Texas Faith Communities and Central American Asylum ... · Texas Faith Communities and Central American Asylum Seekers. The Welcoming Communities Initiative is a Texas Impact program

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Juntos SomosFuertes

Texas Faith Communities and Central American Asylum Seekers

The Welcoming Communities Initiative is a Texas Impact program that leverages the service of AmeriCorps VISTA members to connect faith communities of all religious traditions in order to establish an organized, trained, and informed network of individuals and organizations dedicated to helping address the current Central American humanitarian crisis and future crises that may occur in Texas.

Texas Impact was established by Texas religious leaders in 1973 to be a voice in the Texas legislative process for the shared religious social concerns of Texas’ faith communities. Texas Impact is supported by more than two dozen Christian, Jewish and Muslim denominational bodies, as well as hundreds of local congregations, ministerial alliances and interfaith networks, and thousands of people of faith throughout Texas.

Texas Impact • 200 East 30th Street, Austin, Texas 78705 www.texasimpact.org • 512.472.3903

© 2016 Texas Impact

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Juntos Somos Fuerte is the work of Texas Impact Welcoming Communities Initiative (WCI) AmeriCorps VISTA members Kenneth Burchfiel, Marlys McKinney, and Liana Mendoza. Texas

Impact applauds our VISTAs for their dedication to serve a year with the WCI project and the communities they reside in. We also thank them for their thorough, professional work in

researching and developing this publication.

Special thanks to the following individuals and groups whose experiences, expertise, and insights provided the material for this publication:

Carol Flores, Interfaith Ministries for Greater HoustonRev. Mike Cole, Presbytery of the New CovenantRev. Kelly Allen, University Presbyterian Church of San AntonioJoAnn Saldana Vanessa CeceñaMarianella Tomsyck, Refugee Services of TexasJamie Dake, FEMABenito Juarez, City of HoustonHarriet Arvey, Communities in SchoolsAndrew Trujillo, YMCA International Services of HoustonSara Kauffman, Refugee Services of TexasMinerva Jasso-Myles, Texas Department of Family and Protective ServicesMaria Mitchell and Eloy Gardera, Catholic Charities of Galveston-HoustonRev. Brandon Peete, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

Josh Ramirez, City of McAllenJodi Berger Cardoso, PhD, LCSWCommunities in Schools, HoustonRAICES (Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services)United Methodist Church of McAllenThe Holding Institute of LaredoThe Consulate of El Salvador in McAllenLUPE (La Union Del Pueblo Entero)St. John Episcopal Church of McAllenProyecto AztecaCity of Brownsville Department of Emergency Management & Homeland SecurityCity of Brownsville Metro DepartmentHidalgo County Health DepartmentCalvary Baptist Church of McAllenFood Bank of the Rio Grande ValleySalvation Army McAllenSacred Heart ChurchCatholic Charities of Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley

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Acknowledgments…........................................................................3Foreword........................................................................................5Central America and the Journey North…………..........……………....6

Stories from the Field The Valley…………...................................…….…………………..........12San Antonio…..................................... .……………………………........14The Interfaith Wecome Coalition……………….…………………..........16Houston………….................................…………………………….......18“Kevin”.......................................……………….…………………..........20

U.S. Government’s Response.…….........………………………………….22Lessons Learned...............................……………………………..……...24

Sources ………………………….....……...………………….………………..25

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ForewordIn the summer of 2014, national attention turned to South Texas, where unprecedented numbers of children from Central America were presenting themselves at the Texas-Mexico border, seeking asylum. While the presence of minors seeking asylum was not new in the Valley, the numbers were staggering. Public officials were unprepared to meet basic human needs for the children and the adult family members who sometimes accompanied them.

Into the chaotic situation stepped communities of faith. Partnering with other nonprofits, and in some cases local governments, congregations and faith-based outreach ministries took the lead in meeting the physical and spiritual needs of the migrants and preparing them for the continuation of their journeys toward life in the United States.

Texas Impact facilitated a meeting between faith community representatives and legislators to identify potential opportunities for collaboration. Texas Impact also provided information to the public and policymakers about the work of faith communities; needs for volunteers and donations; and opportunities for Texas congregations to get involved.

From a policy perspective, the unaccompanied minor “crisis” had much broader implications. As one faith leader pointed out: “These kids aren’t a crisis. They are fleeing crisis. We should be prepared to meet human needs whenever strangers come to us for safety, whether it’s children from other countries fleeing danger or neighbors from other states displaced by natural disaster.”

