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As the newest extension of its Immigrant Rights policy program, Appleseed is tackling the issue of undocumented children detained by local, state, and federal officials while migrating into the United States without a legal parent or guardian. Traveling alone, these children and adolescents are often victimized by smugglers, criminal gangs, and even relatives for a variety of illicit and degrading ends.
However, almost all unaccompanied Mexican-national minors apprehended at the border are immediately repatriated without any meaningful review to determine whether they are the victims of trafficking, are at risk of being persecuted upon their return, or can properly consent to their "voluntary" return.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), passed by Congress in 2008, clearly requires border officials to screen each unaccompanied child (UAC) to understand his or her situation and gain consent for immediate voluntary departure. But in practice, various factors such as the lack of training, inadequate funding, an extremely shortened timeframe, and a hostile environment add up to make these legally mandated screenings a formality at best and virtually guarantee immediate repatriation regardless of any extenuating circumstances.
On the other side of the border, the Mexican government has done little to address the underlying conditions which lead to undocumented immigration. Repatriated Mexican UACs are placed in the temporary custody of the local arm of Mexico's "DIF" (Desarollo Integral de la Familia) child and family agency network, whose effectiveness is heavily dependent on local conditions but which invariably fails to provide proactive social assistance to the migrating minors.
All too often, children are returned to a home or family environment in which their well-being or even lives are at risk. In addition, there is no attempt to identify and counsel “menores del circuito,” the frequent and repeat crossers, many of whom are involved in smugglings of other people, drugs, or arms across the U.S.-Mexico border.
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Appleseed and its pro bono partners are currently examining the viability of incorporating trained child welfare workers into the screening process to better meet the anti-trafficking screening provisions of the TVPRA. One or more pilot programs at large-volume border crossing sites would be needed to test the procedure. In addition, Appleseed is re-evaluating the practice of immediate repatriation, especially for unaccompanied children who are too young to make an independent decision about their return.
In Mexico, new standards are needed to encourage the DIF to provide proactive social assistance to repatriated minors. In addition, creating new national databases of migrating minors in both U.S. and Mexico will allow authorities to collect information to better address the underlying causes of the migration of Mexican UACs.
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