56 immigrant children relocated to Beaufort County, but whereabouts secret

The data listed counties to where more than 50 children had been relocated. In South Carolina, only Beaufort County and Greenville County, with 106 relocated children, were included on that list. In total, 434 children have been relocated to South Carolina between January and July.

The new data give some sense of where the children have been relocated. However, information such as their names and specific whereabouts have not been made available, even to local government officials, Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said Thursday at a meeting of the Beaufort Women`s Republican Club.

Tanner said knowing the names and whereabouts of the children would help if an issue arose with them, and would also help address concerns from residents about what effects they might be having. However, if the situation was sensitive, the federal government could be understood for withholding it, he said.

“It might be that it`s a need-to-know basis and Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security don`t think we need to know,” he said. “Or it may be court-ordered or agency-ordered not to divulge that information. If that`s the case, I completely respect and understand it.”

Attempts Thursday and Friday to reach Dorothy Addison, the state coordinator for the Office of Refugee Resettlement, were unsuccessful.

Tanner and state Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, criticized the secrecy surrounding the relocation of immigrant children to South Carolina at a Bluffton Tea Party meeting Aug. 12. Davis said Friday he still had not received information from the federal government about the children.

The children are allowed to stay in the United States and attend school until their immigration status is ruled upon in court. But it could take months — or even years — for a case to reach resolution, according to Lowcountry Immigration Coalition co-chairman George Kanuck.

Kanuck said his organization also does not know the children`s whereabouts and had not heard of an exact number before last week. Local members of the Catholic Diocese of Charleston had told him that only a few children had been relocated to Beaufort County, after he reached out to local religious organizations to try to find out more about the children.

However, the Catholic Diocese is not taking care of any children in Beaufort County, spokesman Maria Aselage said.

Kanuck said he had also contacted the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, the contracted partner of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, but it, too, was reluctant to give out information about the children. Attempts Thursday and Friday to reach the South Carolina chapter of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service were unsuccessful.

Although Kanuck and the coalition haven`t heard from the children or their guardians, they have offered assistance, such as directing them to food banks and other resources.

Kanuck estimated that the majority of the children in Beaufort County likely were placed with relatives or guardians, owing to the county`s large Hispanic population. Those who moved more recently probably weren`t attending local schools yet, as they are still adjusting to a new home, he said.

If the children are enrolled in the Beaufort County School District, schools are prohibited by federal law from asking about the children`s immigration status, district spokesman Jim Foster said.

“If a child comes to us with a local address, we have to educate them,” Foster said.

Tanner said the children aren`t affecting the Sheriff`s Office, but it still needs information about the relocated children. Without it, the Sheriff`s Office is dependent on the immigrants for identification, and for it to be accurate, Tanner said.

On Thursday, he echoed a similar message he shared with members of the Bluffton Tea Party: There must be trust between federal and local governments.

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