Myths about Central American child migrants prevail
The policy and public health implications of the migration of unaccompanied minors from Central America was the focus of a recent event co-hosted by the UCLA Blum Center and the Latin American Institute.
Source: based on UN Map 3977, rev. 4, 2010.
Children from Central America who are crossing the border are very well vaccinated. “They come from countries where actual immunization rates are comparable, if not better, than that of the United States," said Ninez Ponce.
by Catherine Schuknecht
UCLA International Institute, December 15, 2014 — At a recent event, the UCLA Blum Center on Poverty and Health in Latin America partnered with the Latin American Institute to present a panel discussion on the immigration crisis of the past year, during which tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors from Central America entered the United States illegally. The panel, included experts from the public health and education sectors.
Immigration “crisis” of 2014: Facts and fictions
Since last October, over 60,000 unaccompanied minors were picked up by U.S. Border Control while attempting to cross into the United States. These children were primarily from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda, director of the UCLA North American Integration and Development Center and associate professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies, argued that this surge has been grossly exaggerated. “If you look at the Central American context historically. . . juvenile apprehensions as a part of total apprehensions [have] actually been relatively stable over time.”
It is true, however, that the total number of people emigrating from Central America is increasing, while the number from Mexico continues to decline.
The supposed surge of immigrants from Central America triggered “ mass hysteria” among conservative Americans this summer, said Hinojosa-Ojeda.
Increased apprehension of Central American immigrants, added Michael Rodriguez, “raised opportunities for folks who are not supportive of immigration reform to use scare-mongering tactics to build support for political agendas that push for tighter, more draconian immigration laws.”
Rodriguez, who moderated the panel, is professor and vice chair of the department of family medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Hiroshi Motomura agreed that hardliners were using the surge as evidence that the border is out of control. Motomura is Susan Westerberg Prager Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law, director of the National Immigration Law Center and a co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network. Yet Motomura perceived the recent influx as an indication that the border is under control, as migrants are turning themselves into Border Patrol officers in the hopes that their legal rights will be recognized.
Many opponents of immigration reform argue that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program, adopted in 2012, together with laws that protect trafficking victims, are to blame for the increase in unaccompanied minors attempting to enter the United States illegally.
There have been a series of congressional attempts to defund DACA and lessen legal protections for unaccompanied minors due to this misconception, remarked Motomura.
However, DACA does not grant legal status to illegal migrant children. The program allows certain people who entered the United States as minors to apply to defer immigration action for two years (now three), a period that can be renewed.
Economic factors. In reality, it is high unemployment rates in Central America and the demand for inexpensive immigrant labor in the United States that facilitates illegal immigration, said Hinojosa-Ojeda. The remittances sent by these migrants now comprise about 20 percent of the gross domestic product of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.
Hinojosa-Ojeda contended that the United States was reaping massive benefits from this labor, but would benefit to an even greater degree if it was legalized.
Legal debates
Motomura described the migration of children from Central America to the United States as both immigration and a refugee crisis. Many of the children who attempt to cross the border are legally considered refugees and therefore entitled to asylum under the Geneva Convention, he explained.
“This is one of the most contested areas of refugee law right now,” he continued. In addition to asylum law, other protections exist for unaccompanied minors and trafficking victims who do not legally qualify for refugee status. The Special Immigrant Juveniles Program, for example, grants green cards to foreign children who have been abandoned and suffered abuse.
“There is the possibility that the government could establish something like Temporary Protected Status (TPS) [for these children],” said Motomura, noting that the United States has done so for refugees from other countries in the world when extreme domestic conditions, such as armed conflict or natural disaster, prevent its citizens from returning home.
In addition to immigrants fleeing tough conditions in their home countries, many are also crossing the border to join family members who are already in the United States, a great number of whom are undocumented.
The detention and due process rights of immigrants who are subject to deportation are another major contested legal issue. According to Motomura, the U.S. government has made an effort to expedite deportation by implementing fast-track proceedings that quickly process people through immigration courts.
