Fordham Law Review Online

Release to Sponsor Approved, Now What?

May 1, 2023

When children under the age of eighteen arrive at the U.S. southern border without lawful immigration status and without a parent or legal guardian, they are usually detained by CBP, most commonly in small, overcrowded, and often freezing cells or cages. Minors are then transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement and if there is a “sponsor” in the United States, like a parent or relative, ORR will look to transfer the minor to the care of this sponsor. Approximately 80 percent of unaccompanied minors are released to sponsors. ORR provides minimal and inadequate care to the minors and their sponsors after release. Professor Mandelbaum highlights the problems posed by a lack of post-release care and proposes seven solutions to ameliorate the living conditions of minors living with sponsors.