Legislative Background on Migrant Children
Recent Action in the Congress on Unaccompanied Minors
The U.S. Government’s policy regarding unaccompanied migrant children is based mainly on a Federal law titled the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2008 and a 1997 legal settlement known as the Flores Agreement. The TVPRA required the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to screen unaccompanied migrant children from contiguous countries (Mexico and Canada) within 48 hours. If such children are not victims of trafficking or lack a claim to asylum based on persecution, they can be repatriated to their home country. Unaccompanied children from other countries are transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services Office of…
