The United States should never use its power to track down children.

Yet Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is moving forward with plans to open a 24-hour call center designed to locate unaccompanied migrant minors — including those who entered the U.S. alone and are currently awaiting court hearings or living with sponsors.

According to federal contracting documents, the proposed Nashville-based facility could handle as many as 7,000 calls per day and would rely on state and local police to help identify and report the whereabouts of children.

This is an unacceptable use of law enforcement resources and a direct threat to the safety of vulnerable kids. Many of these minors have fled violence, trafficking, or war. They deserve compassion and protection — not to be treated as fugitives.

Child welfare experts and human rights groups have long warned that expanding immigration enforcement into child-tracking will drive families underground, separate children from caregivers, and make immigrant communities less likely to seek help from police. It could also lead to serious data-privacy violations, exposing minors to exploitation or harm.

We call on:

• The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to immediately cancel the proposed ICE call center.
• Members of Congress to block funding for the program and demand public hearings into any ICE initiative involving minors.
• Local and state police departments to refuse participation in ICE’s call-tracking network and reaffirm their duty to protect all children within their jurisdictions.
• CoreCivic, the Nashville-based private contractor likely to build and operate the center, to withdraw from the project.
   

Every child — no matter where they were born — deserves safety and dignity. Targeting unaccompanied minors for deportation is not law enforcement; it’s cruelty.

Sign to tell DHS and Congress: Say no to ICE’s call center to track migrant children. Protect kids, not politics.

Photographer: John Moore/Getty Images