The Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) Bureau is managed by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), an operational division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Current Law 

By law, HHS has custody and must provide care for each unaccompanied alien child, defined as a child who has no lawful immigration status in the United States; has not attained 18 years of age; and, with respect to whom, there is no parent or legal guardian in the United States, or no parent or legal guardian in the United States available to provide care and physical custody. See 6 U.S.C. §279(g)(2).

UAC Bureau Foundation

Under the Homeland Security Act of 2002, Congress transferred the care and custody of these minors to ORR from the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to move away from the adult detention model. In the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA of 2008), which expanded and redefined HHS’s statutory responsibilities, Congress directed that each child must “be promptly placed in the least restrictive setting that is in the best interest of the child,” subject to considerations of whether the child is a danger to self or others. See 8 U.S.C. § 1232(c)(2).

UAC Bureau Development 

Unaccompanied alien children are referred to ORR by another federal agency, usually the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Most children are placed into ORR care because they were apprehended by immigration authorities while trying to cross the border; others are referred after coming to the attention of immigration authorities at some point after crossing the border. HHS plays no role in the apprehension or initial detention of unaccompanied alien children and HHS is not a party to the child’s immigration proceedings.

ORR’s UAC Bureau, formerly the UAC Program, has provided care and found suitable sponsors for over 800,000 unaccompanied alien children since 2003. In the first nine years of the program, fewer than 8,000 children were served annually. Since fiscal year 2012 (October 1, 2011 — September 30, 2012), this number increased significantly. 

Because of the large fluctuations in arrival numbers throughout the year, ORR maintains a mix of “standard” beds that are available year-round, and “temporary” beds that can be added or reduced as needed. This bed management strategy allows to accommodate changing flows in unaccompanied alien children referrals. 

View the referrals of unaccompanied alien children by fiscal year and general monthly statistics related to unaccompanied alien children. 

As soon as children enter ORR care, they are put in contact with their parents, guardians, or relatives, if known, and the process of finding a suitable sponsor begins. Most sponsors are a parent or a close family relative living in the United States. While ORR programs are looking for sponsors, children are provided age-appropriate care and wraparound services in one of the 171 facilities and programs in 24 states funded by ORR.

The important work happening in each of the facilities and programs in the ORR network around the country — work ORR has done successfully since 2003 — takes an experienced team of competent, hardworking individuals dedicated to the welfare of the children.

To comply with Congress’s directive to ensure the safety and suitability of potential sponsors for unaccompanied alien children, sponsors are required to undergo background checks and complete a sponsor assessment process that identifies risk factors and other potential safety concerns. As part of the unification process, potential sponsors must undergo a suitability assessment which includes verification of identity, fingerprinting, and background checks — including criminal public records and sex offender registry checks — of the potential sponsor and adults living in the sponsor’s home. The fingerprints are cross-checked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) National Criminal History Check, state repository records, and includes a search of DHS arrest records. For more details, see Field Guidance 26 — Fingerprint Background Checks and Acceptable Supporting Documentation for a Family Reunification Application (PDF).

In some instances, ORR also requires a home study before unifying a child with a sponsor. Home studies are mandatory under the TVPRA of 2008 for certain cases identified in law, including for: a child who is a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons; a special needs child with a disability; where the child has been a victim of physical or sexual abuse under circumstances that indicate that the child’s health or welfare has been significantly harmed or threatened; and where the child’s sponsor clearly presents a risk of abuse, maltreatment, exploitation or trafficking, to the child based on all available objective evidence (see 8 U.S.C. § 1232(c)(3)(B)). Additionally, per ORR policy, a home study is required for any child pending unification with a non-relative sponsor who is seeking to sponsor multiple children or has previously sponsored or sought to sponsor a child and is seeking to sponsor additional children. ORR requires a home study for children who are 12 years and under before unification with a non-relative sponsor.

Once unified with a sponsor, minors are expected to appear for any pending immigration proceedings, and since the beginning of the program, ORR has notified Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at least 24 hours before and 24 hours after the unification of all unaccompanied alien children with a sponsor. The notification includes the address of the unaccompanied alien children, as well as the name of the sponsors.

UAC Bureau Services 

Consistent with federal law, ORR places children while in our care in the least restrictive setting that is in the best interest of the child, considering potential flight risk and danger to self and others. Learn more about the required services that all ORR-funded care providers must deliver to the children in care.

UAC Bureau Responsibilities 

• Making and implementing the best shelter placement decisions for the unaccompanied alien children.

• Ensuring that the interests of the child are considered in decisions related to the care and custody of unaccompanied alien children.

• Providing home assessments for certain categories of children.

• Conducting post-release services for certain categories of children.

• Overseeing the infrastructure and personnel of ORR-funded care provider facilities.

• Conducting on-site monitoring visits of ORR-funded care provider facilities and ensuring compliance with ORR national care standards.

• Collecting, analyzing, and reporting statistical information on unaccompanied alien children.

• Providing training to federal, state, and local officials who have substantive contact with unaccompanied alien children.

• Developing procedures for age determinations and conducting these determinations.

• Cooperating with the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review to ensure that sponsors receive Legal Orientation Presentations for Custodians (LOPC).

• Ensuring, to the greatest extent practicable, that all unaccompanied alien children in custody have access to pro bono legal representation or counsel for immigration proceedings.

• Unifying unaccompanied alien children with qualified sponsors and family members who are determined to be capable of providing for the child's physical and mental well-being as quickly and safely as possible.