President Donald Trump's administration is at work on a policy to speed up the deportation of Central American teenagers who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border not accompanied by adults.
The Justice Department does not want to create another protected group, similar to those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, two sources told McClatchy DC.
More than 150,000 children who arrived at the border alone would be sent back to their countries when they turn 18 with a fast-track deportation, which means they would not go before an immigration judge first, according to McClatchy DC.
"The law, especially for the children, doesn't give the administration a lot of flexibility with how to deal with unaccompanied children," a U.S. official said.
"This is being viewed as a way to say that there will not need to be a new DACA. But this is far from decided. The concern is that most people at DOJ know this will likely be viewed as illegal and do not want to have to defend this in court if they can avoid it," a former Justice Department official said.
In 2014, a surge of Central Americans brought almost 70,000 unaccompanied children across the U.S. border. Between 63 and 73 percent of those were between 15 and 17 at the time and are now 18 and subject to the policy change, according to Randy Capps, Migration Policy Institute director of research for U.S. programs, McClatchy DC reported.
Courts could quickly block the policy after it is announced, according to Leon Fresco, who headed the Justice Department's Office of Immigration Litigation during the Barack Obama administration.
"The question is whether the administration wants to add this to the travel ban, sanctuary cities, Byrne JAG grants and DACA repeal to the issues they would want the Supreme Court to have to decide this year," Fresco said.
Byrne Justice Assistance Grants are public safety grants that the Trump administration said would be unavailable to sanctuary cities, according to The Chicago Tribune.
The Trump administration also is considering further reductions to the number of refugees that will be allowed in the United States.
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