Quick Overview of the Situation
The Flow of Unaccompanied Children Through the Immigration System
By Olga Byrne and Elise Miller March 2012
Introduction
The U.S. legal system affecting unaccompanied children—those younger than 18 without lawful immigration status who have no parent or legal guardian in the country available to provide care and custody—is complicated and intimidating, with procedures and services that vary from one area of the country to another. Once apprehended and charged with violating U.S. immigration laws, children enter a disjointed, labyrinthine system in which they may interact with numerous agencies within several federal government departments, as well as with a host of government contractors. (See Figure 1 on page 7 for an illustration of these agencies.) Children are also likely to move between several cities and states, and thus interact with even more stakeholders for the duration of their proceedings. In 2005, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) contracted with the Vera Institute of Justice to develop a program that would improve access to legal services for unaccompanied children in federal custody. In administering this program, Vera has benefited from extraordinary access to information about children’s movement through the system. Many stakeholders, particularly legal- and social-service providers, have said that a comprehensive account of how children move through the system would serve as a useful training tool for new staff and volunteers. Accordingly, this report is meant to be a resource for practitioners, policy makers, and researchers interested in the system that unaccompanied children encounter. It details the flow of children through the immigration detention and removal system from the point of apprehension by immigration law-enforcement authorities to the close of their immigration cases. The information in this report comes from data provided by Vera’s subcontracted legal service providers and ORR, reports on unaccompanied children, and project staff’s observations of the system. The report provides background related to the government’s custodial authority over these children, recent legislation affecting them, and a brief discussion about the definition of an “unaccompanied child.” It then describes the phases of children’s involvement in the system: apprehension and referral by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; ORR intake, placement, and care; release to family or other sponsors in the United States; immigration court proceedings and legal services; and outcomes. |
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Introduction
In the past few years the United States of America has seen an increase of unaccompanied minors coming in from Central American countries such as: Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. There is also still a constant flow of minors coming in from Mexico. Once here in the United States these minors face problems concerning: their legal representation, fear of deportation, their stay in detention centers and their education. The articles outlined in this section explore the different push factors that occur in Central American countries, as well as Mexico. These articles also look into the lives of minors once they enter the United States of America, and the different policies the United Stated is thinking of implementing. Click on any of the following buttons to learn about a specific topic.
History of Immigration |
Central America |
Mexico |
Legal Representation |
Detention and Deportation |
Education |
Undocumented and Unaccompanied: Facts, Figures on Children at the Border
by Hannah Rappleye July 9, 2015
They are known as UAC -- an acronym for unaccompanied alien children -- in the bureaucratic parlance of the federal government.
To some critics of laws that provide them with shelter while their cases are decided, they have no business in the U.S. and are a drain on law-abiding taxpayers. Others, including advocates, volunteer foster families and even the United Nations, say they are like any other refugee fleeing crime and violence in their homelands, but even more vulnerable. No matter what they are called, the unaccompanied children and teens that have descended on the Southwestern U.S. border in unprecedented numbers have triggered a political and humanitarian crisis -- and a costly one at that. The numbers and the system The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency says that apprehensions of undocumented immigrants along the Southwestern U.S. border remain near historic lows, but agents have seen a sharp increase in the number of unaccompanied minors trying to enter the country illegally over the past five years. Over the first 8 1/2 months of fiscal year 2014, 52,193 unaccompanied minors have been taken into custody -- a 99 percent increase over 2013. In Texas' Rio Grande Valley alone, where most border crossings now occur, apprehensions have increased 178 percent over last year, with 37,621 unaccompanied minors apprehended so far this year. Minors from Mexico or Canada who are apprehended at the border can be quickly returned to their home countries in expedited removal proceedings. But those from other countries - mostly teens but sometimes as young as toddlers - are transferred to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), part of the Department of Health and Human Services. The ORR maintains custody of the minors only until they can be placed with family members in the U.S. or in foster care to await a decision on whether they can remain in the country. That occurs through a formal deportation proceeding, which can take months or years, during which they can petition an immigration judge to remain in the country. The soaring number of migrant children has strained the system, forcing the federal government to scramble to open additional emergency facilities across the country and prompting President Barack Obama to request Tuesday for an emergency appropriation of $3.7 billion to fund the operation. ORR also has seen its caseload jump sharply in recent years, rising from an average ofbetween 7,000 and 8,000 unaccompanied children from FY 2005 through 2011 to 24,668 last year, according to figures provided by HHS. This year, officials estimate, the office will receive at least 60,000 referrals. The childrenWhere do they come from?: Four countries - El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico -- account for almost all of the unaccompanied minor cases, according to a 2014 report by the Congressional Research Service. As recently as 2009, Mexico accounted for 82 percent of the apprehended children, but the three Central American countries have propelled the recent influx, comprising 73 percent of those apprehended last year, it said. |
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PBS: No Country For Lost Kids
By P.J. Tobia June 20, 2014
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