The Recent Massive Influx of Unaccompanied

The Recent Massive Influx of Unaccompanied, Undocumented Minors: A Humanitarian Crisis on American Soil

A Statement from Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA)

The United States faces a humanitarian crisis on our southern border, caused by the massive, unprecedented influx of unaccompanied children, mostly from Central America, who have endured unimaginable trauma and hardship to travel to the U.S.-Mexican border. Tens of thousands of these children have been detained upon attempting to cross over into the U.S. by the Department of Homeland Security.

The federal government has been working to house thousands of these children on three U.S. military installations and other locations while they await temporary reunification with family members, if they can be found, and eventual deportation proceedings. The three military installations have BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers and/or nonmilitary Boys & Girls Club organizations nearby that could potentially serve as youth development resources to these children, helping to make their detention more bearable. In recent days, many communities throughout the nation have initiated a public dialog about accepting displaced children in need of temporary shelter and care.

As the largest network of community-based, professionally-staffed youth development facilities in the nation, Boys & Girls Clubs of America stands ready to work with Congress, the federal government and its agencies, and other community-based NGOs to find short-term and long- term solutions to this crisis affecting tens of thousands of children in need.

Background  The presence of unaccompanied, undocumented children who attempt to migrate from Mexico or Central American countries is not a new phenomenon, but in recent months, a massive surge in their numbers has overloaded U.S. Border Patrol stations and detention facilities, particularly in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.  This fiscal year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the number of unaccompanied minors crossing into the United States is expected to reach 60,000. Apprehensions of undocumented minors ages 0 to 17 totaled 24,493 in 2013, while through just May of 2014, the number was 47,017, a 92% increase.  Most of the children in the most recent influx come from the Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, countries long plagued with Third World poverty but now grappling with escalating drug cartel and gang crime and violence as well.  The scale of this mass migration and the fact that these are minor children and youth making this perilous journey alone makes this a humanitarian crisis that calls to mind what the country experienced when thousands of people fled from the New Orleans area during the Hurricane Katrina disaster.  As a result of this huge recent influx, undocumented youth are being housed at three U.S. military installations, each with the following capacities:

U.S. Military Installation Location No. of Detained Minors Nearby BGC Organizations Can House Lackland Air Force Base San Antonio, Texas 1,200 BGCs of San Antonio (Major Metro) Salvation Army BGCs of San Antonio (Geo) Naval Base Ventura Oxnard, Calif. 600 BGCs of Greater Ventura County County (Geo) Fort Sill Lawton, Okla. 600 Salvation Army BGC of Lawton (Geo)

 An additional 1,000 undocumented youth have been transported to Nogales, Ariz., where they are temporarily held in a Department of Homeland Security converted warehouse. This is a way station where the children are medically screened and vaccinated before being transported to one of the three military installations listed above.  Once some of these undocumented children reach the longer-term military installation facilities, they are placed in the care of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). That agency is charged with providing them a range of basic services, including education. Even though they are in the United States illegally, federal law requires that these children receive an education that is appropriate for their needs, including instruction in the English language and in core academic subjects. Often, the schooling is provided to these children by local districts or nonprofit providers that work in partnership with the shelters.  DHHS has contracted with local humanitarian relief agencies such as BCFS Health and Human Services in San Antonio to provide emergency management and services to youth.  The average stay in an HHS facility is 30 to 45 days before the child is released to a parent, relative or other sponsor. The children remain in so-called “removal proceedings” even if they are released to family members or another sponsor and must await a federal immigration court decision.

BGCA’s Partnership with the U.S. Military  BGCA’s growing collaboration with the military began in 1990 during the Persian Gulf crisis that led to Operation Desert Storm.  BGCA’s decades-long commitment to providing dedicated services to children of military personnel includes serving 435,000 youth on U.S. military installations through membership and outreach.