The response to Central American migrants in 2014 presented an opportunity to learn about how humanitarian responses come together now…and to develop suggestions for how it might work even better in the future. So in partnership with AmeriCorps, Texas Impact deployed VISTA volunteers to three locations—Houston, San Antonio, and the Lower Rio Grande Valley—to observe firsthand the humanitarian response networks and processes already in place, and to learn from practitioners about possible improvements. This report summarizes the VISTAs’ findings.

During the time the VISTAs were deployed, Texas experienced weather events that displaced people either temporarily or permanently. In the same period, refugees from war-torn countries around the world, including Syria, came to Texas. And faith communities in Texas responded to appeals for help from states across the U.S. that faced floods, fires, and other disasters.

There is no reason to believe the need for humanitarian assistance will diminish in the future—and every reason to believe it will increase. As a state, we can learn a lot from the efforts Texans made on behalf of Central American migrants. We should use that new knowledge to improve our humanitarian response systems. As the VISTAs discovered during their year of service: “Juntos Somos Fuertes—We are stronger together.”

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In the same fiscal year, there were 68,445 family units apprehended at the southern border, which constituted a 361 percent

increase from fiscal year 2013.

Many of these migrants came from the “Northern Triangle” region of Central America, which includes Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. In FY 2014, 16,404 UAC from El Salvador, 17,057 UAC from Guatemala, and 18,244 UAC from Honduras were encountered at the southwest border. There were also 15,634 Mexican UAC encountered in the same year—a number similar to those recorded in the previous four fiscal years.

What brought this influx of people to the southwest border? Violence from gangs and cartels is a major reason why children and families are fleeing to the U.S. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) interviewed 404 Honduran, Guatemalan, Salvadoran and Mexican child

immigrants to the U.S. and found that 48 percent of these children had experienced the effects of cartel, gang, and state-related violence.

Gangs usually begin to forcibly recruit Central American youth once the youth become teenagers. In addition, girls risk being raped by one or multiple gang members. Those who refuse to join the gang may be murdered, kidnapped, or raped. Even schools can be used for gang

recruitment, and gangs may also have authority over school buses. The homicide rates in these countries are among the highest in the world. In 2012, Honduras

had the world’s highest homicide rate; El Salvador and Guatemala were 4th and 5th, respectively. While the U.S. homicide rate in 2012 was 5 per 100,000 people, the Honduran rate was 90.4 per 100,000, and the Salvadoran/Guatemalan rates were 41.2

In Fiscal Year 2014 (October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014), 68,541 unaccompanied alien children were apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) after crossing the United States’ southwest border. This number was a 77 percent increase from the previous fiscal year.

Unaccompanied Alien Child (UAC)

According to federal law, a UAC is younger than 18, does not have legal status in the U.S., and does not have a parent or guardian in the U.S. who can offer custody and care.

“Family Unit” represents the number of individuals (either a child under 18 years old, parent or legal guardian) apprehended with a family member by the U.S. Border Patrol.

Central America and the Journey North

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“One mother told me that she would never ever let her daughter travel to the U.S. She told me that she still has scars from walking

in the desert 15 years ago. Her daughter is being threatened by gangs, and they are trying to force her to join a gang. She is

thinking about taking her daughter out of school to protect her from the threats. Other families I met had already removed their children from school to protect them from the gangs. Some other children are

alone after their caregivers died or were killed by the gangs.”

- Marianella Tomsyck, Volunteer at Refugee Services of Texas

and 39.9 per 100,000 respectively.

Some children have also fled due to domestic abuse; 21 percent of the children interviewed by the UNHCR listed ‘abuse in the home’ as a reason for leaving their home countries. As Ursula Peña, consul at the El Salvador consulate in McAllen, Texas, explained: “Most of our citizens are traveling to the United States principally because of violence

in their country. This includes gang violence, and domestic violence, and in some cases the two overlap—because a family member may be part of a gang and the family becomes a target for violence by their own family member, as well as other members of the gang.”

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18,244 Honduras

17,057 Guatemala

16,404 El Salvador

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Once children and families flee their home country, they face a long journey to the United States. The details of this journey vary, but unaccompanied children usually make their way via bus, “often accompanied by a coyote, or human trafficker, which costs a few thousand dollars. They stop at safe houses along the way that are usually crowded.” If a child doesn’t have the money to pay a coyote, they will usually make the trip by walking and hitchhiking.

