Threats to immigrant children are a threat to Michigan

A version of this column originally appeared in Michigan Advance.

Michigan’s future relies on the resilience and resourcefulness of its children. But with net population decline projected by 2050 and sub-par educational outcomes among Michigan children, we need to be serious about creating a state where kids can get ahead. Immigrant families are critical to our state reaching its full potential. 

In the past decade, immigrants have accounted for nearly 60% of the state’s population growth, while contributing billions in state revenue and economic activity. Yet a new swath of regulations, largely aimed to deter immigration, could do irreparable harm to many of our state’s youngest and most vulnerable residents.

In recent years, a surge of Unaccompanied Children (UCs) has crossed the southern border, entering Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) custody. These minors flee extreme circumstances where migration becomes an option of last resort. Michigan nonprofits serve children who made deadly journeys to earn money for their mothers’ cancer treatments or escape coercive recruitment into criminal enterprises.

The Trump administration has characterized these vulnerable children — 67% of whom are aged 16 or younger — a national security threat, directing ICE to specifically target them for deportation. A multi-agency review of 450,000 unaccompanied minors is underway, enabled by revoking the DHS sensitive locations policy that previously protected schools, churches and hospitals from immigration raids.

In February, ICE began conducting “wellness checks” on immigrant children at schools — what the Young Center calls “a pretext to locate, interrogate and deport children and families.” A new plan proposes mobilizing 21,000 National Guard troops to round up UCs.

The administration also targets children by attacking the adults they rely on. After arrival, UCs transfer to ORR custody for shelter and basic necessities. Most unaccompanied children are then released to the custody of a sponsor, usually a close family member, until their legal status is adjudicated. However, new policy changes enable ICE to obtain the legal status of sponsors from ORR, putting undocumented sponsors at deportation risk.

Central to this campaign is terminating the Flores Settlement Agreement — the backbone of child protections requiring the provision of food, water, clean clothing and medical care in government custody. While courts have historically upheld the Flores Settlement Agreement, successfully overturning it would enable indefinite detention of children in prison-like conditions.

Already, new Trump administration rules requiring stringent sponsor identification verification now keep children in shelters an average of 217 days before family release — up dramatically from previous timelines.

On top of this, a proposed budget reconciliation fine could charge sponsors up to $8,500 per child, while other provisions impose $1,000 asylum application fees and $500 Special Immigrant Visa fees — visas UCs often need when aging out at 18. These barriers create pay-to-play systems, effectively holding children ransom from families.

Funding cuts are eliminating vital services. The Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC), the state’s primary legal provider for unaccompanied minors, supporting 800 children, faced a March stop-work order cutting legal funding and forcing 72 layoffs. This leaves young children — including toddlers — to navigate the U.S. legal system alone.

Budget reconciliation threatens additional vital benefits for children. The proposed Child Tax Credit changes would require both parents to have Social Security numbers to qualify, potentially denying the $2,000 credit to 4.5 million American citizen children under age 17 based solely on their parents’ immigration status. Cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) could affect 400,000 legal refugees and asylum recipients, while broader benefit reductions threaten extended family support systems that children depend upon.

When parents face deportation or detention, children experience toxic stress, which impairs brain development and increases risks of chronic mental health conditions, including depression and PTSD, plus physical conditions like cancer, stroke, diabetes and heart disease. Research shows most children experience at least four adverse behavioral changes following immigration-related parental arrests — such as chronic fear and disrupted eating and sleeping patterns.

These trauma responses directly undermine educational achievement and workforce preparation at a time when immigrants account for nearly 60% of Michigan’s population growth over the past decade.

The cumulative effect could devastate Michigan families. With 300,000 Michigan children living in immigrant families — including 70,000 high schoolers representing 15% of the state’s high school population — Michigan’s economic future depends on these families’ stability.

Michigan teachers and superintendents already report declining attendance among immigrant children, imperiling long-term development while families rush to create guardianships fearing deportations. By destabilizing families representing such a significant portion of Michigan’s emerging workforce, these enforcement policies risk creating a traumatized generation while threatening the state’s economic growth and development goals.

The Michigan League for Public Policy and our partners are working to make sure all kids have a chance to grow up strong and healthy in our state. Michigan shouldn’t risk its future, or the lives of thousands of innocent kids who are looking for opportunity and family reunification, with shortsighted and harmful restrictions like these.