There is now a new immigrations and customs enforcement order that will allow agents to fingerprint children as young as fourteen years old. According to ICE, this is being done for the safety of the children because many are unaccompanied. According to the article published by BuzzFeed News, this is being done so that children are not misidentified, are not victims of human trafficking and smugglers. It is a way for the government to track down children who are in unsafe conditions.
Though this might seem like it is meant for the safety of children, this might just be a tactic to keep tabs on those who are seeking asylum; despite their age. However, DHS (department of homeland security) is still desperately trying to locate 7,888 children who failed to appear in court to grant them their case in order to allow them to stay in the United States and for this reason they have started to fingerprint children in order to keep track of them.
Perhaps this is a good way to keep children in safe conditions. Adults already endure a lot of stress, anxiety and fear; children must feel these emotions ten times stronger. Though it may be a biased opinion as to the real reasons behind fingerprinting children, perhaps this may be the safest option to keep them safe.
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