Once children and families reach Mexico, they often ride atop the cargo trains known as “la Bestia” or “the Beast,” which is dangerous. Train routes run from the border of Guatemala and Mexico up to places like Reynosa (bordering the Rio Grande Valley of Texas), Ciudad Juarez, and Nogales, Mexico. Once they reach the U.S.-Mexico border, migrants cross the Rio Grande

River into the United States, where they are apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol.

By law, removal proceedings are initiated immediately after unaccompanied children from the Northern Triangle are apprehended. These children are held in Border Patrol custody for no more than 72 hours and then transferred to an Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) shelter.

Soon after the child arrives at an ORR facility, the staff at that facility will try to

find a sponsor who can care for them. The government’s preference is to release the child to a parent or legal guardian already living in the U.S., but if that is not possible, the child may also be sent to an adult relative, someone whom the parent or guardian has approved to care for the child, a shelter, or foster care. However, even if the child is transferred to a sponsor while their immigration case P

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is underway, the court must still decide whether they will ultimately be allowed to stay in the U.S. Unaccompanied children who qualify for protected status will generally receive Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), asylum, a U visa, or a T visa.

Apprehended family units are processed similarly to anyone else caught at the border and are placed in expedited removal proceedings. If, however, an individual expresses a fear of persecution

or torture—and an asylum officer grants the case a credible fear determination—then the family will be granted a court date with an immigration judge, who will determine whether the case is eligible for asylum.

Prior to 2014, families were usually released once their court dates were set. But after June 2014, families began to be detained in family residential centers overseen by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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The Rio Grande Valley of Texas was the sector of the border that saw the most unaccompanied children and families apprehended. Because no formal “disaster” was declared, none of the usual rescue structures were called into action, and the weight of the humanitarian crisis fell heavily on the local community organizations. Texas Impact’s Welcoming Communities Initiative (WCI) gathered firsthand reports about how faith-based and nonprofit organizations came together with Valley city and county officials to manage the Central American immigration influx.

Much of the attention centered on McAllen, where Border Patrol officials were releasing large numbers of Central American asylum seekers and dropping them off at the bus station. Recalling a local hurricane recovery alliance formed back in 2008, Catholic Charities took the lead to begin a response effort, forming the Sacred Heart Catholic Church Humanitarian Respite Center to

coordinate direct services to thousands of asylum seekers. The Respite Center become the hub for families to get a hot meal, a shower, clean clothes, a place to sleep, and other items to take with them on their long journey to family members in other U.S. cities.

Many organizations participated in the effort. The Salvation Army of McAllen provided hot soup, mobile shower units, and a tent for the Respite Center. United Way of South Texas gave a $5,000 emergency grant to each of these organizations to provide immediate response.

The City of McAllen’s Health and Code Enforcement division provided free parking for volunteers and staff, shuttle service to and from the bus station and to the Respite Center, security, a tent, and a direct line of communication with the Border Patrol. St. John’s Episcopal Church of McAllen prepared travel and hygiene kits for

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immigrants who passed through the Respite Center; they also provided many volunteers. Calvary Baptist Church’s volunteers focused on laundry services by using mobile laundry units donated by the Texas Baptist Men.

Proyecto Azteca sent volunteers and used traditional and social media to recruit additional volunteers. They also created an Amazon.com Wish List where people could purchase items that would be sent to the Respite Center. La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE) became a media inquiry hub and encouraged the community to volunteer and make contributions to the city’s collective effort.

With all the media attention, the Valley received an overwhelming outpouring of donations. The Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley provided an area to store these donations and handled donation management.

While the numbers of migrants have diminished from their high water marks in 2014, the systems put in place that summer are still operating. Organizations continue to improve their coordination strategies, and volunteers are finding new ways to provide for the physical and emotional needs of travelers.

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Stories from the Field:

McAllen and Laredo

Josh Ramirez of the City of McAllen’s Health and Code Enforcement said the city began to assist in the humanitarian response when he received a call from the city’s Emergency Management Coordinator, Kevin Pagan, who reported that the McAllen bus station was being overwhelmed by large numbers of people who were waiting for their buses, some of which were not departing until the day after their arrival. Since the bus station was not open 24 hours a day, the number of people arriving and attempting to stay overnight with no food or water became a concern for the city.

Maggie Peña of the Salvation Army said that they stepped in to assist the McAllen response when they received the call for food and water. At first, they served brisket and soda to the asylum-seekers at the Respite Center, but they soon realized that this wasn’t the right diet. Due to their long journeys, many of the migrants were malnourished and dehydrated and couldn’t handle heartier foods. Now, the Salvation Army provides a healthy chicken soup,

which is much easier for the migrants to digest.

