A foster child in Florida's welfare system was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) earlier this month, drawing sharp criticism from immigration attorneys and child advocates who say the move violated a longstanding state policy prohibiting workers from acting on a child's immigration status.
According to legal experts, the decision contradicts a 1995 Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) policy, which bars the agency from making immigration status checks with the goal of facilitating a child's or family's detention—particularly when responding to child abuse hotline calls.
"It's unconscionable of DCF to cooperate in a way that puts children at risk of harm," Robert Latham, associate director of the Children & Youth Law Clinic at the University of Miami School of Law, told the Miami Herald. "They are entrusted with caring for these children and should do everything they can to protect them."
Sources familiar with the case told the Herald that the minor, identified as Henry, arrived in the U.S. from Honduras with his mother at age 13. He was initially released into the custody of an uncle and later lived with his mother, but was left without a legal guardian after she was arrested in Texas and deported back to Honduras.
Henry eventually moved to Pensacola to live with his brother while seeking employment. Records show he may have been a victim of labor trafficking and ran away. In November 2024, a report was filed to DCF's child welfare hotline after he was seen homeless and staying in a shed. He was briefly placed with a local family, where he stayed for just 11 days.
After not being able to stay at shelters for too long, DCF filed a "shelter petition" in Escambia County, asking a judge to declare Henry a dependent of the state. He was officially placed in foster care in April. But on June 6, a DCF administrator reported him to ICE, sources told the Herald.
Although Henry does not have a deportation order, he remains in federal custody under the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which oversees unaccompanied minors.
Latham said the rule preventing immigration referrals has been followed by every administration since 1995. "If this is a policy decision, it is a huge deal," he said.
He added that DCF may have exposed Henry to immigration enforcement in part because the agency maintains records of which children in state care are undocumented, since Florida's Medicaid program does not cover healthcare for undocumented children.
A children's attorney told the Herald that DCF's actions could signal a significant shift from decades of established policy.
"It puts Florida children at risk and introduces a new chilling effect on reports to the state's child abuse hotline," said Fran Allegra, who led Miami-Dade's private foster care agency from 2004 to 2014. "Reports involving undocumented families are already low. This shift makes reporting—and therefore rescuing children—less likely."
Children's advocates warn that a sudden policy shift could have serious unintended consequences, including discouraging immigrant communities from reporting suspected child abuse or neglect due to fears of deportation.
"If people don't report, DCF can't respond, and children and families will be left at higher risk of harm." Latham said.
The shift could also deter relatives, neighbors and others from seeking state assistance when they suspect a child is in danger, said Ron Davidson, former director of Mental Health Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
"Florida and every other state rely on the trust of private citizens to report when children are being harmed," Davidson said. "When that trust is broken—as it appears to be here—the danger to children increases significantly."
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