The Honorable Senator Feinstein 331 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510
Re: Safeguard Protections for Children Fleeing Trafficking and Persecution
Dear Senator Feinstein,
We, the 100 undersigned California-based human rights, womens and childrens rights, immigration, refugee and anti-trafficking organizations, are deeply concerned by the refugee crisis taking place on our doorstep as unprecedented numbers of children from Central America arrive seeking safe haven in the United States. These children have braved hazard and hardship to flee violence, and we have both moral and legal obligations to ensure their rights and their safety. We urge you to continue to stand strong for children by rejecting any proposed legislation that undermines existing protections for unaccompanied children, and calling on the Administration to provide full due process for unaccompanied children from Central America, rather than truncated screenings or expedited proceedings.
You have always been a champion of childrens rights, in particular the rights of unaccompanied immigrant children, dating back to your herculean efforts to pass the Unaccompanied Alien Child Protection Act starting in 2000. Your steadfast commitment to these vulnerable children resulted in the transfer of their care and custody to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, an agency better equipped to ensure child welfare standards, and ultimately to the enactment of your groundbreaking amendment to the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA) to ensure that the United States treats unaccompanied immigrant children appropriately according to their unique protection needs. We are calling on you once again to be a champion for unaccompanied children, this time to defend against any changes to the TVPRA and to oppose any administrative measures that would undermine the TVPRA. Stripping children of due process rights and of meaningful access to protection is a misguided response to this refugee crisis and tarnishes our values as a nation.
Children are coming to escape increasing violence; the focus on enforcement over protection will not stop them. It is no coincidence that the three countries whose children are arriving in the highest numbers Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala are countries with among the highest murder rates in the world. These countries lack functioning child welfare systems and are unable to keep children safe and punish their abusers. The reasons compelling children to come to our border from Central America include risk of labor and sex trafficking, gang and drug cartel violence directed at children, and other deprivations of childrens fundamental rights. In its March 2014 report, Children on the Run, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) found that nearly 60% of children fleeing Central America whom the expert agency interviewed have valid international protection concerns and are potentially refugees.
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Contrary to the message the Administration is sending, children and parents are well aware of the dangers of the journey. But they often feel they have no choice but to migrate or to send their children, because staying in their countries means certain harm or death. As a result, increasing enforcement measures will not stop the flow of children.
Stripping children of existing protections is a fundamentally flawed approach. Under the TVPRA, unaccompanied children from non-contiguous countries, including Central America, are placed in removal proceedings and can seek immigration relief for which they may or may not ultimately qualify. This provision of the TVPRA was designed in recognition of the fact that unaccompanied children are uniquely vulnerable, and they require special protections to ensure that they are screened properly for legal and social service needs and given adequate time to share their experiences that could be a basis for U.S. protection. These children cannot be expected to reveal their personal histories, which may involve trauma, persecution or trafficking, to Border Patrol or other authorities immediately upon arrival. For developmental reasons and mental health reasons, it takes time for a child to feel secure enough to provide the personal information necessary to ascertain her eligibility for asylum or other relief.
Unlike the existing procedure for children from non-contiguous countries, contiguous country children (i.e., Mexican children) can be repatriated directly from the border unless Customs and Border Protection (CBP) finds them to be at risk of persecution or trafficking. However, CBPs preliminary screening of Mexican children often fails to identify those in need of protection. 1
Extending this type of superficial screening to Central American children repatriating them if they do not immediately express a fear of return or establish that they have been trafficked or are at risk of trafficking would mean that we are likely to return to harm, and even death, many children who are potentially eligible for U.S. protection. Moreover, the U.S. Asylum Officer Guidelines for Children as well as federal circuit precedent recognize that children may be unable to express a fear of persecution and therefore they accept that objective evidence can establish a childs well-founded fear of persecution. Expediting childrens repatriation simply because they may be unable to express a subjective fear of persecution upon apprehension contradicts the U.S. Guidelines and federal court precedent by failing to consider objective evidence. Returning children directly from the border also risks violating our domestic and international obligations not to refoule (return) individuals to situations of persecution.
