During the last year 70,000 unaccompanied migrant children entered the United States illegally. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 58 percent of these children were forcibly displaced and are potentially in need of international protection. Currently, the only protections available to these children are narrow forms of immigration relief. Such relief is onerous to obtain and therefore the success of a worthy child acquiring protection usually depends upon the assistance of an attorney. These children are not entitled to government-funded counsel and must proceed before an immigration judge alone. For some children there is no relevant immigration relief available.
The current crisis on the border has underscored the profound structural deficiencies in our federal agencies to meet the needs of unaccompanied immigrant children – as children. In addition to highlighting the current “surge” of children on the border and the failed policy responses, this panel seeks to provide solutions that both keep the children in need of international protection out of harm’s way, and are grounded in international human rights law and practice. This panel will recommend discrete steps for Congress and the executive branch to take in addressing significant structural gaps in the federal government’s capacity to provide for the best interest of each child in need of international sanctuary.