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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 9:57 pm
Time: 9:57 pm
Results for unaccompanied minors (u.s.)
1 results foundAuthor: Jones, Jessica Title: Forced From Home: The Lost Boys and Girls of Central America Summary: Beginning as early as October 2011, an unprecedented increase in the number of unaccompanied alien children (UACs) from the Central American countries of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras began migrating to the United States. During the first six months of fiscal year 2012, U.S. immigration agents apprehended almost double the number of children apprehended in previous years. The Department of Health and Human Service’s (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), the agency tasked with the care and custody of these children, had a record number of 10,005 in its care by April 2012. In June 2012, the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC) conducted field and desk research to look into possible reasons for the influx in the number of children migrating alone, and the government’s response, including conditions and policies affecting unaccompanied children. The WRC interviewed more than 150 detained children and met with government agencies tasked with responding to this influx, including the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), ORR and the Department of Justice’s Executive Office of Immigration Review (DOJ/EOIR), as well as country experts, local service providers and facility staff. Our recommendations include both legislative and administrative solutions for the protection of UACs. Lost Boys and Girls of Central America Most of the children who have been apprehended as part of this influx are from three countries in Central America: Guatemala (35%), El Salvador (27%) and Honduras (25%). The majority of the children the WRC interviewed said that their flight northward had been necessitated by the dramatic and recent increases in violence and poverty in their home countries. The WRC’s independent research on the conditions in these countries corroborated the children’s reports. These increasingly desperate conditions reflect the culmination of several longstanding trends in Central America, including rising crime, systemic state corruption and entrenched economic inequality. Children from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador cited the growing influence of youth gangs and drug cartels as their primary reason for leaving. Not only are they subject to violent attacks by the gangs, they explained, they are also targeted by police, who assume out of hand that all children are gang-affiliated. Girls also face gender-based violence, as rape becomes increasingly a tool of control. Children from Guatemala cited rising poverty, poor harvests and continuing unemployment as reasons for migrating. Almost all of the children’s migration arose out of longstanding, complex problems in their home countries – problems that have no easy or short-term solutions. The title of this report, “The Lost Boys and Girls of Central America,” reflects that violence in Central America is generating “lost” children. Until conditions for children in these countries change substantially, we expect this trend will be the new norm. Details: New York: Women's Refugee Commission, 2012. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 2, 2012 at: http://wrc.ms/WuG8lM. Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://wrc.ms/WuG8lM. Shelf Number: 126814 Keywords: Homeless YouthImmigrantsImmigration DetentionJuvenile DetentionUnaccompanied Minors (U.S.) |