Since President Donald Trump returned to office, his administration has implemented a slew of changes to the vetting process for close relatives and other guardians who volunteer to take in undocumented children, from narrowing the list of acceptable identity documents to mandating DNA tests. Crucially, it also dropped a rule that prohibited the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which cares for unaccompanied migrant kids, from sharing information about potential sponsors with ICE.

…

Those changes have led to prolonged stays in shelters for unaccompanied children. Some advocates say the changes allow ICE to use kids as “bait” to arrest their potential caregivers.

…

The new information-sharing practice and arrests of potential sponsors will have a chilling effect on families who may not come forward to take children for fear of being detained, said Bob Carey, the former director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement director during the Obama administration.

The Trump administration did not say how many sponsors have been detained as part of these efforts, but an NPR radio affiliate in California cited at least 100 such cases across the country as of March. In comparison, at least 170 sponsors were arrested during the first Trump administration as of late 2018.

Advocates say the new policies also harm children’s mental health by keeping them in shelters for months at a time.