The journey that innumerable unaccompanied minors attempt in hope of migrating across the Mexican U.S. border in hope of the American dream. The journey is common for Central American minors who in doing so are risking their lives for better ones in the U.S. Countless calculations have to be made to keep out of harm’s way.
There is increasing concern about the dangers that these minors face in transit migrating alone. The anxiety in particular is focused on the treatment these minors receive when they are detained or deported and the possibility that they may become victims of human trafficking. One major current obstacle is the lack of information in Latin America on the way detention and deportation policies could exacerbate their vulnerability. [1]
Unknown Numbers of Central Americans are Detained in Mexico
Just how many Central Americans are detained in Mexico is unknown, however according to a recent CRS Report, it is estimated that they make up about 15 percent of the total Central American migrant population. According to this estimation there were 37,730 Guatemalan, Honduran and Salvadoran minors detained in Mexico last year [1]. Many make the journey to reunite with family members already living in the U.S.
Tighter security on the U.S. border has created backlogs of family visas, making it more difficult for undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. to go back for their children. Due to this thousands of minors make the risky journey north alone, or with smugglers who often abandon and abuse them.
Betsy Wier, the project manager of a monitoring project by CRS that tracts Central American migrants as they travel, emphasizes that “Despite the risks involved, migration for youth has become a rite of passage if one is to support their family and improve their economic situation. However unaccompanied minors are vulnerable to robbery, extortion, abuse, and human trafficking in addition to physical exhaustion, hunger, thirst and injuries.” [2]
Minors Feel Economic Pressure to Pursue to Dangerous Journey
Jose Montelbaun, 17, made the 160 mile trek from Tecun Uman, a town in northern Guatemala on the Mexico border, to Arriaga. The trip to across the border included crossing the Suchiate, a muddy river separating Guatemala and Mexico. Then once Jose was in Arriaga he had to walk along the endless hidden paths, which are known to be crawling with gangs, bandits and corrupt law enforcement types waiting to pounce of migrants such as Jose. Arriaga is the point in southern Mexico where Jose then got on a train through to Mexico on the way north to the United States [2].
Jose’s decision to try and immigrate was due to economic reasons: as the eldest of seven children and with only second-grade education he needed a job that could support a large family. Jose said that “There is nothing here. If you buy food you can’t buy clothes, and if you buy clothes, you can’t buy food.” [2]
Jose ended up making it as far as Nogales, Mexico, two years ago before being deported back to Honduras, where he would resume earning less than $4 a day working in construction.
Like Jose, most minors attempting to immigrate do not make it to the U.S. Most are detained in Mexico and some spend weeks or months being shuffled from one detention center to another as they are deported home.
Security Needs to be Tightened to Stop Unaccompanied Minors Illegal Attempts to Immigrate Across the Mexican Border
Recent research by the CRS reveals that changes need to be made to prevent unaccompanied minors from trying to Immigrate to the U.S. At the moment few clear procedures are in place to protect children in detention or during the deportation.
Also in some southern Mexico border areas, immigration officials will often ignore official procedures altogether. Instead of detaining foreign minors, they will force them to cross back over the border into Guatemala, a practice that creates a population of minors in a state of limbo, unable to cross the border without the means to return to their homes [3].
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