A few days ago, July 22, to be exact, I was happy to join a visiting delegation of the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention for a tour of the newly opened facility for processing unaccompanied minors, operated by Immigration Enforcement. It is important for religious leaders to see for themselves the extent of the human tragedy unfolding in our time here in the Western Hemisphere.
I am particularly fond of this picture to the side. Not because I am speaking, but because I am really happy to have these gentlemen of faith covering my back!
While inside, we had a chance to see the children and speak briefly with them. We also spoke with law enforcement personnel who assist in interviewing the children. I think the common witness of the Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention, calling for a humanitarian response to the current influx of unaccompanied minors from Central American, is a singularly important witness. We call on our political leadership to recognize that we as a nation have the resources to respond calmly and effectively to women and children who are fleeing violence and extreme poverty. After we visited the new detention center in McAllen, we traveled together to San Antonio, Texas, where we visited the detention center located at Lackland Airforce Base. Again, we had a chance to speak to officials from the Department of Health and Human Services, who oversee the operation at Lackland. We also had a chance to talk to some of the young people.
I think this would be a good moment to answer some basic questions I have heard asked by ordinary folks. Many tell me that the media reports they hear do not necessarily clarify what is happening.
1. Who are these children?
Most of these children are between 7 and 17 years old. I spoke to a seven year old at the center in McAllen. The ones I have spoken to often speak of having left Guatemala or El Salvador or Honduras for a journey by bus or train to the Mexican border with the United States. Sometimes they travel in groups, seeking safety in numbers. The majority of children are not accompanied by an adult. Sometimes a Mother or two is in the traveling group. More rarely, a Father. The journey for most of them has taken three weeks or more. Some will tell you they have no family left in their home country. They are all dead.
2. What dangers are they fleeing, and what dangers do they face on the journey?
It is a delicate matter to talk to children about what they are fleeing, because the trauma is very deep. Still, some will say voluntarily that they have no family left, that they have been killed by gangs in lawless regions of their home countries. For many, the entire family has been threatened by gangs, and there is no effective law enforcement to whom they can turn for help. As they cross Mexico, they are often subjected to abuse and kidnapping by gangs, who demand money from relatives in the US. Children report seeing companions brutalized, kidnapped, raped or killed. Sometimes they report what brutalization they themselves have experienced. Again, it is a delicate matter for the children to talk about these things. Professionals in childhood trauma are needed at some point to help them deal with their experience.
3. Are we bringing gang members into the US?
When minors are detained, INS officials are quite effective at distinguishing gang members from those fleeing gang members. They themselves have told me this. Sometimes, gang members are seeking a way out of the gang culture. Unfortunately, many of the gangs currently holding power in Central American countries had their origin in the United States. Typical practice has been to deport gang members who organize in the US back to Central America. This has had the effect, tragically, of unleashing gang systems into countries far less capable of capturing and imprisoning leaders and members. This has had a role in the break-down of order in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.
4. Do the unaccompanied children have rights under current law?
Many of the unaccompanied minors have some kind of relative in the United States with whom they are seeking to make contact. Sometimes they have a phone number sewn into their jeans. By law, if the minors are from Central America, they have a right to be reunited with a family member until such time as their case is heard by an immigration judge. Mexican children are not treated in the same way, because the law says that minors from those countries that are contiguous to the United States are deported more immediately, without recourse to an immigration judge. The law passed and signed in 2008 under President Bush afforded this extra protection to unaccompanied minors from non-contiguous countries in an effort to prevent the inhumane treatment of children. If the minors from these countries do not have relatives in this country, they await a hearing before an immigration judge either in a detention center like Lackland Airforce Base or in foster families.
5. What is the local Church doing to address this situation?
Here in the Diocese of Brownsville, we have been working with many volunteers from the community, including many from local Baptist communities, the Methodist community and the Jewish Temple in McAllen who have generously joined with our Catholic Charities in providing assistance to children accompanied by a mother or relative. We have two centers, one at Sacred Heart Church in McAllen, the other at Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Brownsville. These mothers and children receive a change of clothes, baby supplies, a chance to shower, and a good meal. They are screened again for any medical needs (I say again, because INS officals have already done a preliminary screening). Usually they are with us for just a few hours. They are persons who have been processed by officials of the Immigration Service, and who have permission to travel to meet a relative elsewhere in the United States. We try to help them maintain contact with the relative they are going to see. And we help them prepare for the journey with food and water.
6. What happens to Unaccompanied Children when they are detained by INS?
Unaccompanied children do not come to our centers. This is because the government handles their situations differently. They are processed through Health and Human Services, and after leaving the Rio Grande Valley, they are taken to detention centers elsewhere, where they await a family connection or a hearing before an immigration judge. This can take months. Pastoral services are needed in those detention centers elsewhere in the country.
7. Is there a danger of diseases spreading to the general population through these refugees?
The health screenings conducted by INS are quite effective, and contagious diseases are rarely discovered. If they are, they are dealt with in a way that protects the life and health of the child. There are minor infections and rashes. And these are taken care of quickly. The greatest health threat the children experience is dehydration. Government and Church centers try to deal with this immediately, as it can be life-threatening.
8. What is the position of the Church in the face of this tragic situation?
In general: Resources should be allocated to fund those government entities assigned the task of processing refugee minors. Further, we should not retreat on current human rights protections inscribed into US law designed to protect women and children fleeing from life-threatening conditions. These children and mothers should be afforded due process, and have legal representation before an immigration judge. The US government must pursue common hemispheric solutions to the break-down of law and order in the countries from which these children are fleeing. We also think that governments and Churches should discourage parents from permitting their children to leave their homes in order to cross the interior of Mexico in order to reach the United States. The journey is often deadly; many Central Americans do not know this. Thousands never make it anywhere near the Mexican/US border. Sadly, children have told me that conditions were so bad, they left home without telling their parents and relatives.
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