UNACCOMPANIED
IMMIGRANT CHILDREN
From
Countries
in
Central
America
A half million migrants travel
to the USA from Central
America each year
Central American immigrants ride north atop a freight train known as “La Bestia,” or “The Beast,”
near Juchitan, Mexico. It is part of a long and perilous journey through Mexico to reach the U.S.
border. Photo by John Moore/Getty Images
On top of “La Bestia”
Placement centers that hold migrants, like this in in Nogales, Arizona, have been overflowing with
the more than 47,000 unaccompanied children who have entered the country illegally since Oct.
1. Photo by Ross D. Franklin-Pool/Getty Images
Detainees sleep in a holding cell at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing facility, on June 18,
2014, in Brownsville,Texas. Brownsville and Nogales, Ariz. have been central to processing thousands of
unaccompanied children who have entered the country illegally since 2012. Photo by Eric Gay-Pool/Getty
Images
Two young girls watch a World Cup soccer match from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Nogales Placement Center in Brownsville, Texas, where hundreds of children, most from Central
America, are being held after crossing the border. Photo by Ross D. Franklin-Pool/Getty Images
Detainees, with the shoe strings removed, wait at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing facility, on
June 18, 2014, in Brownsville,Texas. Photo by Eric Gay-Pool/Getty Images
North
South
Looking for Appropriate Clothing
WHY THE “SURGE”?
Push Factors
• Poor social and economic conditions at home
• Gangs & violence in home countries
Pull Factors
• Failed immigration policies in USA
• Family re-unification
• Better employment opportunities
• Weather more conducive to travel
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Art. 13)
(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including
his/her own, and to return to his/her country.
Refugee status
As many as 2/3 of the migrant children may qualify for
refugee status because they fear violence and persecution
in their home countries. (UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights)
HUMAN RIGHTS
International human rights standards provide for
detention of children only as a last resort and for
very short periods. The United Nations stated in
2013 that children should never be detained for
immigration reasons, and that immigration detention
can never be considered in a child’s “best interests.”
CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF
THE CHILD (USA HAS SIGNED BUT NOT RATIFIED)
Article 3
1. In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions,
courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a
primary consideration.
Article 22
1. States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure that a child who is seeking refugee status or who is
considered a refugee in accordance with applicable international or domestic law and procedures shall,
whether unaccompanied or accompanied by his or her parents or by any other person, receive appropriate
protection and humanitarian assistance in the enjoyment of applicable rights set forth in the present
Convention and in other international human rights or humanitarian instruments to which the said States are
Parties.
US GOVERNMENT RESPONSE
• “Policies fall short of international standards”
• 2003 – care of unaccompanied child migrants changed from
Homeland Security to Health & Human Services
• 2012 – Executive Order allowed 2-year deferral of deportation
hearings; a surge in unaccompanied youth ensued
• 2014 – President Obama requested Congress to authorize $2 billion
in response to the crisis AND asked for increased flexibility to deport
unaccompanied children
CNN REPORT, JUNE 25TH
HTTP://WWW.CNN.COM/2014/06/24/US/TEXASWAREHOUSE-UNACCOMPANIED-MINORS/
HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE Hearing - JUNE
25th Unaccompanied Immigrant Children
http://www.c-span.org/video/?3201511/unaccompanied-immigrant-children
BISHOP MARK SEITZ TESTIFIES
BEFORE HOUSE JUDICIARY
COMMITTEE
• http://www.cspan.org/video/?c4502015/bi
shop-seitz-testimony
BISHOP GERALD F. KICANAS
– PLAN FOR
HUMANITARIAN AID
• Transitional housing
• Hospitality
• Food
• Clothing
• Legal representation
• Pastoral services
Bisbee
Kathleen Cook
Susan Kolb
Patricia Younger
Mary Rose Obholz
Marilyn Winkel
Glendale
Marilyn Bever
Mesa
Cecelia Schlaefer
Phoenix
Jean Perry
Rachel Doefler
St. Michaels
Barbara DeBoo
Joleen Retzer
Tempe
Colleen Braun
Tucson
Nancy Chow
Paulette Shaw
Eileen Mahoney
Mary Ann Bogosoff
Sister Barbara
Sister Joleen
Sister Colleen
Sister Susan
Sister Cecelia
Sister Eileen
Sister Paulette
Sister Josephine
Sister Mary Ann
Sister Kathleen
Sister Nancy
Sister Patricia
Sister Rachel
Sister Jean
Sister Marilyn
Arizona Associates:
Kathleen Gammon
Kay Bircher
Mary Pat Waldmann
WHAT WE CAN DO
• Pray
• Learn
• Assess
• Act
• Advocate