Statement for the Senate Judiciary Committee on “The Unaccompanied Children Crisis: Does the Administration Have a Plan to Stop the Border Surge and Adequately Monitor the Children?”

The American Immigration Council submitted a written statement to the Judiciary Committee for a Feburary 23, 2016 hearing on “The Unaccompanied Children Crisis: Does the Administration Have a Plan to Stop the Border Surge and Adequately Monitor the Children?” The statement shares our analysis and research regarding the children and families that have fled Central American violence to the United States. The statement reviews four reports/papers that describe why children are fleeing Central America at high rates. The statement then goes on to highlight the deplorable conditions in the detention centers that children and women are subject to. Finally, the statement describes the legal protections that children are afforded in the 2008 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA).