WASHINGTON D.C.- President Obama is urging Central American parents to stop sending children unaccompanied to the border and assured them that they will inevitably be returned to their countries, and what's worse is that they may never even make it to the border
"[D]on't send your children unaccompanied on trains or through a bunch of smugglers," Mr. Obama said in an ABC morning news program. "That is our direct message to the families of Central America: Do not send your children to the borders. If they do make it, they'll get sent back. More importantly, they might not make it."
According to Obama, "we don't even know how many of these children don't make it" and added that many of them become victims of sexual abuse or die after falling off the train on top of which they travel.
The arrival of these unaccompanied minors surpassed 52,000 during the past nine months, according the Department of Homeland Security. This is in addition to the 39,000 adults travelling with children detained by authorities. This is a stark increase to the numbers from last year, when authorities detained 24,000 unaccompanied minors.
The majority of these children originate from Central America- primarily Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador- and a vast majority are young girls and boys under the age of 13.
According to U.S. law, undocumented minors that originate from countries other than Mexico cannot be immediately returned to their countries of origin. Authorities must provide housing and other basic necessities to these children while authorities locate family members or homes that can care for them while they proceed through immigration hearings.
Authorities are scrambling to find facilities to temporarily care for these children as the process can take many months. It has been reported that the former Sharp Cabrillo Hospital, which is currently an empty building in Point Loma, San Diego is being considered to house and process many of these children. It is estimated that this location could temporarily house 3,000 immigrant children. Another proposal to house children at a location in Escondido was met with heated debate and was ultimately struck down this week.
Today, there was word from Customs Border and Protection that such a suitable location has been found, but no more information was given as to which one it is.
Sandra Dibble form the U-T San Diego reported also today about the much needed legal counseling and support a San Diego based small nonprofit firm that serves indigent immigrant clients, and which have seen a 70 percent rise in the amount of unaccompanied children needing legal counsel.
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