U.S. immigration authorities will once more put families with children in detention centers when President-elect Trump returns to office, says incoming White House “border czar” Tom Homan. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will look to hold parents with children in “soft-sided” tent structures similar to those used by U.S. border officials to handle immigration surges, Homan tells the Washington Post.. The government will not hesitate to deport parents who are in the U.S. illegally, even if they have young U.S.-born children, he added, leaving it to those families to decide whether to exit together or be split up. “Here’s the issue,” Homan said. “You knew you were in the country illegally and chose to have a child. So you put your family in that position.”
President Joe Biden ended family detention in 2021, closing three facilities ICE called “residential centers” that offered about 3,000 beds. The facilities had a dorm-like design with recreational and educational programming. Immigration advocates and pediatricians said detention was harmful for children. A federal judge who oversees immigration detention programs involving minors has set 20 days as the maximum amount of time children can be held at the family facilities. The deportation process often requires more time, so ICE has generally preferred to prioritize easier-to-remove adults. Homan said that may change once Trump takes office. “We’re going to need to construct family facilities,” he said. “How many beds we’re going to need will depend on what the data says.” As acting director of ICE during Trump’s first term, Homan drove the “zero tolerance” policy that separated more than 4,000 children from their parents soon after they crossed the border into the U.S. He said Trump’s new enforcement campaign will seek to deport families together. He acknowledged the government cannot remove children who are U.S. citizens, leaving it to parents to decide whether they would split up the family.