ICE to open call center to help track migrant children for removal
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to establish a "National Call Center" in Nashville, Tennessee, to help law enforcement track unaccompanied migrant children for potential removal, according to an agency contracting document.
In the notice posted to a government contracting website on Tuesday, ICE officials said there is an "immediate need" to establish the call center, which is expected to receive and process "6,000 to 7,000 calls per day" regarding the locations of minors.
The call center could be fully operational by June 2026, ICE said.
The move comes amid the Trump administration's effort to target unaccompanied migrant children as part of its broader immigration crackdown.
Immigrant advocates are pushing back on the plan to establish the call center.
"There are a host of federal laws and programs that purport to protect unaccompanied children, which this administration has been actively attempting to dismantle," said Michael Lukens, the executive director for the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, a group that represents unaccompanied migrant children.
"The center will not protect children. It will only serve to make it easier to deport them," Lukens said.
Last month, the Department of Homeland Security sent a notice to legal service providers saying it is offering unaccompanied migrant children a "one-time resettlement" stipend of $2,500 to voluntarily depart the U.S.
Earlier this year, Immigration and Customs and Enforcement directed agents to track down unaccompanied migrant children in the United States.
