Government policy paper 2

Duong1

Duong3

Unaccompanied migrant children in state shelters

Texas Policy Report Proposal

Ngoc Duong

GOVT-2306-21002 GOVT 2306 Fall 2020

Dr. Mark Skorick

Word Count: 391

The government proposal focuses on the children that are not accompanied, who come to the U.S alone or are required to appear in immigration court independently. There are a larger number of migrant children residing in Texas shelters. Notably, many unaccompanied minors and families arriving in the southwest originate from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. They run towards border patrol, seeking assistance. Some of the children suffer as victims of home-based abuse in their countries of origin (Berger 275). This has reflected a dramatic change, which was short-lived after the Federal immigration policy overwhelmed the state's shelter network, leading thousands of children to linger for extended periods of temporary shelters (GIL 346). The so-called shelters are places where unattended minors usually stay after vacating the temporary U.S customs and border facilities when the officials cannot find volunteers to accommodate them. The aim of this paper is to address the issue of unaccompanied migrant children in state shelters.

After recording a high number of children in shelters, the status of the policy was enacted by sending a massive influx of children to shelters. Other federal immigration policy changes also prolonged the stay of children in the temporal facilities (Berridge and David, 274). The move became overwhelming to the federal government’s capacity for a couple of months. Consequently, there the state has experienced a drastic fall in the number of kids.

Ideally, children who are not accompanied that seek safety in the United States are not entitled to appointed counsel in immigration court (Hasson et al., 275). Even as they face an immigration judge and government-funded prosecution. The Children's protection project visits all the facilities weekly in interviewing children, conducting legal assessments.

The policy is vital the Texas and United States because it contributed to legislative reforms that holistically protected children and families' interests in the U.S. Among the reforms were; First, upholding child's welfare screening to augment and replace Border patrol screening, to stop child trafficking and persecution, for instance, the Canadian and Mexican children. Second detention reforms; where the detained children were to be released to sponsors or families within a short period (Center Immigration Policy 23). Third, aid in sending countries to invest more in structures protecting and caring for children, establishing the root causes for the challenge. Fourth enforcing the standards that focus on the children’s well-being.

Works Cited

Berger Cardoso, Jodi, et al. “Integration of un accompanied migrant youth in the U.S:” Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies, vol. 45, no. 2, Feb. 2019, pp. 273–292. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/1369183X.2017.1404261.

Berridge, David. "Driving outcomes: Learning to drive, resilience, and young people living in residential care." Child & Family Social Work 22.1 (2017): 77-85.

Center Immigration Policy. " A Guide to children arriving at the border: Law, Policies, and Responses." American Immigration Council (2015): 1-21.

Hasson, Robert G., et al. “Patchwork of Promises: A Critical Analysis of Immigration Policies for Unaccompanied Undocumented Children in the United States.” Child & Family Social Work, vol. 24, no. 2, May 2019, pp. 275–282. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/CFS.12612.

GIL, REBECA GARCIA. “Running into the arms of expatriation: America’s failure addressing the rights of un accompanied migrant children from central America.” Mary land Journal of International Law. vol. 32, no. 1, Jan. 2017, pp. 346–373. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=126992336&site=ehost-live.