Unseen and Unprotected: Unaccompanied Minors in U.S. Custody – Abuse, Exploitation, and the Hidden Reality of Pregnant Migrant Youth
/Children do not leave home without a reason. They do not cross borders alone unless staying has become more dangerous than the journey ahead. Every child who arrives alone at a border carries a history of rupture – of violence, deprivation, abuse, persecution, or loss – that made departure a necessity rather than a choice. These children are referred to as unaccompanied minors: individuals under the age of eighteen who arrive in a country without a parent or legal guardian, or who are separated from their families during migration or through immigration enforcement (Corona Maioli et al., 2021; United Nations, 2005). Yet behind this administrative label are children who have left behind not only homes and families, but languages, communities, routines, and the only sense of belonging they have ever known – all in pursuit of safety, survival, and the possibility of a future.
Once in the United States, unaccompanied minors are placed in shelters overseen by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). These facilities are officially intended to provide temporary care until children can be reunited with family, released to sponsors, or age out of the system at eighteen. But institutions created to protect vulnerable children can also reproduce the very harms they are meant to prevent. This contradiction is perhaps nowhere more striking than in the treatment of pregnant girls in ORR custody (Nawaz & Betancourt, 2026).
Unaccompanied minors who are pregnant and under the responsibility of the ORR are girls between the ages of 13 and 17. In about half of the cases, the pregnancy results from rape in their home country or during the migration journey (Nawaz & Betancourt, 2026). Because of their young age, these pregnancies are inherently high-risk, as their bodies are still developing (Cagli et al., 2025). These girls should therefore be cared for in facilities with appropriate medical staff and equipment capable of providing adequate support – whether to continue the pregnancy, or to safely terminate it if they choose (Betancourt, 2026).
As of July 22, 2025, the ORR’s acting director instructed agency staff to transfer “any pregnant children” in federal custody to a single group shelter in San Benito, South Texas – a state where abortion is effectively banned. The practical consequence of this policy is clear: pregnant girls in ORR custody may be compelled to carry pregnancies to term regardless of medical risk, personal circumstance, or the circumstances of conception, including sexual violence. For many, this means enduring pregnancy and childbirth while already living through trauma, profound economic precarity, and social isolation. Although framed as administrative policy, the effect is unmistakably coercive (Amiri & Ehrlich, 2026; Betancourt, 2026; Schreiber, 2026).
This situation is not unprecedented. During the current administration’s previous term, similar efforts were made to restrict abortion access for pregnant minors in federal custody. Nor would it be the first instance in which migrant women’s reproductive autonomy has been subjected to political ideology: reports in 2020 documented allegations of hysterectomies performed on migrant women without meaningful consent while in immigration detention (Ghandakly & Fabi, 2021; Lombardi, 2020; Olivared & Washington, 2020).
What is taking place constitutes a profound violation of fundamental human rights, children’s rights, and reproductive rights. If non-consensual hysterectomies deprived migrant women of the possibility of reproducing, forcing underage girls to carry pregnancies to term demonstrates another exercise of power: using state control to regulate the reproduction of an extraordinarily vulnerable population – children who are migrants, traumatized, pregnant, and alone. All of this in service of an anti-abortion political agenda imposed at the expense of bodily autonomy, dignity, and health. We wonder whether the world would respond with the same silence if these girls were not migrants.
These girls should not be left alone.
At the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, Texas, the situation has raised serious concerns regarding the treatment and safety of vulnerable migrants held within the facility. Between September and February, 11 cases of children suffering from severe respiratory difficulties and high fever were reported. Unlike the San Benito Immigration Processing Center, which primarily accommodates unaccompanied minors, Dilley also holds families, including very young children, exposing them to highly distressing conditions. This is evident in the case of Juan Nicolás, a two-month-old infant whose health rapidly deteriorated after his mother repeatedly raised concerns about his symptoms. When he was finally taken to the hospital, his condition was so severe that he required immediate helicopter transportation. However, due to unfavorable weather conditions, the transfer could not take place. Shortly afterward, Juan Nicolás and his mother were deported to Mexico (Hixenbaugh, 2026).
At Fort Bliss, in Texas, the largest immigration detention center in the U.S., reports have documented deeply troubling allegations of violence, abusive sexual contact, and neglect, including incidents involving unaccompanied minors. “Samuel,” a detained teenager, was beaten so severely by officers at Fort Bliss that he suffered injuries throughout his body, lost consciousness, and required emergency medical treatment. Despite being hospitalized as a result of the incident, Samuel later received a medical bill for the emergency care he needed. He continues to suffer from serious health consequences, including severe hearing difficulties in one ear and persistent testicular pain. Another detainee, “Edoardo,” reported being humiliated and physically assaulted after requesting access to his prescribed medication (Gassama, 2026).
These accounts also reveal broader concerns about the conditions inside Fort Bliss. Detainees have described being deprived of adequate nutrition, with reports of spoiled or inedible food contributing to hunger, illness, and significant weight loss. The facility has also faced criticism for failures in providing essential medical and mental health care, as well as basic necessities such as hygiene products, clean clothing, and appropriate living conditions. Many immigrants have reportedly been held for prolonged periods in overcrowded and freezing spaces, sometimes without sufficient food, natural light, or access to outdoor areas. In addition, restrictions on access to legal assistance have further increased the isolation and vulnerability of those detained (Figueroa, 2025; Gassama, 2026).
Creating awareness is not merely an initial step, but a fundamental prerequisite for protecting these children. This issue must be brought decisively into the public sphere on a global scale – through the work of independent journalists, the authority of established media, and the pervasive reach of social platforms, which today shape how younger generations access and interpret information. As long as such realities remain unseen, meaningful change will remain out of reach.
Education systems, from primary schools to universities, carry an equally critical responsibility. They must engage with these issues across multiple dimensions – political, social, economic, and health-related – fostering not only knowledge but critical awareness. Educating younger generations is therefore not simply about understanding the present; it is about actively shaping a future in which the injustices we now recognize in history are neither forgotten nor repeated.
Sarah Sinigaglia (she/her), MSc
Sexual Health Research Lab, Queen’s University
Padova Sex Lab, University of Padua
References
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