ICE Is Pitching A Call Center That Would Track Immigrant Kids

The Trump administration has ramped up pressure on migrant youth for months.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is considering establishing a new call center, in part to make it easier for them to track immigrant children with the help of local and state law enforcement.

The pitch was laid out in a government contracting document known as a “request for information,” which outlines the broad strokes of a potential project. The RFI was posted Tuesday night; Reuters first reported it Wednesday.

The document says ICE has an “immediate need” to establish and maintain a call center “using data-enabled technology to receive and process 6,000 to 7,000 calls per day” to coordinate with local law enforcement officers around the U.S. who are working with the Trump administration to enforce its immigration policies ― including those “focused on locating Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC).”

“Unaccompanied alien children” is the government’s term for children who come to the United States on their own, without a parent or legal guardian, and without legal status. Upon arriving in the country, they’re initially held in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement, which oversees a network of shelters.

Most are eventually placed with a family member or another vetted sponsor, though the time spent in government custody has shot up for children during President Donald Trump’s second term. Those who were discharged from ORR custody in September spent an average of 186 days in government custody, up from 35 days last October, according to HHS figures.