"The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the agency tasked with caring for unaccompanied migrant children, has allegedly implemented a secret policy in recent months allowing immigration agents and criminal investigators to interrogate those children and their potential U.S.-based sponsors, according to a federal lawsuit filed this week by Al Otro Lado, a San Diego-based binational organization that provides legal services and humanitarian aid to migrants."
"Al Otro Lado's lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, accuses Health and Human Services of violating its statutory mandate to act in the best interest of children in its care. The lawsuit seeks to make public through the Freedom of Information Act all records pertaining to the allegedly secret policy. Health and Human Services has a legal obligation to act with the best interests of the child in mind, Cassandra Lopez, Al Otro Lado's litigation director,"
"Historically, HHS hasn't been allowed to share information about the children's cases with (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) or with other agencies, and that's because they're supposed to be doing everything they can that's in the best interest of that child, and not working to help ICE carry out enforcement activities. Lopez said Al Otro Lado is aware of deportations that have occurred as a result of ICE agents interrogating unaccompanied migrant children and their potential sponsors."
HHS is accused of implementing a recent secret policy allowing immigration agents and criminal investigators to question unaccompanied migrant children and their potential U.S. sponsors. A San Diego-based organization, Al Otro Lado, filed a federal lawsuit seeking records under the Freedom of Information Act and alleges HHS violated its statutory duty to act in the best interests of children. The organization reports cases where ICE interrogations of children and sponsors led to deportations and says the practice is widespread. HHS declined to comment on pending litigation, and ICE and DHS did not respond to requests for comment.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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