Thread: N.C. Office To Open For Kids Arrested By Immigration Officia

http://www.wral.com/news/10194468/detail.html

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Children arrested by immigration offcials will have a place to turn for help when a group opens a field office in North Carolina that will help the children come to the U.S. legally.

Two case managers based in Raleigh will work for the North Carolina National Center for Refugee and Immigrant Children, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, one of the nation's largest philanthropies.

The office will help to identify these children who are arrested then released temporarily into the custody of relatives, said Gregory Chen, director of policy analysis and research for the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. that the center will represent.

It was not immediately clear when the office would open.

The goal is to secure visas or political asylum for those who apply, or at least seek voluntary deportation so they can still apply to come here legally, said George Pappas, a Charlotte attorney who's one of at least 50 attorneys who have agreed to be part of the program at no cost.

"If a child is alone they need protection regardless of their nationality or legal status," he said. "There are no borders when it comes to children."

A lack of money to hire an attorney keeps many of these children under the radar. They often struggle in school, and some went through traumatic events in their native countries, said Sarah Petrin, a spokeswoman for the committee.

North Carolina was chosen because of its burgeoning undocumented population that's estimated at 390,000 and because it lacks resources to help immigrants, Chen said.

Unlike North Carolina, states with large immigrant populations such as California and Texas also have enough resources for them because the populations are so established, he said.

Juveniles caught at the border are usually turned over to shelters run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and then temporarily released to relatives.

Some 50 children living in North Carolina sought help from the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants over the last year, Petrin said.

The majority of the targeted children in North Carolina are from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, and live in the Charlotte and Raleigh areas, Chen said

A "voluntary return" program usually sends Mexican children back across the border. Central American children are detained longer because U.S. officials have to determine what country they're from and whether those countries will accept them.

In the past five years, there's been a nearly 20 percent rise in border apprehensions of those 17 and younger. That number totaled almost 115,000 last fiscal year.

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Information from: The Charlotte Observer, http://www.charlotte.com

U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
http://www.refugees.org/

North Carolina National Center for Refugee and Immigrant Children
no website found

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
http://www.rwjf.org/

Gregory Chen
http://www.refugees.org/newsroomsub.aspx?id=1045

The office will help to identify these children who are arrested then released temporarily into the custody of relatives, said Gregory Chen, director of policy analysis and research for the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. that the center will represent.

It was not immediately clear when the office would open.

The goal is to secure visas or political asylum for those who apply, or at least seek voluntary deportation so they can still apply to come here legally, said George Pappas, a Charlotte attorney who's one of at least 50 attorneys who have agreed to be part of the program at no cost.

"If a child is alone they need protection regardless of their nationality or legal status," he said. "There are no borders when it comes to children."

They don't have public defenders for juveniles? Political Asylum?? Come on.....

funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, one of the nation's largest philanthropies.

Do they fund LaRaza or similar groups? These people fund a lot of UN/lib crap. I don't remember the facts but I think that I had them on a list with the FORD foundation.

I think most children are happiest and in the best situation when they are with their parents. They should return to their country with their parents who brought them here. When they reach the appropriate age if they want to come back they should be allowed to apply without any penalties for their parent's illegal actions.

If the parents are unfit, the parents need to be deported super fast with no chance to return. Since we could never count on Mexico or any of these other countries to care for the children and search for a willing relative in the child's home country (which is what should happen), then we could try to find a willing relative for them here.

I believe though that by making it easy for these parents to leave their children here with a friend or relative will only result in the parents eventually re-entering the U.S. illegally. We're just asking for a continuation of the same problems.

Nothing will ever change until we stop creating new loopholes to replace the loopholes that we fix.