More than 3800 children, including 500 under the age of five, have been held in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities since January 2025.1 The daily average number of children detained has surged by 680% from 25 a day under Joe Biden’s administration to 170 a day under Donald Trump’s administration.1 In the first 10 months of Trump’s second term, ICE has recorded daily peak numbers of over 400 children in its custody,1 some of whom have been detained without family or guardians.1 This surge in the number of children being detained by ICE warrants urgent intervention by the international human rights and healthcare community.Over 600 children have been detained in federal shelters for “unaccompanied minors,” more than the preceding four years combined.2 Most children detained in shelters in the past year were forcibly separated from their parents and families who were living in the US after routine...
More than 3800 children, including 500 under the age of five, have been held in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities since January 2025.1 The daily average number of children detained has surged by 680% from 25 a day under Joe Biden’s administration to 170 a day under Donald Trump’s administration.1 In the first 10 months of Trump’s second term, ICE has recorded daily peak numbers of over 400 children in its custody,1 some of whom have been detained without family or guardians.1 This surge in the number of children being detained by ICE warrants urgent intervention by the international human rights and healthcare community.Over 600 children have been detained in federal shelters for “unaccompanied minors,” more than the preceding four years combined.2 Most children detained in shelters in the past year were forcibly separated from their parents and families who were living in the US after routine...