Congress and President Barack Obama have to quickly respond to a recent influx of thousands of Central American child immigrants spilling over the border into Texas. Read on to learn about why they are coming here and why finding a place for them will be a challenge.

How many people are coming over the border?

There has been a recent surge of Central American children illegally immigrating into the United States over the Texas border. 47,000 unaccompanied minors have been detained at the border in the past eight months. This is a 92 percent increase from the eight month period prior to that.

Why now?

Evidence points to two different factors.

First, living conditions in Central America have gotten significantly worse in recent years. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 48 percent of the detained minors had experienced abuse from an organized criminal group before fleeing to America. This should not be too surprising. Honduras, the country where the plurality of children are coming from, boasts the highest murder rate in the world. In 2012, there were more than 90 murders per 100,000 people. The next country on the list, Venezuela, only has 53.7 homicides per 100,000 people. It should be no surprise that children want to leave Central America.

Check out this story from The New York Times to learn more about the gang violence that Honduran children are escaping.

You can also watch this report on gang violence in Honduras, but it is graphic:

So it makes sense that children would want to leave this environment, but why are they coming to America? Why do they choose this specific country? Critics of President Barack Obama argue that his immigration policies have convinced illegal immigrants that they will have an easy time entering the country, and there is some evidence to support that. There is a belief among Central Americans that the United States has recently started treating children easier than they treat adults. This is because of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). The law requires the United States to ensure the safety of any children repatriated back to their homes. This means that the United States cannot just simply turn away or deport children. Border officials have an obligation to make sure that the environment the children are being deported to is safe. President Obama signed this bill into law March 7, 2013; however, a key part of the law allowing these children to gain legal counsel and appeal to stay in the country was signed by President George W. Bush in 2008.

Republicans also assert that Obama’s enforcement of the DREAM act through executive order is an incentive for children to come to America, but there is less concrete evidence to support this.

What is happening to these children when they come here?

These children would be quickly brought back home if they were coming from Mexico or Canada; however, they have to go through a formal deportation process because they are coming from far-away countries. Thanks to the TVPRA, this process involves month-long hearings where the children can appeal to stay in the country. Currently, there’s a massive 360,000-case backlog preventing many of these children from having their cases heard. Since so many are coming at once, it is likely that they will be stuck in detention for some time until a solution is found.

What is the Obama administration trying to do about it?

Obama has requested $3.7 billion from Congress to deal with the border crisis. The administration is telling Congress that the money will go toward building detention facilities to help ease overcrowding, the hiring of judges to hear the backlog of immigration cases, and border security to prevent more children from illegally entering the country. The plan would also allocate $300 million to the State Department to assist Central American countries in repatriating their citizens.

Watch President Obama present this plan to the press:

How are Republicans reacting?

Not well. Republicans are calling the plan a “blank check” without any accountability. Republicans in Congress are also not happy that Obama is not planning on amending the TVPRA to make it easier to deport illegal immigrants.

Conservatives have been crying foul about this crisis for the last week. Texas Governor Rick Perry even called this situation “Obama’s Katrina.” Most notably, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has called for Obama’s impeachment. Palin argues that Obama is deliberately opening the borders and allowing illegal immigrants into the country.

Is Obama going to be impeached? Absolutely not. A President can only be impeached if he has committed high crimes. Obama has not violated any laws. In fact, the current immigration laws are part of the reason this crisis is happening in the first place. Still, Palin’s call for Obama’s impeachment shows that Republicans are angry about this issue.

Watch Boehner blame Obama’s actions for the current problem and criticize the President’s plan to solve the humanitarian crisis:

Law Street’s Allison Dawson lives in the affected area of Texas and has expressed anger at the fact that the children will be housed in abandoned Texas schools that could be used for other purposes.

Across the board, it looks like this has become the newest reason for Republicans to criticize the President.

What does this mean for immigration reform?

Not much. Immigration reform is almost guaranteed not to happen in 2014. Both Speaker John Boehner and President Obama agree that the reform effort is dead.

This is unfortunate because a comprehensive immigration bill could fix many of the problems posed by this spike in illegal immigration, including solving the backlog of cases, sealing the border, and providing a path to citizenship for those who go through the proper channels.