Immigrants who are unable to hire lawyers, he noted, are unlikely to have these courts recognize complex asylum and protection claims. This is particularly true for unaccompanied minors from Central America, whose due process rights are a point of contention in the U.S. Congress, which has more than once attempted to limit these rights. One reason the government is resisting recognition of these children’s right to a court-appointed counsel is the potential cost of providing this service.
Disease invasion: Debunking a myth
Ninez Ponce, director of the UCLA Center for Global and Immigrant Health and professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, addressed popular fears that immigrants bring diseases to the United States.
Acknowledging that disease invasion was a valid concern, she argued that the United States has a health system that can welcome immigrants without significant risk.
The children who are crossing the border are, moreover, actually very well vaccinated. “They come from countries where actual immunization rates are comparable, if not better, than that of the United States," she explained.
According to a recent UNICEF report, the rate of vaccination in the United States is 92 percent; whereas in Guatemala it is 93 percent; in Mexico, 95 percent; and in Honduras, 99 percent.
“Although these children are often fleeing social conditions of poverty and abuse, those who manage to successfully complete the traumatic journey across the border are tough, resilient and generally healthier,” commented Ponce.
In health care, she explained, this is called the healthy migrant effect. Immigrants tend to have better health outcomes, such as a lower prevalence of chronic conditions, because it is only individuals who are motivated, strong and willing to make life-changing decisions that successfully arrive in the United States.
Furthermore, many immigrants bring cultures and habits from their home countries that may protect them from conditions that afflict the mainstream U.S. population, such as obesity.
However, there is mixed evidence that these protective factors erode over time, resulting in a decline in health. In order to reverse this phenomenon, Ponce suggested reform to health policies at the federal and state level.
“When resources are scare. . . those who can't vote are usually the ones that are X-ed out [of benefits]," she noted. Hinojosa-Ojeda agreed, arguing that the massive disenfranchisement of immigrants in the United States was a central hindrance to health care reform.
Community involvement
“In Los Angeles, we are the epicenter of all things immigrant,” said Rodriguez, which makes it important to foster community involvement in the response to child migrants at the local level.
When the federal government establishes national programs like DACA, added Motomura, state and local governments have to fill the protection and benefit gaps created by these programs.
Nicole Mitchell, coordinator of the School Enrollment Placement & Assessment Center of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), noted that 2,900 minors came to L.A. County from immigration detention centers during the period October 2013 through September 2014. The majority were between the ages of 14 and 17 and had experienced significant trauma.
Mitchell’s center seeks to identify and meet the physical, emotional and social needs of these children and to provide them with a stable environment, reinforced by regular school attendance. Its services include immunizations, physical and mental health assessments, school enrollment of students aged 6 to 18 and the administration of English placement tests.
The center is now working to forge partnerships with other community organizations that can provide legal help for families pursuing refugee and asylum claims.
Moving forward
All of the panelists agreed that child migration from Central America required a comprehensive approach that involved federal, state and local action.
Hinojosa-Ojeda asserted that this immigration would continue and urged the country to develop a post-legalization strategy. He was optimistic that the recent “crisis” would also encourage policymakers to examine the root causes of immigration from an international perspective.
Rodriguez also advocated a comprehensive approach, such as bi-national health insurance and a general restructuring of the U.S. health care system, instead of patchwork solutions to the problem.
And Ponce emphasized the importance of developing methods to interrupt the deportation of mothers and fathers, which causes children to be left behind.
All photos by Catherine Schuknecth/ UCLA. Photos in order of appearance: Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda; Michael Rodriguez; Hiroshi Motomura; Ninez Ponce; Hiroshi Motomura and Ninez Ponce; and Nicole Mitchell.
Please upgrade to a browser that supports HTML5 audio or install Flash.
Download Podcast
Duration: 01:01:12
12-01-14-Central-American-Children-Complete-jt-bb2.mp3
Transcript * This might take a few seconds to load.
Published: Monday, December 15, 2014