The Lost Children; and the Band Plays While the Ship Sinks

So long as little children are allowed to suffer, there is no true love in this world.

~Isadora Duncan

In 2014 alone, Border Patrol agents across the Southwest have detained more than 52,000 unaccompanied minors, with a particular concentration along the Rio Grande border in Texas according to federal records. It is clear that this issue needs to be addressed because there are only so many detention facilities available and limited resources, and the American public is becoming more outraged.

My wish, admittedly probably unrealistic given the lack of any consensus of the issues, is that instead of the constant inflow and outflow of undocumented immigrants through a system that is clearly broken, that we could somehow erase the image and stories that families are getting in their home countries about streets paved with gold, an abundance of jobs, and easy upward mobility in the United States. The truth is, we as a country have been struggling economically for many years. There are people here who have been unemployed for so long, they literally have quit looking for jobs, resigned to getting as many part-time jobs as they can find simply to survive.

 Every year, we have thousands of kids graduating with college degrees (once thought to be the punch ticket to paradise) only to find that there are no jobs for them, and those jobs that are available barely pay the rent, much less the enormous student loan debt that a great number of kids have the day they finish college. Also, even though recent job statistics appear to show that the unemployment rate could be dropping, it must be noted that those who have become frustrated and given up are not counted as unemployed if they have not searched for work in the four weeks prior to when the most recent census was taken by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Moreover, the number of involuntary part-time workers (those working part time because their hours have been cut back or because they are unable to find a full-time job) has increased by 275,000 in June 2014 for a total of 7.5 million. So as you can see, labor statistics are easily manipulated for political benefit and actually not very impressive when you read the fine print.

As of this month, more than 77.4 million people live in highly concentrated areas of poverty according to the United States Census Bureau. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines the poverty line as $23,850 a year in income for a family of four.  This is definitely not a life of luxury and ease that many imagine exist in this country. And these numbers are for people who already live here.

I understand in concept that many families are willing to allow their children to travel illegally to the United States because the countries where they live are corrupt, violent, and dangerous. However, these parents should know that simply making it to the United States is an uphill battle, with many children being physically and sexually abused, abandoned by those who transport them, or simply getting lost and dying in some godforsaken desert. For those who make it here after such an arduous journey, the likelihood is high that they will be stuck doing some sort of back breaking labor for years of their life, never knowing when they are going to get that knock on the door sending them back to where they came from regardless of how established their life may be here.

Maybe it is naïve of me, but if we could really communicate the truth, that the streets aren’t paved with gold, and that many Americans live at or close to the poverty line already here in the United States, perhaps some of the parents so willing to let their children come to the United States would understand that it is an illusion and a life of toiling, worry, and misery that lies at the end of the rainbow. Again, I recognize that these are hopes and wishes on my part, not likely to ever take place given our inept government.

I read this weekend about a city in California where the mayor encouraged protesters to go out and block buses that were dropping off illegal immigrants in temporary housing facilities because detention centers in Texas are now overcrowded. Approximately 200 to 300 people surrounded the buses forcing them to turn around and travel to another Border Patrol station located in another California city. The detainees are primarily children, with few accompanied by other family members. According to the Los Angeles Times, the mayor said that the blockade was needed because the “federal government is not properly enforcing immigration laws that require immediate deportation of undocumented immigrants.”

In a more ominous tone, Texas Governor Rick Perry has accused the Obama Administration of a cover up for failing to return undocumented children. He also indicated that non-Mexicans crossing the border are coming from Middle Eastern countries such as Syria. According to journalist Eric Pfeiffer, Perry stated that “These people that are coming from states like Syria that have substantial connections back to terrorist regimes.” According to Politifact Texas, Perry’s Syria claims are “ridiculous” and “not accurate.” Perry indicates that he plans to run again for President, so you may want to file away some of the more unusual concepts he spews out to compare to what his story is in 2016.

Thousands of unaccompanied minors cross the U.S. Southern border each year in hopes of gaining the American dream according to CNN.  Many are trying to reunite with parents, family members and escape violence, gangs are poverty.  CNN also reports that “The number of children making these journeys by themselves has doubled each year since 2010. U.S. authorities estimate that between 60,000 and 80,000 children will seek safe haven this year.”  This seems like an astronomical number of minors to be crossing the United States southern border.  
            CNN also reports that from Honduras alone, 4,500 unaccompanied minors have been captured in Mexico and deported back.  This number does not include those who were lost along the way in other countries, those who were kidnapped, killed, or left for dead in the desert somewhere.  Even more astounding is that some of the children are reported as being as young as four years old with notes pinned to their clothing with information regarding who should be contacted upon the child’s arrival into the United States. 