Resources

Primary

US Congress: The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act

Additional

Washington Post: Central American Immigrants Overwhelm Texas Border

Migration Policy Institute: Surge in Unaccompanied Kids Has Deep Roots

CNN: Honduras Has the Highest Murder Rate

The New York Times: Fleeing Gangs, Children Head to U.S. Border

Appleseed Network: Report: Children at the Border

Washington Post: White House Request $3.7 Billion for Border Crisis

MSNBC: Rick Perry: This is Obama’s Katrina

Breitbart: Sarah Palin: It’s Time to Impeach President Obama

Washington Post: Obama is Accused of ‘Lawlessness’ for Following Law

Slate: Immigration Reform is Dead

Eric Essagof

Eric Essagof attended The George Washington University majoring in Political Science. He writes about how decisions made in DC impact the rest of the country. He is a Twitter addict, hip-hop fan, and intramural sports referee in his spare time. Contact Eric at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Crisis at the Border: Influx of Child Immigrants Causes Major Problems appeared first on Law Street.

Immigration has long been a pressing issue in the United States. The debate has taken a new turn following a drastic increase in unaccompanied children from Central America trying to cross the border illegally. Current facilities for children are not equipped to handle this surge, and immigration courts are already backlogged. Why are children flocking to the United States in the first place, and what is the appropriate action for dealing with the crisis?

Who are illegal child migrants?

“Unaccompanied alien children,” who are generally defined as any unmarried person under 18 years of age illegally coming to the United States without an adult. The recent surge of child migrants from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador has sparked major concern. Most of the children apprehended range from ages 14 to 17, but more recently the children are even younger. Kids coming to United States by themselves are a particular cause for concern since they are more vulnerable and susceptible to harm. Oftentimes, these children are trying to find family members that currently reside in the United States. Honduras’ President Juan Orlando Hernández described the children fleeing to the United States as war refugees, and the Obama administration has recently termed the escalating situation to be an “urgent humanitarian crisis.”

Where are the child migrants coming from?

Children from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador account for more than 90 percent of those now in government shelters. Children from Mexico continue to illegally enter the United States, but apprehended children from Mexico are immediately returned to Mexico rather than housed in shelters. The problem now is how to shelter all the children coming from Central America. The graph below shows the scope of the growing problem in the past few years:

According to Border Patrol statistics and a UNHCR Report, the United States saw a 92 percent increase in child migrants ages 18 and under from a year ago, and a fivefold increase since 2011. In the 2011 fiscal year , roughly 4,059 kids from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador entered the United States unaccompanied. By 2013 fiscal year, that number rose to 21,537 kids. This year, 52,000 children were apprehended at the southwest border from October 1, 2013 to June 15, 2014. The Obama administration anticipates that number to rise to 90,000 before the end of the fiscal year in September. Next year’s estimates show the number of children illegally entering the United States from Central America could soar to as much as 130,000. Last year, fewer than 2,000 of these children were returned to their home countries.

Why are they coming?

A variety of factors contribute to children seeking to enter the United States, and debate surrounds exactly what has driven the children to cross the border.

Violence

Many say civil unrest and gang activity; drug-fueled violence in Central America has led to an influx of children coming to the United States. Parents may feel that the children are not safe at home, more likely to join gangs, or  be subjected to violence. Others have family already in the United States that they are trying to reach. When interviewed, many children cited violence as reasons for leaving their country rather than any knowledge of U.S. immigration policy.

Lax Immigration Policy

Others, including Congressman Bob Goodlatte and House Speaker John Boehner, say that children are coming with the belief that the United States will not push deportation. Some interview-based studies cite that many women who entered the country with children believed the law would allow them to secure a “permiso”, or pass to stay in the county indefinitely. Conservatives blame the 2012 Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals Policy (DACA), which exempts many undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children from deportation for two-year renewable periods. Recently the White House is trying to make clear that children who have recently crossed the border illegally are not eligible for legal status under the DACA program, since it only applies to immigrants who arrived in 2007 or earlier. Immigrants would not even qualify for the Senate’s recent immigration plan, where the eligibility cutoff was the end of 2011. On June 20, 2014, Vice-President Joe Biden traveled to Guatemala to meet with Central American governmental leaders in an effort to secure their support in dispelling rumors that those who cross the U.S. border illegally would not be deported. Whether or not immigrants are influenced by DACA remains contested, but there is little dispute that those in Central America believe unaccompanied children are more likely to be allowed to stay in the United States.

What does the United States do with the children?

