The Kids are Not Okay
Darkest of Truths About Children Coming to the US
Americans are often quite oblivious to the complexities of immigration because as a large, plentiful, and free country there is often little reason to leave US shores. But on the flip side, the US represents enormous economic and social opportunity to nations around the world, making it a melting pot of nationalities with thousands immigrating legally every year.
Immigrating to the US is neither easy nor a right. So as people flee conflict and look for the most basic of economic opportunity (while at the same time unskilled and unable to come through legal means) they are willing to take a chance on crossing our vast and hard-to-patrol border.
But here is the hard truth: illegal immigration, desperate humanitarian need, and overwhelming numbers arriving by foot to our borders has plagued presidents and their administrations for years with no easy solution to the plight. It is not a partisan issue. The world is a cruel place and any suggestion that there is an ‘easy’ policy change or position that will fix this is wrong.
In fact, the border issue is really not about immigration at all, it’s about geopolitical turmoil and unrest. Most refugees do not want to leave their country, but are forced by circumstance (and global refugee programs, in fact, often aims to return them home when issues subside). That is very different from those who arrive for other less dire reasons, such as multinational employment, education, family unification, etc.
And one could argue that the recent push in New York by many politicians to simplify the crisis and brand as a ‘celebration of immigration’ while providing shelter, benefits and work permits, is without question making the issue even worse.
Why? Children.
The Little Ones Lost in the Narrative
As New York City continues to use its ‘right to shelter’ law to justify spending billions on those arriving; and as we run out of space, there is no question that the strain will be felt most acutely by New York children and our most vulnerable residents. The mayor wasted no time, in fact, taking away soccer fields away to house single male migrants. And next on the chopping block are school budgets. But it’s worse than that…
More children than ever are being forced to make the dangerous journey to the US/Mexico border crossing some of the most violent, geographically difficult and desperate places on the planet. And numbers soon to come out from Customs and Border Protection will show an increase eclipsing both previous administrations.
Coverage of this fact has been remarkable blunt and bipartisan too. From a recent Washington Post article:
“Officials saw a marked increase in families and unaccompanied minors arriving at the southern border. Some have been targeted by violence in their home countries that could make them eligible for humanitarian programs. But others are relying on promises from smugglers, who tell them families are far less likely to be deported.”
Alarm for the risks inherent to the journey through South and Central America to Mexico and beyond was a focus point of both the Obama and Trump administrations. And advocates on all sides of the political spectrum worry that Biden’s more flexible policies such as giving temporary ‘parole’ to certain countries and allowing more in to be screened later down the line for asylum, are only encouraging more migrants to arrive. And because families are ushered through more quickly smugglers are using children as bait. It was one of the dire warnings in this 2019 report from the Department of Homeland Security.
Worldwide Humanitarian Alarm
There are 43 million children that have been forcibly displaced from their homes worldwide. Some of the reasons are war, terror and violence. Also not surprisingly, more than half are from three countries: Ukraine, Afghanistan and Syria. But that fact has been eclipsed in the Americas by the steady stream heading to the US/Mexico border in numbers not seen in the past few years.
But what’s particularly alarming as we head into the last quarter of 2023 is the savviness of smugglers and cartels capitalizing on American political rhetoric. And this rhetoric leaves out the dark, dangerous, horrible truth of the risk to women and children of the route to America’s border. In fact, the UN and UNICEF are just a few organizations to release reports in past few weeks.
The details are not for the faint-hearted. Highlights:
The UN Migration Agency announced definitively that the US/Mexico border is the most dangerous in the world. Even with the challenges in collecting data, they announced at least 686 deaths and disappearances of migrants in 2022. And when looking more broadly across the Americas (the South/Central America border) the numbers are double.
Women and children are subjected to horrors that most Americans cannot conceive of as they are often forced to migrate by foot. NGOs struggle to capture data but know enough for us all to be alarmed. For instance, Amnesty International notes that six in 10 women and girls are raped on the journey to the US border.
A recent report by UNICEF goes even farther into the detail for the most vulnerable: unaccompanied children and women: “… are often preyed upon by traffickers, criminals, organized gangs, security forces and others who wish to exploit, hurt or even kill them, especially if they are moving alone or in small groups.”
Complexities of Immigration Laid Bare
There is no inherent right to immigration and there are essentially three big tent categories of those coming to the US:
Illegal migration. This is where one arrives with no legal right to live and work but continues to do so permanently.
Humanitarian migration/settlement. Migrants arriving to the border may claim asylum (this is called ‘affirmative’ asylum). You can also claim asylum during a deportation hearing if already living here (this is called ‘defensive’ asylum). In both cases the numbers granted are low; just 36,000 were granted asylum (both affirmatively and defensively) in 2022. But the other category we don’t talk about nearly enough are those who remain in their countries while seeking asylum. These is how we define ‘refugees.’ The numbers of refugees in need of resettlement have swelled to the tens of millions as wars rage on. You can find a helpful overview here.
Legal migration. Finally, there are those coming to the US as skilled migrants and/or as part of families already here. This constitutes ‘legal migration’ and can be a long, drawn out and paperwork intensive process, even if you are migrating for family reasons.
Of course, in New York City, this comes as no surprise, as the city’s foreign-born population has been as high as 40% in the past 5 years. And with 60% of households having at least one foreign-born family member, New Yorkers get it.
What New Yorkers Can Do
New Yorkers are globally aware and compassionate people, but better understanding this issue is key. We’ll continue to publish facts, figures and information.
By recognizing that the issue of migration is complex and that we are quite possibly causing more distress by encouraging people to cross the border, we start to effect change.
So, first, consider writing your local official and ask them to stop encouraging illegal border crossings and, instead, focus on advocating for the US refugee program which has missed its targets in past couple of years.
You can actually consider ‘sponsoring’ a refugee yourself. The US State Department has launched a program called Welcome Corps.
Also consider supporting organizations such as UNICEF who are working to support migrants along the journey if they feel they need to make it.
Most importantly, we all need to speak up. This issue is not easy, not clearly addressed or fixed by a single solution. And there is ample evidence to suggest that by making it one dimensional and that being telegraphed out to the world, we are, in fact, making things much worse in the end.