Central American children in peril — inside the U.S.

I wrote about the placement of unaccompanied minors with traffickers and in abusive situations on Al Jazeera on January 30 — Central American children face new peril in U.S. This article summarizes findings of a bipartisan Senate investigation. If you’d like to read the original sources, here they are:

 

 

• Senate subcommittee on investigations – hearing page (Links to witness testimony are also available on this page.)
• Majority and Minority Staff Report – Protecting Unaccompanied Alien Children from Trafficking and Other Abuses: The Role of the Office of Refugee Resettlement »
• Opening statement by Senator Rob Portman (R-OH)
• Opening statement by Senator Claire McCaskill (D-OR)

Data on placement of unaccompanied children with sponsors, by year and state, from Office of Refugee Resettlement

The following pages link to internal Office of Refugee Resettlement guidelines:

• http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/resource/children-entering-the-united-states-unaccompanied-section-2#2.2.1
• http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/programs/ucs/about
• http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/resource/children-entering-the-united-states-unaccompanied-section-2#2.5
• http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/resource/children-entering-the-united-states-unaccompanied-section-2#2.2.1
• http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/resource/children-entering-the-united-states-unaccompanied

AP INVESTIGATION: Feds’ failures imperil migrant children  AP reported the story a few days before the Senate hearing, but the Senate report has all the information contained in the AP story and more.

OTHER ARTICLES CONSULTED:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/adolfoflores/unaccompanied-immigrant-minors-vulnerable-to-abuse-senate-in#.hayAj11xb

http://immigrationimpact.com/2015/12/21/unaccompanied-children-2015/

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-children-deported-20150306-story.html

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2016/01/trends-in-unaccompanied-child-and-family-migration-from-central-america.html

http://tucson.com/news/tucson-sees-new-spike-in-central-american-families/article_33303fce-bfc0-516f-86a4-f495217b1b34.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-eye/wp/2016/01/14/judge-lawsuit-saying-central-american-migrants-are-held-in-filthy-inhumane-conditions-can-go-forward/

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/01/14/deportations-quietly-continue/pOGBkBePiAQFwZ4G3AeTlI/story.html

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-to-expand-refugee-program-for-central-americans-fleeing-violence/ar-CCvwxk?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=UP97DHP

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/el-salvador-peace-corps-deportation-raids_us_56951d56e4b09dbb4bac94ab

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-eye/wp/2016/01/14/peace-corps-suspends-el-salvador-program-as-violence-surges/

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/too-vulnerable/Content?oid=6019981

http://www.peacecorps.gov/resources/faf/update-el-salvador/

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/13/mexico-central-american-migrants-journey-crackdown

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-eye/wp/2015/12/16/unaccompanied-children-crossing-southern-border-in-greater-numbers-again-raising-fears-of-new-migrant-crisis/

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-children-deported-20150306-story.html

https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/research-subject-groups/centre-criminology/centreborder-criminologies/blog/2015/09/due-process

http://equity.lsnc.net/a-matter-of-life-and-death-asylum-seekers%E2%80%99-lack-of-access-to-competent-legal-representation/

http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/10/05/445985671/never-leave-your-house-survival-strategies-for-el-salvador-s-15girls

http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status#What is TPS?

https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-01-07/html/2015-00031.htm – TPS – El Salvador

https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-10-16/html/2014-24559.htm – TPS – Honduras