Border officials are overwhelmed since the United States lacks appropriate facilities for the surge of children being apprehended. Children crossing the border are treated differently than adults and are not placed in immigration detention, but in shelters. The laws for processing unaccompanied, illegal children differ from those of adults due to the 2002 Homeland Security Act and the 2008 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. The Act was designed to protect children and address concerns involving human trafficking for vulnerable, unaccompanied children. All unaccompanied child migrants not from Mexico have to be screened, housed, and then transferred to the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Border facilities have been struggling to supply enough food, beds, and sanitary facilities for the incoming children. Watch the strain on these facilities below:

By law, children can only be held at border facilities for 72 hours before they are transferred to the care of ORR. Due to the recent surge, many children have been held for longer than 72 hours. Border officials are caring for the children rather than spending time apprehending those crossing the border. Many agree the situation is far from ideal. Various reports of abuse in the system have surfaced, and children complain of being denied medical care or being kept in ice-cold holding cells.

ORR is tasked with administering long-term shelters and finding relatives of the children in the United States. Roughly 100 permanent shelters exist and all are currently filled to capacity. Authorities have been forced to open three temporary shelters at military bases in Texas, Oklahoma, and California (CNN). According to Vox, for some 90 percent of children, a relative can be found. Others remain in long-term care or foster homes until their case works its way through the immigration courts. It is possible some of the children could qualify for asylum or some sort of humanitarian protection. However, the minors lack legal representation which would help them obtain such protection, since unaccompanied children are not granted counsel in court proceedings. Many of the released children fail to even show up for their court date. The Department of Homeland Security released a helpful infographic to convey the entire process.

What has the United States done to deal with the problem?

The United States now faces two major issues:

1. What to do with the thousands of children who are need to be sheltered?
2. What to do to stem the future tide of unaccompanied child migrants from Central America?

Solution to the Current Problem

Aside from creating more temporary shelters, President Obama has called for a response through a new Unified Coordination Group. The Group was created to leverage federal resources to provide humanitarian relief using branches of the Department of Human Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The President announced a “surge” of immigration officials at the border and sent more immigration judges to Texas to help with backlogged cases.

Preventing future problems

The more difficult issue is how to prevent an influx of children going forward. Biden’s meeting in Guatemala was aimed at preventing false rumors about U.S. immigration policy to make clear that children crossing the border illegally will be deported. Watch for more on Biden’s visit below:

The United States also plans to aid Central American countries to prevent drugs, gangs, and violence while improving security. So far, the United States has announced over $80 million in aid to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Legislation providing $2.28 billion in funds to handle the food, housing, and transportation of illegal children has advanced in Congress – an increase of $1.4 billion from the Obama administration’s original funding request.

Are there any other solutions?

If billions of dollars are provided to federal agencies and more immigration judges are sent to the Southwest, it is likely to reduce the strain of the current crisis. Some still call for stronger legislation regarding child immigration, but it would be difficult to pass a law specifically hard on children. Others in Central America shift the blame to the United States for lax drug policy which fuels the drug trade and generates violence. Some, such as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, suggest the United States should launch a campaign in Central America to warn of the dangers of illegal immigration. The problem, as with any refugee situation, is that such campaigns have little effect if the dangers children are trying to evade are much greater than any posed by the United States. Providing aid to Central American countries to assist with safety, security, and aid for at-risk youth all provide a good starting place. However, the United States must first resolve what to do with all of the children already in the country.

Resources

Primary

State Department: Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008

White House: Unaccompanied Children from Central America

US Customs and Border Protections: Southwest Border Unaccompanied Alien Children

Additional

The New York Times: As Child Migrants Flood to Border, U.S. Presses Latin America to Act

Vox: Thousands of Children are Fleeing Central America to Texas – Alone

UNHCR: Children on the Run: UNHCR Report

Mother Jones: Why are More and More Children Walking Across the Border?

US News: Obama Calls Spike in Unaccompanied Children Crossing the Border

LA Times: Enforcement Alone Can’t Stop Surge in Child Migrants

CBS: Thousands of Illegal Immigrant Children Will be able to Attend Public Schools

KIND: A Treacherous Journey: Child Migrants Navigating the U.S. Immigration System

CNN: Daniel’s Journey: How Thousands of Children are Creating a Crisis in America

Huffington Post: These are the Real Reasons Behind our Humanitarian Crisis

AP: Obama: Child Migrants ‘Urgent Humanitarian Issue’

Alexandra Stembaugh

Alexandra Stembaugh graduated from the University of Notre Dame studying Economics and English. She plans to go on to law school in the future. Her interests include economic policy, criminal justice, and political dramas. Contact Alexandra at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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