Immigration affects adults and children as well. Children under the age of 18 years have been seen moving on their own towards the border. In 2015, for instance, there was a story of eight minors who were heading to the southern border from Guatemala. They were lured by human traffickers to America with promises of being educated. The parents were desperate to see their children get education such that they gave their deed so that the children would be smuggled and the debt would be paid off after the children started working. Such minors who cross the border without being accompanied by parents or guardians are referred to as “unaccompanied alien children,” by the Federal immigration law. The government of American should invest more in helping immigrant children who are unaccompanied to avoid exposing them to danger.
When children are unaccompanied, there is a high possibility that they are in danger. The American government should be responsible for such minors. Different departments such as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should take all the minors on the border and ensure that their safety is ensured. They can be transferred to the Health and Human Services (HHS) department, which in turn look for sponsors for such children so that they can be protected from predators, till they are processed to be legal immigrants. In the case of the Guatemala eight children, the HHS department did not assist them but instead released them to the human traffickers where they were forced to provide hard labor (Portman, 2018). If HHS cannot assist the children, immigrants, to get in America, the federal government can at least ensure that the children are returned safely in their nations.
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Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA) policy should be used under situations where the children immigrants are most assisted in getting sponsors and legal immigration permit. Through the policy, children are returned to their origin countries after determining that human trafficking indicators do not exist (McCament, 2018). The children who refuse to be removed voluntarily from the border are placed under removal procedures. If there are issues related to human trafficking, then the child should first be protected, and after ensuring that they are safe, then the determination of whether they should be taken back in home country should be determined. Different groups in the United States should partner together in assisting the children immigrants.
To ensure the safety of children immigrants, different departments should work together to ensure that children are not exploited and assisted with their situation. Groups such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) investigates the immigrant children to determine if they are being immigrated unlawfully by unregistered groups such as human traffickers. During the removal process, the children should also be kept safe such as the way they are handled. On being taken back to home country, the departments should ensure that the children immigrants are united back with their families. All these processes will ensure the security and safety of the children (McCament, 2018).
In conclusion, children immigrants are faced with safety issues when they are on the border alone. They have no adults to make decisions for them, thus can be taken advantage off easily or lured to unsafe situations with promises such as education. The federal government should be responsible for the children immigrants from the time they are on the border until they are made legal immigrants or taken back to their countries for safety purposes.
References
McCament, J. W. (2018). Should the Federal Government Be Doing More to Protect Unaccompanied Child Migrants? U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), 13-29. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
Portman, R. (2018). The Pros of U.S. Policy Toward. Congressional Digest, 12-28. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
