Immigration Agencies

CDC announces exception to expulsions of unaccompanied children

Refugee Camp

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a notice in the Federal Register excepting unaccompanied children from expulsions. The notice relates to an earlier order which enabled the federal government to expel individuals from countries where quarantinable communicable diseases exist.

According to the CDC, it “has decided to exercise its discretion to temporarily except from expulsion unaccompanied noncitizen children encountered in the United States pending the outcome of its forthcoming public health reassessment of the Order.” This exception has been in effect since January 30, 2021.

The CDC notes that it is undergoing a review of the earlier CDC order pursuant to President Biden’s executive order, Executive Order 14010, “Creating a Comprehensive Regional Framework to Address the Causes of Migration, to Manage Migration Through Norther and Central America, and to Provide Safe and Orderly Processing of Asylum Seekers at the United States Border” (86 FR 8267).

This expulsion framework has been in effect during the pandemic and enabled the Trump Administration to more quickly expel people from the US border rather than engage in lengthy removal proceedings. The expulsion authority is codified at 42 C.F.R. Sec. 71.40.