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Jodi Goodwin is an immigration attorney who volunteers with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC). Goodwin began assisting at the Respite Center in McAllen after learning that the migrants were being dropped off at the bus station with legal paperwork that they could not understand. Goodwin and three colleagues provide migrants with basic information through CLINIC’s Legal Orientation Project, a national program that focuses on giving asylum-seekers accurate information about the legal process.

Laredo also had a coordinated response to the influx of Central American refugees. Their response, similar to the McAllen model, included efforts by Catholic Social

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Services of Laredo, Inc.; The Holding Institute of Laredo (a United Methodist affiliated center); Bethany House of Laredo; individual volunteers; and other organizations.

Volunteers say the pace of their work can be unsettling, with each migrant or family unit spending only hours with volunteers before boarding a bus. Edith Cedillo of Catholic Social Services described helping a mother

and her six-year-old son, who were dropped off at the Holding Institute with dirty clothes and shoes that barely fit. She took the boy’s shoes off to replace them with cleaner, better fitting ones, and saw that his feet were blistered. She tried as best as she could to wrap his feet and alleviate some of the pain before his trip. The family departed shortly after, and Edith was left without knowing whether she had diminished the boys’s pain.

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Before the summer 2014 influx of Central American families seeking asylum in the United States, the Berks Family Residential Center in Leesport, PA was the only U.S. family detention center. It

had 85 beds for detaining entire families, including fathers.

On June 27, 2014, the U.S. government opened another family detention center in Artesia, NM, adding almost 650 beds, but only for women and children. It wasn’t until August 2, 2014, as women and children continued to flee to the U.S. for safety, that family detention centers opened on Texas soil. The Karnes County Residential Center in Karnes City, Texas (55 miles from San Antonio) opened with 532 for detaining women and children.

By December 15, 2014, when the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas (70 miles from San Antonio) opened with a 480-bed capacity, the Artesia detention facility had been closed. As of November 2015,

Stories from the Field:

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the collective bed capacity of the three remaining family detention centers in Dilley, Karnes City, and Leesport exceeds 3,000. Despite calls to end family detention from congressional delegations, nonprofits, psychologists, lawyers, individuals, and presidential candidates, families fleeing violence in Central America continue to be detained in facilities operated by for-profit prison companies.

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What will You and Your Children Need for Your Journey?

Once you are released from Karnes or Dilley on a bond or with ankle monitors, you and your children will be dropped off at the San Antonio Greyhound bus station. It is there that you and your children will each receive a backpack

from the IWC full of the following donated items:

Snacks (pudding, trail mix) Bottled Water

Toothpaste and Toothbrush Hairbrush

Coloring Book and Crayons Notepad and Pen

Travel Size Kleenex Socks

These items will be carried with you on your multiple day bus ride to family in other parts of the U.S. where you may stay while you await your asylum court

hearing in 2019 or 2020.

—information provided to asylum seekers

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“In the middle of the summer, a member of our congregation introduced us to a mother and son from Honduras who had fled extreme violence to come to the U.S.. This mother and son came to worship, and, with the help of a bilingual church member, she told her story to the congregation. This experience solidified the congregation’s connection with these families, and when we began talking about the issue of family detention, they could think about Lesli and her son, who had crossed before the detention centers were opened. A few congregation members quietly helped her with her legal fees. Even if there are those in the congregation who aren’t always wild about political advocacy, they do not make an issue of it—they see the connection to Lesli’s life. I am convinced that when these stories are told in the sanctuary, especially by those who have lived them, in the context of worship, it brings the congregation as a whole to a different place.”—Reverend Kelly Allen, Pastor of University Presbyterian Church in San Antonio and chair of the Interfaith Welcome Coalition

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Stories from the Field:

The Interfaith Welcome Coalition

“The Interfaith Welcome Coalition (IWC) is a broad network of community organizations, faith networks, and concerned individuals. The group came together in the summer of 2014, in response to the large number of refugees arriving in Texas.

“Our work especially focuses on women and children seeking asylum here in the United States. They have made arduous journeys over thousands of miles to seek safety from domestic violence and gang violence...While the families are detained, the IWC tries to visit with them, and offer them our friendship and support. After they are released, we meet them where they are dropped off at the bus station to give the kids a backpack of toys and snacks...Beyond that, we advocate in our local, state, and federal government to push for the end of family detention.” —IWC Website

“When families leave this place, their legal representation and their whole future is so fragile, and it’s still very precarious in that, will they be granted asylum? Will they be sent back after all this? Will they be treated fairly? Will they be taken advantage of? What kind of work will they find? There are still so many hurdles they have to jump. It’s not all over now that they left detention; it’s a hard road and the beginning of a different problem.”

