Thread: US trying to return unaccompanied child immigrants faster, official says

US trying to return unaccompanied child immigrants faster, official says



CNN 11:51 AM, Jun 12, 2014
2 mins ago

Hoping to address the rising tide of unaccompanied children crossing the Mexican border into the United States, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Thursday he's working on ways to return those children to their home countries faster.

Johnson has been talking with the ambassadors of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico to discuss "faster repatriation," he said.

The comments came as he updated reporters on a multi-agency effort, ordered earlier this year by President Obama, to address the crisis.

Holding centers in Texas can no longer accommodate large numbers of children, forcing the federal government to open additional facilities.

Chris Cabrera, a labor leader for Border Patrol agents, told CNN that he expects 60,000 unaccompanied children will cross the border this year -- a sharp increase from previous years.

U.S. law prohibits the Department of Homeland Security from immediately deporting the children if they are not from Canada or Mexico.

Instead, the children are turned over to Department Health and Human Services supervision "within 72 hours of DHS taking them into custody," an official said.

Relatives living in the United States are searched for and contacted and the immigrant is given a court date. But very few actually show up -- and most join the large numbers of undocumented immigrants.

http://www.abc15.com/news/national/u...-official-says

First published June 12th 2014, 2:05 pm
By Suzanne Gamboa
NBC News


U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson (2nd L) speaks as (L-R) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Executive Associate Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations Tom Homan, and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske listen during a media availability June 12, 2014 in Washington, DC on the "ongoing government-wide response to the increased influx of unaccompanied children at the Southwest border."

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson left unclear Thursday what happens to parents illegally in the country when they show up to claim their children who have arrived alone.

Johnson's response demonstrated the delicacy of the issue the administration has on its hands. While officials have openly discussed its response to vulnerable children, talking about how many of those children ultimately get to stay here and how it deals with parents here illegally that are reunited with their children is more difficult.

“I am not encouraging in any way shape or form illegal migration. That’s the message,” Johnson said. The Department of Health and Human Services is required under the law to act in the best interest of the child, Johnson said.

The law that Johnson is referring to is a sweeping anti-trafficking law that aims to prevent children who arrive alone from being returned to serious danger, such as being targeted by drug cartels or to an abusive home. The U.S. also is party to international agreements aimed at protecting children.

About 47,000 children have arrived so far this year and most are from Mexico so they are immediately returned. But those from noncontiguous countries, in this case El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, must be sent to a shelter and attempts made to unite them with a relative or sponsor while they await hearings on whether they should be deported or allowed to stay.

“Our duty is to get the child to a sponsor. While they are with the sponsor they are still subject to removal,” said Mark Greenberg, acting assistant secretary for HHS.

Parents are required to get children to deportation proceedings and cooperate with the removal proceedings, he said.

But a reporter from Telemundo, which is part of NBC, said parents who are not legally in the U.S. don’t know if they are qualified to pick up their children who have followed them to the U.S. and what happens to them if they do.

Some critics have said the crisis of the childrens’ arrivals is “administration made” because Obama granted the deferred deportations to DREAMers and because of the push for immigration reform.

Johnson emphasized that the newly arriving children do not qualify for deferral of deportation as do some young immigrants here illegally, also known as DREAMers, because that only applies to youth who have been living in U.S. continuously since June 15, 2007. Johnson also said the path to citizenship in the Senate-approved immigration reform bill applies to people who have lived here before Dec. 31, 2011.

He reiterated the Obama immigration enforcement policy of focusing deportations on those who have recently crossed the border illegally and those who are caught re-entering after being previously deported. The children would fit in the former category.

Although he learned about the escalating numbers of children arriving at the border before his confirmation hearing, Johnson was it was made more vivid when he visited the McAllen, Texas, processing center on Mother’s Day and asked a 10-year-old girl, ‘Where is your mother.’ ”

“She responded, ‘I don’t have a mother. I’m looking for my father in the United States.’ I returned to Washington the next day determined to do something about this situation,” Johnson said.

In addition to creating the shelter and beefing up processing centers, as reported by NBC Thursday, Johnson listed other efforts to respond to the crisis:

_The American Red Cross is providing blankets and hygiene kits.

_Children are receiving health screenings at the Border Patrol centers, before they are released to shelters.

_Faith-based groups are assisting, for example, Texas Baptist Men provided shower trailers.

_Johnson has met with ambassadors of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador about border security to stem the flow and plans a trip to Guatemala.

_DHS restarted a public affairs campaign to warn of the dangers of sending kids over the border and particularly with smugglers.

_Johnson said he called for a southwest border security plan to address security and fill the gaps.

Johnson said the crisis brings home the need for comprehensive immigration reform, not only provide resources for border security but also “stability” to immigration laws.

