Parents of immigrant children suspected of illegally entering the U.S. unaccompanied may soon be required to submit fingerprints in order to recalim their child.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials are pushing for the new measures, which critics charge could lead to thousands of families being unnecessarily separated. Among the biggest critics of the proposal are officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the chamber of government ultimately responsible for finding housing for migrant children.

Department of Health and Human Services Against Proposal

As the proposal was being formally introduced, HHS officials let it be known they have no intention of altering their current fingerprinting policy.

"One of our goals is to place children with an appropriate sponsor as promptly as we can safely do so," said HHS deputy director of children services, stressing that he and other reform advocates are convinced such a move would hamper the child-parent relationship by leaving parents fearing that fingerprinting would be used to trace undocumented immigrants for possible deportation.

Added Cleveland-based attorney and former American Immigration Lawyers Association head David Leopold, "It could keep parents away from their children if they think it is going to land them in a lock-up somewhere."

ICE: Changes Will Help Keep Kids out of Hands of Criminals

In a recent memo drafted by and distributed among ICE officials, execs expound upon their plan to expand fingerprinting to now include all the parents of impacted children. Current policy is restricted to non-parents.

In pushing for the change, ICE officials charge the enhanced powers would allow officials to check fingerprints against an FBI database of criminals, allowing them the chance to verify the identity of people claiming the children as their own.

In addition, authorities insist it would also slow the occurrence of children being turned over to individuals who have criminal histories.

To date, the Obama administration has yet to comment on the ongoing situation and it remains unclear if the White House would support such a measure if it ultimately landed before the president.

According to a Government Accountability Office study, over a 15-month period beginning in January 2014, more than 31,000 parents claimed children who entered the U.S. from as far away as El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. That figure accounted for 60 percent of all children being held, with most of the rest being claimed by other relatives. Ultimately, only 161 were claimed by non-relative sponsors.

By law, U.S. officials are required to find housing for minors awaiting trial to determine if they will be deported back to their native land. Over the first six months of this year, nearly 28,000 immigrant children were apprehended crossing into the U.S, unaccompanied.

That figure is reported to rival the record-high number hit over the same period in 2014.

Immigration Debate Playing Major Role in 2016 Presidential Race

The entire debate over immigration has become a hot-button issue in the 2016 race for the White House.

Republican frontrunners Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have both vowed to work to deport some 11 million immigrants if elected, while Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have both committed to a path marked by immigration reform.

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