Immigration Newsletter – July 2014
Unaccompanied Central American Children
Within the past few months, there has been a surge of unaccompanied Central American children from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala seeking safe haven at the U.S. border in Texas and Arizona. The huge surge, estimated at about 57,000 minor children, will continue to increase to around 120,000 minor children by the end of the year. Driven by extreme violence, poverty, separation from family members, and desperation, there is no end in sight as more of these minor children will track the dangerous countries to find a safe haven and a better future in the United States. Once inside the United States, these minor children surrender themselves to the Border and Custom Protection Service to be processed for removal proceedings before an immigration judge. For those minor children from Mexico, they will undergo a credible fear interview and may be immediately returned to Mexico to the Mexican children social service authorities. However, for Central American children, they will undergo a long standing procedure of removal proceedings, and at the same time, they will be handed over to the Office of the Refugee Resettlement (ORR) for placement with family members or sponsors.