            It is shocking to think that any parent would send over their young child to make such a dangerous and long trip.  So what motivates parents to allow and encourage this and minors to attempt it?  CNN describes that most are trying to escape “thuggery.”  They are fed up with the violence and poverty they encounter on a daily basis in their hometowns.  They see the United States as a safe haven; a place founded on equality and access to the American Dream.  According to CNN, one 17 year old girl who fled from Honduras says, "My grandmother is the one who told me to leave. She said: 'If you don't join, the gang will shoot you. If you do, the rival gang will shoot you, or the cops. But if you leave, no one will shoot you.'"

 I only wish that grandmother knew that the United States averages approximately 32,000 gun deaths per year. According to the Center for Disease Control, approximately 80% of gun deaths are gang related. The annual rate of gun deaths for every 100 thousand people hovers at approximately between 10-11 percent per year according to statistics kept by GunPolicy.org. There are 88 guns for every 100 people in the United States according to ABC News.  So while parents may want their kids to escape gangs and violence, these children are not exactly traveling to the most peaceful destination on earth.

According to the Washington Post, the United States has way more gun deaths that any other developed country in the world. Admittedly, Mexico and other countries in the midst of raging drug gang wars have higher gun-related deaths, but if the dream is to move to a nice, quiet, and safe place, the United States may not be the place to go to avoid being caught in a cross fire.

       These minors run into many problems throughout this harrowing journey.  Many encounter human traffickers, who kidnap and take advantage of the minors who are lost during the trip.  Human traffickers often abandon the minors, or they are caught.  Those that are caught are detained and then deported back to their country of citizenship where they await someone to come and claim them.  Many are kidnapped and held for ransom in Mexico by gangs, before being returned to their families, if ever.

       Others do arrive in the United States, but die in the Texas desert before ever experiencing what they set out to accomplish here in the United States.  The Corpus Christi Caller Times reports that 52 graves were discovered in June 2014, located in the Sacred Heart Burial Park in Falfurrias, Texas.  Last year 110 bodies were discovered, and researches expect to find more as time goes on.  According to the newspaper, it is likely that the deceased traveled in that direction in order to avoid a known Border Patrol checkpoint, which ended up costing them their lives.  

         CNN reports that recently, a young teen named Daniel Penado Savala, told his traumatic story of his trip to the United States.  He swam through a dirty alligator infested river in an attempt to make it to the U.S., which he eventually did.  His human trafficker abandoned him in the desert where he searched for food and water.  He said he continued walking through the desert with his 13-year-old sister in mind who remained in El Salvador.  One of his motivations for making the journey was to be able to send her money.  After two days of wandering in the desert in Texas, Daniel found a house. The occupants fed him before calling border patrol.  He was given a health screening and sent to a shelter.

       The American Psychological Association reports that there are one million undocumented immigrants under the age of 18 currently living in the United States.  Although many of these unaccompanied minors do not make it to the United States, others do, which is creating a whole separate set of concerns and questions.  CNN describes that U.S. Border Patrol agents are in a tough spot trying to take care of kids while at the same time enforcing the law.  Even more worrying, is the fact that the immigration reform is at a stalemate. 

This makes it even more frustrating for those dealing with the problem directly on the border.  They’ve had to open temporary shelters to place the children because existing shelters are completely full.  Different and complex repatriation policies apply to various countries and scenarios.  Undocumented minors found here from Mexico and Canada are repatriated and sent back.  Minors from other countries such as Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador often remain here for much longer in detention centers. 

            Besides the fact that new shelters are being opened, due to overcrowding, children and teens being housed there have begun making claims of neglect.  CNN states that the American Civil Liberties Union along with four other immigrations rights groups, filed a complaint listing accusations varying from extremely cold conditions to being held by Border Patrol far in excess than the statutory limits mandate. 

            The unaccompanied minors who take the risk of being smuggled into the United States yearn to accomplish the American Dream.  Upon their arrival, many realize that the American Dream is not as close in their reach as they had imagined.  According to the Center for Immigration Studies, 31.2% of all Hispanic immigrants with their families, live in poverty already in the United States.  If we include those who live close to the poverty line, the number increases to an astounding 46.4%.  This number accounts for almost half of all Hispanic immigrants.

 So people and more surprisingly, unaccompanied minors, are taking life-threatening risks to make it to the United States, and those who don’t die or get kidnapped along the way are most likely going to live in poverty and dangerous conditions here as well.

Clearly, the immigration problems of this country are a major problem and to repair the system is not going to be easy, especially with the political gridlock and lack of any movement by members of Congress to get anything meaningful accomplished. Now it is fighting for the sake of it in our Congress, with the people of this country being left out in the cold on not only immigration issues, but many other problems that need to be addressed immediately.

I only wish that someone could tell the parents of these children, who suffer and die in the pursuit of the American Dream, that it is an illusion, a mirage in the desert heat that gives hope of life, only to leave you to die alone when you find that the oasis is nothing but empty desert sand.

~Leonardo G. Renaud