Feds to arrest relatives who help smuggle children into U.S.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Trump administration said Friday it will begin arresting parents and other relatives who hire smugglers to bring their children into the United States, a move that sent a shudder through immigrant communities nationwide.

The new “surge initiative” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement marks the latest get-tough approach to immigration by the federal government since President Donald Trump took office. The government says the effort aims to break up human smuggling operations, including arresting people who pay coyotes to get children across the U.S. border.

That marks a departure from policies in place under President Barack Obama’s administration, during which time tens of thousands of young people fleeing spiraling gang and drug violence in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador crossed the border. The children are then placed with “sponsors” — typically parents, close relatives or family friends — who care for the minors while they attend school and their cases go through the immigration court system.

The government said it plans to arrest the sponsors.

“The sponsors who have placed children directly into harm’s way by entrusting them to violent criminal organizations will be held accountable,” agency spokeswoman Sarah Rodriguez said.

Officials did not respond to questions Friday seeking details on the number of sponsors who would be targeted or had been arrested. Immigrant advocacy groups said they were investigating arrests or ongoing investigations in New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.

“Arresting those who come forward to sponsor unaccompanied children during their immigration proceedings, often parents, is unimaginably cruel,” said Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense, a nonprofit that has matched unaccompanied minors with attorneys. “Without caregivers to come forward, many of these children will languish in costly detention centers or be placed in foster care at great expense to states.”

Since October 2013, nearly 170,000 unaccompanied minors have been placed with sponsors in all 50 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands.