Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Immigration 'surge' continues, 30,000 expected, U.N. demands 'empathy' over 'enforcement'

This year's "surge" of illegal immigrant children and teens is continuing at last year's historic pace, with about 30,000 expected to reach the United States, according to humanitarian groups.
Different this year: Many more are being stopped in Mexico as they flee Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, cutting the number making the dangerous trek through Mexico to the U.S. border in half.
"The numbers are surging," said Linda Hartke, president of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service [LIRS], one of the country's premier humanitarian-immigration groups that helps with the legal and housing of immigrants, especially children.
"We've seen no change in the numbers," added Alaide Vilchis Ibarra of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the U.S. "They just aren't making it here," she said.
Urged to take action by President Obama, Mexico has moved to seize the children and families. But instead of evaluating their request for asylum, the humanitarian officials said that Mexico is arresting and eventually deporting them home. While in detention, the conditions are horrible, Ibarra said.
Some 100,000 immigrants were stopped in Mexico last year, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. When calculating for just the 70,000 youths who surged over the border last year and the thousands believed to have died or were taken by gangs while making the trip, that suggests possibly 200,000 youths actually tried to make it into the United States.
Nicole Boehner, protection associate with UNHCR, raising concerns on how immigrant children seeking asylum are handled by U.S. officials, said that protections for Mexican children reaching the U.S. be strengthened.

No comments:

Popular Posts