Trump Just Made Migrant Children His Next Target

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit michaelfanone.substack.comThis administration isn’t starting with smugglers, cartels, or the people actually profiting off chaos at the border.They’re starting with kids.Not kids trying to cross today. Kids who are already here. Already in government custody. Already stuck in the system — the most vulnerable people in the entire immigration pipeline — and now they’re being fast-tracked out of the country like they’re paperwork that needs to be cleared off a desk.CNN is reporting DHS has put out internal direction to speed up removal proceedings for unaccompanied minors currently housed in Office of Refugee Resettlement facilities — kids who have been waiting in custody for months, sometimes longer, going through the process the government itself set up. Some have pending claims. Some have family in the U.S. trying to sponsor them. Some have attorneys working their cases. Some are in education programs and case management because they’re supposed to get a fair shot at due process.And now the push is: move them faster. Close the cases. Put them on planes.The Michael Fanone Show is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.That tells you the priority isn’t stability. It isn’t safety. It isn’t dismantling the networks that exploit people. It’s creating a clean stat line they can brag about.And I want you to think about why this is the target.If you’re an agency under pressure to rack up deportation numbers, you don’t start with the hard work — investigations, intelligence, long cases against smuggling operations, coordinated prosecutions.You start with the easiest files to close.That’s what this is. A policy choice to go after the people least capable of fighting back: children who can’t vote, can’t hire expensive lawyers, can’t flood congressional offices with angry phone calls, and can’t defend themselves in a courtroom the way an adult can.From a law enforcement perspective, it’s backwards. If you actually wanted to disrupt illegal crossings, you’d go after the machinery: traffickers, smugglers, document forgers, the money. You’d treat kids like victims of a system that chews them up — not like the low-hanging fruit you pick first because it makes your numbers look good.From a constitutional perspective, it’s worse. Due process isn’t a gift the government hands out when it feels generous. It’s a requirement. When you speed up a process so fast that kids can’t meaningfully access counsel, gather evidence, or present claims, you’re not “streamlining.” You’re cutting corners on rights.And from a human perspective — the one too many people try to avoid — these are kids who’ve already been through hell. Many fled violence. Many were exploited on the journey. Many turned themselves in because they believed the U.S. would at least give them a fair hearing. They’re already under the government’s control. The government has total power over what happens next.This is the pattern with this administration: speed over accuracy, optics over law, intimidation over process. It’s easier to move fast than to be right. It’s easier to target the vulnerable than to confront the powerful.And if you’re thinking, “Why should I care?” here’s why: when the government gets comfortable bypassing process for the people it thinks don’t matter, it doesn’t stop there. That mindset spreads. Today it’s migrant kids. Tomorrow it’s some other group that’s inconvenient.Pay attention to the quiet directives. The internal memos. The “expedite” language. That’s where the real harm happens — before the cameras show up.If you want to help keep this kind of reporting and accountability work alive, become a paid subscriber. And if you can’t, share this episode with one person who still thinks this is just “border policy.” It’s not. It’s power — and what they’re willing to do with it.🟧 Paid subscribers get 15% off your next merch order🟧 Founding Members get 20% off for lifeYou’ll get the link in your welcome email.GET DISCOUNTS BELOW! ENJOY!