CHILDREN/HHS/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration is reversing a controversial policy implemented this summer that immigration advocates say caused thousands of unaccompanied migrant children to remain in shelters for extended periods. The Department of Health and Human Services is no longer requiring fingerprint checks for all adult members of a sponsor’s household when the sponsor applies to take in unaccompanied minors, a spokesperson for the agency said. Sponsors must still be fingerprinted and undergo background checks before unaccompanied minors are released into their care, the spokesperson said. The decision to reverse the policy to the procedures in place before June is because, according to the spokesperson, HHS has determined that the checks of all household members ‘have generally not yielded additional information’ in revealing risks to the children, and the additional checks meant children were staying in HHS care much longer.”
–Dianne Gallagher, Devon M. Sayers and Geneva Sands, “Feds reverse fingerprint policy in move expected to speed release of unaccompanied children in HHS custody,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, December 18, 2018 8:10 pm