarships, passports, or entry into the US Armed Forces—the new status would bestow upon foreign adoptees all the rights and privileges of anyone born in the United States.

Passage of legislation such as the Adoptee Citizenship Act, proposed in 2019, would potentially prevent heartbreaking situations for intercountry adoptees who arrive in the US on immigrant visas but remain vulnerable to deportation. Under existing laws, adopted children who have lived nearly their entire lives in the United States may be deported—even for minor juvenile offenses—because they do not automatically receive US citizenship. Advocacy groups estimate that tens of thousands of adopted individuals face this risk. By the mid-2020s, however, the bill had not been passed.

In 2021, the Biden Administration ceased the Trump Administration’s 2019 public charge regulations and returned to the use of the 1999 field guidance. This change was intended to encourage immigrant families to seek health care without fear of deportation or investigation. The 2019 public charge regulations caused even lawfully present immigrants to avoid government assistance and, therefore, avoid necessary healthcare during the global pandemic—the fears created were noted to likely continue for many years.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program—established in 2012 to protect certain immigrants—enabled over 900,000 immigrants to remain in the US. Though new applications for this program were suspended, nearly 600,000 DACA recipients lived in the US in September 2022. The Biden administration published a rule in October 2022 to allow those individuals to renew their status and remain in the US.

Title 42 is a section of the Public Health Services Act which allows the Directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prevent immigrant entry into the US. In 2020, under this act, the Trump administration implemented rigid rules and expedited expulsion of migrants, reacting to COVID-19. Because of legal challenges, the Biden administration was unable to repeal this decision—but the restrictions at the border ended on May 11, 2023, when the public health emergency ceased.

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Procedures

All persons applying for US citizenship—except for very young children—must undergo interviews conducted by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). At these interviews, applicants are fingerprinted and given two tests—one to demonstrate their ability to speak, write, and read English and the other to demonstrate their knowledge of basic American government and history. Older applicants are occasionally granted exemptions from the language test. Those who pass the tests are immediately informed they have passed—those who do not pass one or both tests may apply to retake the tests at a later date.

Children Born Abroad to US Citizens

Children born in foreign countries to US citizens receive American citizenship immediately if both their parents are already US citizens. When only one parent is a US citizen, the children must reside in the United States for at least five years, including at least two after the child reaches fourteen. In the latter situation, full citizenship must be applied for—but granting it is routine.

Unaccompanied Child Immigrants

In extreme cases regarding countries experiencing a prodigious amount of violence—such as situations related to gangs and drugs—terror, or economic hardship, an increased number of unaccompanied child immigrants have made the dangerous journey to settle in America without authorization—many have family in the United States. In 2014, the drastic surge in the number of children risking their lives to cross through Mexico over the border into the United States from Central American countries such as Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala caused President Barack Obama to recognize the influx as a great humanitarian concern—eventually enlisting the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to oversee a relief effort. According to the Pew Research Center, there was a 117 percent increase in the number of unaccompanied children age twelve and younger who had been apprehended at the border by June 2014—the Migration Policy Institute reported that by the end of that year, almost seventy thousand unaccompanied minors had been caught at the border. To the United States, the majority of these children are smuggled, staying in questionable "safehouses" along the way and typically riding on top of a train—despite the risk of falling off. If they do reach the border, they are usually taken into custody and held in detention facilities—which were overcrowded for the majority of the 2010s and 2020s. By 2015, the immigration status of many unaccompanied children remained unresolved, and reports indicated that the number of minors crossing the US border had surged once more by year’s end. This trend continued into the mid-2020s.

Beginning in 2016, the plight of underaged immigrant children took backstage to the overall issue of immigration. Beginning with his first public statement announcing his candidacy in 2015, Donald Trump made immigration a central theme of his three presidential campaigns (2016, 2020, 2024) and two presidencies (2017–2021, 2025-). The American public came to accept immigration as a core national issue—immigration reduction and border control evolved into important party platforms for both political parties.

