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Question, answers about the border surge

Eric L. Olson

Associate Director Eric Olson is quoted in this Associated Press article explaining the misinformation unaccompanied migrant children were given.

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WHY ARE WE SEEING THIS INFLUX OF IMMIGRANTS, ESPECIALLY CHILDREN, NOW?

Word of mouth in Central American is strong and there is a pervasive belief that the U.S. has been relaxing its immigration stance toward minors. The belief was spurred by recent discussions about possibly changing U.S. immigration policy and by a change in U.S. law in 2008 that provided more rights to minors at the border that included a hearing before a judge.

At the same time, a crackdown on cartels caused those criminal organizations and their trafficking operations to spread from Mexico to Central America. More people decided it was time to leave for the U.S. where they believed they would be allowed to stay.

Migrants were told to have their children turn themselves into the Border Patrol and they would be given a permit to enter the U.S., said Eric Olson, associate director of the Latin American Program for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

The permit, however, was really an order to appear for a deportation hearing.

Even so, with court backlogs and a shortage of judges, it can take as long as three years to get a hearing. In the meantime, children are reunited with family in the U.S. and live far away from the violence at home

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/24/4252057/gang-violence-fears-for-children.html#storylink=cpy

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To read the full article, please click here.

About the Author

Eric L. Olson

Eric L. Olson

Global Fellow;
Director of Policy and Strategic Initiatives, Seattle International Foundation
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Latin America Program

The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action.  Read more

Latin America Program

The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action.  Read more