He said his review of immigration enforcement policies requested by President Barack Obama is ongoing and he does see need for improvements.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/b...egally-n129981

U.S. in talks with Central American officials about immigrant children


Elana Carmen and her daughters at a bus terminal in Phoenix. About 400 mostly Central American women and children caught crossing from Mexico into south Texas were taken to Arizona in May after border agents there ran out of space and resources. (Rick Scuteri / Associated Press)


CINDY CARCAMO, REBECCA BRATEK contact the reporter


U.S. talks to Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico about faster repatriation of migrant children
Homeland Security chief: 'Those apprehended at our border are priorities for removal ... regardless of age'
47,000 children have entered the United States alone this year

In an attempt to stem a crush of Central American children illegally crossing the United States alone into south Texas, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson announced Thursday that he was in contact with ambassadors in Latin America to discuss how to more quickly return those children to their home countries.

"Those apprehended at our border are priorities for removal," Johnson said during a Washington news conference. "They are priorities for enforcement of our immigration laws regardless of age."


Related story: Rumors of U.S. haven for families spur rise in illegal immigrationCindy Carcamo

Johnson, who said he was in discussions with officials in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico about faster repatriation, also announced several other strategies to address the surge of unaccompanied children entering the U.S. illegally. Though illegal immigration overall has been down in recent years, a rise in the number of unaccompanied minors has taken authorities by surprise.

Through May, 47,000 children have entered the country alone this year. That's already double from last year, and the number is expected to go high as 90,000.


L.A. NOWPort Hueneme to house hundreds of minors who have crossed borderSEE ALL RELATED


Some of the initiatives announced by Johnson included beefing up staffing of federal officials to go after human smugglers and searching for additional facilities to temporarily house children who are fleeing primarily from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras — countries with long-standing poverty and escalating violence.

Johnson said that increase correlates with an overall rise in illegal immigration into the Rio Grande Valley of southern Texas. Most of those migrants are from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

Johnson's announcement came just as two state attorneys general — from Texas and Arizona — issued public letters to Johnson with several demands.

We have ... concerns that dangerous cartel activity, including narcotics smuggling and human trafficking, will go unchecked because Border Patrol resources are stretched too thin.- Texas Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott

Texas Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott requested $30 million from Homeland Security to pay for state resources that can be rushed to the Texas border. The Border Patrol is "overwhelmed," he said, and needs the assistance quickly.

"With the Border Patrol's focus shifted to this crisis, we have grave concerns that dangerous cartel activity, including narcotics smuggling and human trafficking, will go unchecked because Border Patrol resources are stretched too thin," Abbott wrote.

Arizona Atty. Gen. Tom Horne's letter addressed a separate surge of single parents with children illegally entering the U.S. in southern Texas. Unable to house the influx of families, federal immigration authorities have been taking them to Arizona, where they have been released at bus stations in Phoenix and Tucson under orders to report to an immigration official in the near future.

Horne threatened a lawsuit, demanding that Homeland Security "cease and desist" the practice.

"There does not appear to be any lawful authority for such arbitrary and injurious actions," Horne said. "To the contrary, given that transporting an alien under these circumstances would be a federal crime … if done by a citizen, it is far beyond the federal government's discretionary authority to detain or release a removable alien under Title VIII of the United States Code."

Homeland Security officials did not immediately comment on Horne's letter.

At the news conference, Johnson did say that federal officials were doing their best to address the immediate needs of what he called a "problem of humanitarian proportion in the Rio Grande Valley sector."

Johnson took the opportunity to warn people against coming to the U.S. illegally, stating that they are not eligible for immigration relief under legislation before Congress. Nor are the newcomers eligible, he said, for an Obama administration deferred-deportation program that gives immigration relief to youth who came to the United States as children and stayed illegally.

Johnson, who said he first learned about the increase in unaccompanied minors last fall, also sent a special message to parents thinking about smuggling their children into the country.

"Of those who may have children in Central America that they want to reunite with … illegal migration is not safe," Johnson said. "Illegal migration through the south Texas border is not safe. A processing center is no place for your child. Putting your child in the hands of a criminal smuggling organization is not safe."

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-...613-story.html

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Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

US trying to return unaccompanied child immigrants faster, official says



CNN 11:51 AM, Jun 12, 2014
2 mins ago

Hoping to address the rising tide of unaccompanied children crossing the Mexican border into the United States, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Thursday he's working on ways to return those children to their home countries faster.

Johnson has been talking with the ambassadors of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico to discuss "faster repatriation," he said.

The comments came as he updated reporters on a multi-agency effort, ordered earlier this year by President Obama, to address the crisis.

Holding centers in Texas can no longer accommodate large numbers of children, forcing the federal government to open additional facilities.

Chris Cabrera, a labor leader for Border Patrol agents, told CNN that he expects 60,000 unaccompanied children will cross the border this year -- a sharp increase from previous years.

U.S. law prohibits the Department of Homeland Security from immediately deporting the children if they are not from Canada or Mexico.

Instead, the children are turned over to Department Health and Human Services supervision "within 72 hours of DHS taking them into custody," an official said.

Relatives living in the United States are searched for and contacted and the immigrant is given a court date. But very few actually show up -- and most join the large numbers of undocumented immigrants.

http://www.abc15.com/news/national/u...-official-says

ship every one of them back home . the I don't care what country your from just go back home this is all obama doing & now Hillary said the children should be sent home what is she up to another obama lie's
I know we can close the border down . if obama want but he don't look what happen to our guy 's & girl's that came home they are on the street & Obama help the illegal immigrants no way in hell . wake up USA