After the Trump administration abruptly installed a new hard-line leader last month, the health department’s refugee office is pushing to implement immigration policies favored by White House senior adviser Stephen Miller, according to four health department officials and internal documents reviewed by POLITICO.
The office — which takes custody of thousands of migrant children — is now seeking to delay placing migrant children in shelters operated by the health department, which would instead leave those children in the custody of the Border Patrol for an extended length of time, according to an internal email sent last week and reviewed by POLITICO.
Refugee office leaders are reviewing the policy of allowing undocumented immigrant adults to take custody of refugee children — a long-standing practice that dates back to the George W. Bush administration but has been opposed by Miller and other anti-immigration hard-liners, who think it rewards adults who are in the country illegally, officials said. Continue reading.