TBT Pepperidge Farms members Josh Earnest

“It’s unlikely that most of the kids who go through this process will qualify for humanitarian relief, which is to say that most of them will not have a legal basis … to remain in this country.”

Josh Earnest,
White House Press Secretary
July 7, 2014 pic.twitter.com/LatsY2DuDx

This past weekend, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) engaged in concerted, nationwide enforcement operations to take into custody and return at a greater rate adults who entered this country illegally with children,” Johnson said. “This should come as no surprise. I have said publicly for months that individuals who constitute enforcement priorities, including families and unaccompanied children, will be removed.”

White House press secretary Josh Earnest acknowledged “some discussions” between the White House and DHS over policy matters related to the raids, but did not get into specifics. He said President Barack Obama supports deportation of those who recently entered the U.S. illegally.
More than 100,000 Latin American families as well as unaccompanied children?—?many of whom are under the age of 12?—?crossed the southern U.S. border in 2014 to flee violence in their home countries, prompting the U.S. government to respond by fast-tracking immigration court proceedings. In some cases, immigration lawyers complained that the 21-day turnaround for court proceedings didn’t give them enough time to represent unaccompanied minors in court, leaving as many as 61 percent of mothers and children without legal representation.