The COVID-19 pandemic—which began in 2020—had the effect of shrinking the US economy and reducing the number of immigrants into the US. Demand for labor increased following the economic rebound in the subsequent years. Coupled with worsening economic and security environments in native countries, immigration efforts resumed in historic numbers—this included large numbers of unaccompanied children. United States law defined the mandatory protections US authorities provided migrant children in their custody during the adjudication of their cases. Nonetheless, US political sentiment in the mid-2020s turned against immigration. As support for immigration into the US reached quarter-century lows, criticisms of both the Trump and Biden administrations emerged over allegations their immigration policies violated legal protections for minors.

The Trump administration’s approach to border control was regarded by critics to be harsh and dangerous for children. By 2020, a years-long crisis at the border separated more than 5,000 children from their parents. By late 2020, the parents of at least 545 of these children had not been located. Complicating this further, COVID-19 called for new, strict immigration protocols, and asylum seekers were turned away which negatively impacted immigrant children. Though children under seven were required by law to be held in detention no longer than seventy-two hours, the overwhelming number of individuals in detention caused this to be exceeded more often than not. Expelling children back to Mexico or South American countries put them at great risk of assault, gang violence, or other unsafe conditions. Parents were given the impossible choice of being separated from their children or taking them back to these harsh conditions. In the early 2020s, a record 128,904 unaccompanied minors entering the US shelter system in fiscal year 2022. Authorities reportedly lost track of tens of thousands of these children after release to sponsors, raising significant safety and accountability concerns. In May 2022, more than 12,000 unaccompanied minor children reentered the US border after being expelled the previous year.

United States law defined the mandatory protections US authorities provided migrant children in their custody during the adjudication of their cases. Nonetheless, US political sentiment in the mid-2020s turned against immigration. As support for immigration into the US reached quarter-century lows, criticisms of the Trump and Biden administrations emerged over allegations their immigration policies violated legal protections for minors.

On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order No. 14159, which imposed stricter immigration rules. The order required all undocumented immigrants, including children fourteen years old or older, to register within thirty days of entering the United States.


Bibliography

"Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2019: Bill Summary." Forum, 2019, forumtogether.org/article/adoptee-citizenship-act-of-2019-bill-summary. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.

Alvarez, Julia. How the García Girls Lost Their Accents. Algonquin Books, 1991.

Armus, Teo. "The Parents of 545 Children Separated at the Border Still Haven’t Been Found." Texas Tribune, Washington Post, 21 Oct. 2025, www.texastribune.org/2020/10/21/donald-trump-immigration-parents-children-separated/. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.

Canter, Laurence A., and Martha S. Siegel. U.S. Immigration Made Easy. 20th ed., Nolo Press, 2021.

Cheatham, Amelia, and Diana Roy. "U.S. Detention of Child Migrants." Council on Foreign Relations, 27 Mar. 2023, www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-detention-child-migrants. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.

Fitzpatrick, Alex, and Kavya Beheraj. "Where Unaccompanied Migrant Children Have Gone, Mapped." Axios, 31 May 2024, www.axios.com/2024/05/31/migrant-children-map-immigration. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.

Hamilton, John. Becoming a Citizen: Government in Action!. ABDO Publishing Company, 2005.

Jones, Jeffrey. "Sharply More Americans Want to Curb Immigration to U.S." Gallup, 12 July 2024, news.gallup.com/poll/647123/sharply-americans-curb-immigration.aspx. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.

Jones, Maldwyn Allen. American Immigration. 2nd ed., U of Chicago P, 1992.

Krogstad, Jens Manuel, Ana Gonzalez-Barrera, and Mark Hugo Lopez. "Children 12 and Under Are Fastest Growing Group of Unaccompanied Minors at U.S. Border." Pew Research Center, 22 July 2014, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/07/22/children-12-and-under-are-fastest-growing-group-of-unaccompanied-minors-at-u-s-border. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025

LeMay, Michael C. Guarding the Gates: Immigration and National Security. Praeger Pub Text, 2006.

LeMay, Michael C., and Elliott Robert Barken, editors. U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Laws and Issues: A Documentary History. Bloomsbury Publishing, 1999.

Najarro, Ileana. "Feds to Schools: Immigrant Students Entitled to Free Public Education, Regardless of Status." EducationWeek, 22 June 2023, www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/feds-to-schools-immigrant-students-entitled-to-free-public-education-regardless-of-status/2023/06. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.

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