CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- The child migrant crisis at the U.S-Mexico border shows the need for a Catholic response and for sound government policy to help children who are fleeing violence, several Catholic experts have said.<\/p>\n\t\u201cAs a Church, our first focus is that we are assisting members of our human family in need,\u201d Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, said during a live internet chat July 29. \u201cThe Catholic response has to be compassionate, and must recognize the human faces within this issue.\u201d
\n\t\u00a0
\n\tBishop Flores, who serves on the U.S. bishops\u2019 conference subcommittee on Hispanic Affairs, said his diocese is one of the common entry points into the U.S. for unaccompanied children and young mothers with children.<\/p>\n
\tThe number of unaccompanied child migrants to the U.S. has doubled in the past year, many from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Combined with adult migrants, their numbers have helped overwhelm housing facilities on the U.S.-Mexico border.<\/p>\n
\tChild migrants were the focus of a live webchat from the Catholics Confront Global Poverty initiative, a project of Catholic Relief Services and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.<\/p>\n
\tJill Marie Gerschutz-Bell, a legislative affairs specialist in Catholic Relief Services\u2019 D.C. Office, said the situation is a \u201crefugee crisis\u201d due to \u201cviolence, insecurity and displacement in Central America and Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe gangs which are terrorizing young people and their families here initially got their start on the streets of Los Angeles,\u201d she said. U.S. deportation of young people to Central America in the 1990s helped the gangs \u201cflourish\u201d due to the lack of jobs and easy access to weapons in the receiving countries.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cToday Honduras and El Salvador are among the most violent countries in the world, and parents are willing to do whatever it takes to bring their kids to safety,\u201d said Gerschutz-Bell.<\/p>\n
\tThe current crisis is a result of \u201cdesperation\u201d in Latin America, according to Erica Dahl-Bredine. She has served as Catholic Relief Services\u2019 country representative in El Salvador since 2010.<\/p>\n
\tThe U.S. bishops\u2019 conference is backing a Senate bill that would include $300 million to address \u201cpush factors\u201d that encourage migration from Central America, including violence, economic deprivation and family disintegration.<\/p>\n
\tCatholic Relief Services is also working to address these factors and to prevent the overturning of U.S. laws that protect children.<\/p>\n
\tDahl-Bredine said the U.S. government needs to work with Central American governments to improve policing and joint law enforcement strategies. Effort is also needed to expand violence prevention programs that have been \u201cproven to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tOne CRS program, Youthbuilders, helps at-risk Central American youth who are at risk find employment or education. It has an 80 percent retention rate. Its relief programs in Honduras aim to keep children in school, to create rural development programs, and to help families support themselves and their children. Other programs in both Honduras and El Salvador aim to teach life and job skills, providing job placement and social support to create alternatives to crime and violence.<\/p>\n
\tDahl-Bredine said that drug-related violence is fueled in part by U.S. demand for drugs, while the U.S.-led effort to boost anti-drug enforcement has also led to \u201ca lot of human rights violations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tBishop Flores noted the importance of reunifying children with their families.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cOnce children are in Border Patrol custody, the Department of Health and Human Services seeks out family members either in the United States or in their home countries, and makes sure these claims are authentic,\u201d he said. \u201cNinety percent of children are successfully reunited with their families.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tKevin Appleby, director of the U.S. bishops\u2019 Office of Migration Policy, said that the children are being given health screenings and receiving immunizations. He noted that unaccompanied children who have arrived since October 2013 from Central America are largely still in the country, due to a human trafficking law designed to ensure they are not returned to \u201cdangerous or even deadly situations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tHowever, those who have arrived with their families or from Mexico are generally quickly deported under present law, despite the fact that an estimated 64 percent of child migrants from Mexico are also fleeing violence.<\/p>\n
\tBishop Flores encouraged Catholics to become informed about the issues and aid migrant assistance efforts in their hometowns. He noted that Catholic Charities USA has set up a refugee assistance fund.<\/p>\n
\tAppleby encouraged Catholics to contact their federal legislators.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThere is a clear moral choice here \u2013 we can protect and care for these children and assist them in their need for protection,\u201d he said. \u201cOur country can take care of these children and live up to our international obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Washington D.C., Jul 31, 2014 \/ 11:42 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- The child migrant crisis at the U.S-Mexico border shows the need for a Catholic response and for sound government policy to help children who are fleeing violence, several Catholic experts have…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\n
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