The U.S. must address the root causes of migration through long-term solutions.
1 See Appleseed, Children at the Border: The Screening, Protection and repatriation of Unaccompanied Mexican Minors (2011), available at http://appleseednetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Children-At-The- Border1.pdf.; Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS) & Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), A Treacherous Journey: Child Migrants Navigating the U.S. Immigration System (2014), available at http://www.uchastings.edu/centers/cgrs-docs/treacherous_journey_cgrs_kind_report.pdf; Womens Refugee Commn, Forced from Home: The Lost Boys and Girls of Central America (2012), available at http://womensrefugeecommission.org/forced-from-home-press-kit.
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Only long-term solutions that meaningfully address the root causes for their migration violence, abuse and exploitation, and social exclusion, as well as failure of the rule of law will improve conditions for children in the region, which in turn will stem the flow of children. The U.S. must work with community-based partners in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, as well as with U.S.-based experts, to address these root causes, and to address smuggling and trafficking as a regional issue.
We urge you to continue to stand strong for immigrant children by rejecting any proposals to modify the TVPRA or to undermine its provisions. Thank you for your leadership on this issue and your commitment to vulnerable children.
Sincerely,
Adelante Youth Alliance Advancing Justice Asian Law Caucus African Advocacy Network/Dolores Street Community Services AIDS Legal Referral Panel Alliance for Community Transformations Asian Americans for Community Involvement Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach ASPIRE-Bay Area Asylum Access Bagalman & Tranchina LLP Bean + Lloyd, LLP Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition Black Alliance for Just Immigration CAB Board Low-Income Representative California Coalition Against Sexual Assault California Immigrant Policy Center California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance (CIYJA) California NOW California Partnership to End Domestic Violence Central American Resource Center of Los Angeles Casa Cornelia Law Center Catholic Charities San Francisco, Marin, San Mateo Center for Employment Training Center for Gender & Refugee Studies Center for Justice & Accountability Central American Resource Center of Northern California Childrens Advocacy Institute Chinese for Affirmative Action Coalition Against Sexual Exploitation Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
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Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County, Inc. Community Legal Services in East Paolo Alto East Bay Community Law Center East Bay Sanctuary El Rescate Equal Rights Advocates Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project Free the Slaves Freedom Network USA Immigrant Legal Resource Center Immigrant Youth Coalition Immigrant Center for Women and Children Inland Empire Immigrant Youth Coalition International Institute of the Bay Area International Legal Alliance Group Jewish Community Relations Council Jewish Family & Childrens Services of the East Bay Just Neighbors Ministry Justice for Immigrants San Jose La Raza Centro Legal Landerholm Immigration, APC Law Office of Alan G. Bennett Law Office of Ann Block Law Office of David S. Wright Law Office of Donald N. Hubbard Law Office of Grace R. Alano Law Office of Helen Lawrence Law Office of Jeffrey Martins Law Office of Jeffrey OBrien Law Office of Judith M. Morrow Law Office of Rosy H. Cho Law Office of Scott A. Mossman Law Office of Tanya Brannan Law Office of William Stahl Law Offices of Christina Y. Chen Law Offices of Sherrill Kushner Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area Legal Advocates for Children and Youth Legal Services for Children Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice Loyola Law School Home Base Immigration Clinic Maria Baldini-Potermin & Associates, P.C.
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Matloob Law Office Mujeres Unidas y Activas Napa Valley Dream Team National Center for Lesbian Rights National Immigration Law Center Northern California Chapter of the American Immigration Laywers Association Nuestra Casa Opening Doors, Inc. Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish PODER Public Counsel Public Law Center Refugee & Human Rights Clinic, UC Hastings College of the Law San Diego Dream Team Santa Cruz County Immigration Lawyers Santa Cruz County Immigration Project SEIU 521 Latino Caucus Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN) Social Justice Collaborative Sophia in Trinity Community Southwestern Law School Immigration Clinic Student Advocates for Higher Education, San Jose State University The SAGE Project Transgender Law Center University of Southern California Immigration Clinic Western Center on Law & Poverty Working Partnerships USA