Tags: UN | US | Detained Children

UN Expert Corrects Claim on Kids in US Migration Detention

Tuesday, 19 November 2019 05:37 PM EST

GENEVA (AP) — An outside expert working with the U.N. human rights office has corrected a figure he cited claiming that over 100,000 children are being held in migrant detention in the United States.

On Monday, Manfred Nowak, who leads a U.N. Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty that was published this week, told reporters: “We have more than — still more than — 100,000 children in migration-related detention in the United States of America." The Associated Press and other major news organizations reported that figure.

But on Tuesday, he told The AP that figure was drawn from a U.N. refugee agency report citing data from 2015, the latest figure his team could find. That was before U.S. President Donald Trump, whose policies on migration have drawn criticism, was elected.

Nowak also said the figure of over 100,000 referred to the cumulative number of migrant children held in detention at any point during that year, whether “for two days or eight months or the whole year,” not all simultaneously.

He reiterated, however, that the U.S. is holding far more children than are other countries for which he has reliable figures.

New U.S. government data released this month found 69,550 migrant children have been held in U.S. government custody over the past year.

The U.S. government didn’t respond to the questionnaire of Nowak’s team that asked governments to indicate both annual and date-specific numbers of migrant children in detention.

© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


GlobalTalk
An outside expert working with the U.N. human rights office has corrected a figure he cited claiming that over 100,000 children are being held in migrant detention in the United States.On Monday, Manfred Nowak, who leads a U.N. Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty...
UN,US,Detained Children
236
2019-37-19
Tuesday, 19 November 2019 05:37 PM
Newsmax Media, Inc.

Sign up for Newsmax’s Daily Newsletter

Receive breaking news and original analysis - sent right to your inbox.

(Optional for Local News)
Privacy: We never share your email address.
Join the Newsmax Community
Read and Post Comments
Please review Community Guidelines before posting a comment.
 
 

Newsmax, Moneynews, Newsmax Health, and Independent. American. are registered trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc. Newsmax TV, and Newsmax World are trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc.

NEWSMAX.COM
© 2025 Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
NEWSMAX.COM
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved