SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A local nonprofit has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services over a recent policy change that reportedly allows federal law enforcement to interview unaccompanied migrant children.
Al Otro Lado filed the lawsuit on Wednesday, demanding information about the HHS policy change involving unaccompanied minors at shelters.
"We're asking for, you know, what the policy is, any rules around it, any forms that kind of documentation," said Cassandra Lopez, litigation director for the nonprofit.
Just a few weeks ago, ABC News learned federal law enforcement, like ICE agents, were interviewing unaccompanied minors at shelters, something Lopez said HHS had never done before.
In the lawsuit, Al Otro Lado claims these interviews are taking place without an attorney in the room and without Miranda warnings.
"We're concerned about this policy change because it appears to us that it's not in the best interest of the children to have ICE agents present when they're questioning kids," Lopez said.
In addition to concerns about the children being interviewed, Al Otro Lado argues that the policy change was never formally announced and has still not been made public, as required by law.
"There hasn't been any formal publication of a policy, there hasn't been any new policy announced, there's nothing up on the Health and Human Services website that informs the public and advocates about the policy change," Lopez said.
An HHS spokesperson stated that the sponsor vetting process for these children involves verifying the sponsor's documents to ensure the child is released to a stable and safe environment. The spokesperson added that sponsors are informed that DHS, ICE, or other law enforcement may be present at the time and can conduct their own law enforcement-related interviews.
HHS said children are given access to counsel and can reach them at any time.
"We think that this is part of their effort to deport as many people as possible rather than ensure that children's legal protections that they're legally entitled to that those are being honored and respected," Lopez said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
