Expedited Removal and Unaccompanied Children: an FAQ

The Trump administration’s January 2025 expansion of expedited removal to people residing in the interior of the United States has raised concerns about whether the government could try to apply this summary removal process to young people who entered the country as unaccompanied children (UCs) but no longer meet the definition. This resource—created with our partners at the Children’s Immigration Law Academy and Immigrant Legal Resource Center—answers common questions about expedited removal and its application to children and offers arguments against its application to young people who were processed as UCs and young people with approved special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS), should the government attempt to apply it to those groups.