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Ear to the Ground

Immigrant Children Trapped in Limbo

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Posted on Oct 23, 2006

The Washington Post examines the plight of child immigrants, caught between conflicting government agencies that seek to reunite families while at the same time working to deport them.

Washington Post:

Left behind more than a decade ago by his parents, illegal immigrants living in Northern Virginia, Iraheta made part of his trek to the United States hidden in the baggage compartment of a Mexican bus. But soon after surreptitiously crossing the Rio Grande into Texas, he was picked up by the Border Patrol and brought here to a converted nursing home run by the federal government where 136 children from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala are temporarily housed.

Iraheta is but one drop in a new and fast-growing stream of illegal immigration to the United States, those under 18 who are sneaking into the country without their parents. Authorities say the phenomenon is growing and includes girls traveling alone and even toddlers being carried by older siblings or entrusted to smugglers.

Many of those who are apprehended by the Border Patrol end up in a burgeoning network of shelters set up by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. There they run up against Washington’s paradoxical approach to the problem of children who entered the country illegally without their parents. The government agency that runs the shelters tries to reunite the children with relatives living here, regardless of their legal status. Another federal agency works to deport them—as well as their parents. Iraheta’s mother and father are reluctant to come forward to claim their son, fearing that would lead to being sent back to El Salvador. So are his sisters, who are also in the country illegally. Even uncles who are legal U.S. residents living in Texas have stayed away.

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By Donald Muddiman, March 1, 2007 at 5:38 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Thank you Alex for your kind suggestion that I might need a tissue, I find that Right Wingers are constantly concerned with the needs of others. As for Spain or Mexico, I have to give you the lesson that my mother taught me, two wrongs do not make a right. But specifically my interest with Central America is that it is America, our sphere of influence and has been since the promulgation of the Monroe Doctrine. It is ours to protect and to defend. As a matter of fact, I live in Honduras and am much more concerned with the development of this poor country than with immigration into the United States. I will leave the question of immigrant labor to business owners in the States. Good for you that you were able to take advantage of liberal immigration laws. I hope that you enjoy the wonderful country that my ancestors created, and hope that you will extend the welcome to others.

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By Alex, October 25, 2006 at 12:15 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Donald you need a tissue?  Why doesn’t Spain help out Central America it has exploited it for much longer and where are you getting your facts that the US has exploited it for 200 years.  If people want to come here thats perfectly fine, why not do it legally?  I did it legally so can everyone else that wants to come here.  Before you start crying about our immigration laws look at Mexican immigration laws, they are a lot harsher than ours.  They might be your brothers, if you care so much for them why not go help them in Mexico to come here legally.

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By Donald Muddiman, October 23, 2006 at 4:22 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

How un-Christian, how anti-family, how sad. We have neglected and exploited Central America for 200 years and now we are shocked that there is poverty. Only when communists threaten the oligarchies that are the so called legitimate governments, or when masses of people flee looking for a crust of American white bread, do they come to our attention. These are our brothers, and the same people who moaned that communism was gaining a foothold two days drive from our border, are now moaning that Central Americans believe in the American dream.

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