US has arrested 170 immigrants who tried to claim migrant children

SAN FRANCISCO/ WASHINGTON: US immigration authorities arrested 170 people between early July and late November who came forward to claim migrant children in government custody, according to official data released on Monday, a crackdown advocates say is discouraging relatives from volunteering to take in some of the 14,000 detained children.

Of those arrested, 61 were classified as criminal while the other 109 had only committed immigration violations, said US Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Matthew Bourke.

President Donald Trump won the White House on a promise to crack down on illegal immigrants and he has ordered more aggressive enforcement to dissuade migrants from crossing the US southern border.

US laws and legal precedent limit the time migrant juveniles can be detained, so those caught crossing the border alone are often released to their parents or other close relatives.

About 80 per cent of potential sponsors that ICE conducted checks on in that five-month period were in the United States unlawfully, said Bourke.

The Department of Health and Human Services ( HHS) cares for the migrant children, while the Department of Homeland Security ( DHS) enforces immigration law and oversees ICE. — AFP