Thread: New US law relocates kids far from home

New US law relocates kids far from home
Mexican officials lament plight of youthful detainees
By Mariana Alvarado
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.30.2009
A new law aimed at preventing the trafficking of children into the United States is having a major impact on when and how those children are returned to their families.
The William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, passed by Congress in December, was recently implemented and has Mexican authorities concerned because the children are placed in whatever shelter is available — sometimes hundreds of miles away.
"It could be California, Washington, Texas, wherever the federal system has a shelter," said Jorge Solchaga, head of the department of protection with the Mexican Consulate in Phoenix. "It doesn't matter where they (minors) are detained. They are sending them to see an immigration judge, and these are (procedures) that could last up to a month and the minor's return is delayed."
Before the law went into effect, U.S. and Mexican officials had an agreement that minors caught entering the United States illegally were turned over to the Mexican Consulate, which worked with children's services south of the border to locate relatives.
Under the new regulation, officers call the Department of Health and Human Services and children are placed in shelters through the Office of Refugee and Resettlement.
Bonnie Arellano, a spokeswoman for the Tucson Field Office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said that to comply with the new law, the agency has conducted training for its employees to identify trafficking victims.
"The sooner, the better," Arellano said. "Obviously this is something urgent and critical to do because they are children."
Also, under the new law, a child can be returned only to his or her parents or a legal guardian.
For Luz del Carmen GarcÃ*a, from Sonoyta, Sonora, it means she has no idea when she'll see her grandson, Luis Francisco MartÃ*nez Fontes, 12, again.
The boy was picked up by U.S. immigration officials on June 7 and sent to a shelter in Tacoma, Wash.
"He called me and said: 'Nana, they caught me here,' " GarcÃ*a said about the only phone call she's received from her grandson.
Even if she could find a way to get to Tacoma, she could not bring Luis back with her because she is not his legal guardian. GarcÃ*a has cared for him since he was 5 months old because her daughter was not able to.
Arellano said the change was meant to avoid situations that occurred in the past where minors were picked up in Mexico by smugglers.
Beatriz López, Mexican consul in Nogales, said it is a difficult situation because although the law is meant to prevent human trafficking, there's not much information a minor can provide.
"The youngest minor case we've had was a 2-year-old," López said. "(Smugglers) may be involved, but because of their age, . . . they can't say what's going on."
One of the biggest impacts of the new law is the increase in the number of cases being processed, Solchaga said.
Currently, the Phoenix Consulate has 55 open cases, compared with four cases before the new law went into effect.
López said it's important for Mexican parents to be aware of the new law, especially because the reunification process is taking longer.
Hoping to deter parents from sending for their children with a smuggler, the consulate's offices have launched an awareness campaign throughout Arizona.
For relatives such as GarcÃ*a, there is nothing to do but wait to see what a judge decides about her grandson.
"If they say I need to go and pick him up, well, then I have to go. What else can I do?" GarcÃ*a said. "If they say they are going to keep him locked up, well, only God knows why things happen."
Contact reporter Mariana Alvarado at 573-4597 or malvarado@azstarnet.com.
www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/299059

Nana never did say what on earth a 12 year old was doing crossing the border alone. It was HOT today, there is no shade in the desert (no, a cactus does not create much shade and good luck trying to get water out of one).
Do ya think his "mother" has been unable to take care of him for the last 12 years (and the first 12 years) of his life because she's an illegal alien living in the U.S.? Who else was this child coming to see? He'll be safer in a shelter, far away from his neglectful family.

"If they say I need to go and pick him up, well, then I have to go. What else can I do?" GarcÃ*a said.

That sounds like a plan. Instead of deporting him home, they'll call you, who probably didn't even report him as missing, and ask neglectful you to come to the U.S. to pick him up and trust you to bring him back to Mexico, but instead you will probably meet up with his "mother", and I use that term loosely, and the 3 of you will stay here forever.

Nana never did say what on earth a 12 year old was doing crossing the border alone.

Too bad, Nana, you and your family should have taught your grandson not to break the laws of the United States.

If they were so concerned about these kids they would do more to keep them from becoming slaves to begin with...

They just lose money when the kids arent working so they want them back asap...