-JoAnn Saldaña, volunteer with the IWC

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The coalition is the effort of many people acting with the common vision of ending family detention by combining direct service with advocacy—a response that requires whatever is needed, as needed.

As the first chair of the IWC, Reverend Kelly Allen, explains, “People have marched, made tacos, offered medical care, donated children’s books, paid bonds, created artwork, sponsored families, given cash out of their own pockets, gotten up at three o’clock in the morning to transport families, done laundry, raised money, written legislators, produced documentaries, planned prayer vigils and spoken out in their congregations.”

As the landscape of family detention changes, so does the response from the IWC. At present, the visitation program at Karnes is on hiatus because, after a recent court ruling, many of the families are now being released from detention centers within a few weeks.

The committee is brainstorming other ways they can offer friendship and support. The advocacy program, which has held forums and bus trips in the past, continues to visit with state and national legislators with the aim to end family detention. The Welcome Home Program, which includes the

backpack program and an overnight shelter, continues to operate.

Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) rents a house from the San Antonio Mennonite Church that serves as a place where released families can get a warm meal, shower, and rest before their journey continues. Backpacks are in a large part assembled by Catholic Charities and handed out to

mothers and children at the overnight shelter and at the bus station. RAICES does legal intakes at both locations. El Divino Salvador United Methodist Church provides the storage for the backpack supplies, while Catholic Charities and IWC provide cash for families to use during their journey.

The IWC recruits and trains volunteers, who help families understand and navigate their journey, for both the shelter and the bus station. The coalition continues to meet on the second Thursday of every month in the First Presbyterian Church of San Antonio, featuring education, networking, and brainstorming.

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From October 2014 to May 2015, 1,081 children were sent to sponsor families in Harris County, the highest number among counties in the U.S. Because of this, a large part of Houston’s response to the influx of families from Central America addressed the needs of unaccompanied minors and their caregivers through shelter, legal, educational, monetary, and social services.

As the unaccompanied minors crisis developed, Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston (IMGH) called together representatives from various faith-based organizations, including Catholic Charities, the Episcopal church, the Salvation Army, and Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim leaders. These representatives discussed the best way to respond to the needs of these children. Ultimately, they decided that education and fundraising would be their top priorities.

This initial meeting led to the creation of the Houston Interfaith Disaster Response Alliance (HIDRA), which supports organizations that are already assisting the children, through the Child Migrant Fund. The fund, launched with donations from the Presbytery of the New Covenant/Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, individual Presbyterian churches, and the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod of the ELCA, provides grants to cover specific needs that the children and their families have.

Because unaccompanied children are placed in civil rather than criminal court proceedings, they are not guaranteed lawyers by the government. As a result,

Stories from the Field:

Houstonthey must depend on pro bono support or private counsel. Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) estimates that less than 30 percent of unaccompanied children are represented by attorneys in their court cases. It is for this reason that the legal services provided to unaccompanied children in the Houston area are so crucial to guaranteeing their safety. Catholic Charities runs the St. Frances Cabrini Center for Immigration Legal Assistance, which offers information about immigration law and provides immigration consultations with attorneys. YMCA International Services has lawyers and case managers in Houston who work with unaccompanied children.

In addition, KIND offers unaccompanied children pro bono legal support, presentations on their rights, and legal screenings, as well as training to attorneys to prepare them to volunteer on behalf of these children. Many more Houston-area legal organizations are available to assist unaccompanied children and other immigrants at little or no cost and have joined together to form the Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative.

Social service providers have also responded to the needs of Houston’s unaccompanied minors. Memorial Hermann provides healthcare and counseling services to students at Las Americas Middle School. In addition, the High Risk Infant Clinic at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston offers free healthcare services to children who have crossed the border. Harris County’s Gold Card program, which allows Houston-area residents to receive

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healthcare (including psychiatric or psychological care), is available to migrants at a low cost. Refugee Services of Texas (RSTX), affiliated with Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, started an initiative that would give unaccompanied children access to case management and other services. RSTX provides home studies, which are conducted to ensure that potential sponsors are ready to care for unaccompanied children. YMCA International Services also offers home studies and post-release services; in addition, they provide mental health support and medical care. Even though these services help some children, approximately ninety percent of unaccompanied children are not granted home studies and post-release services by the government; these children, once released by ORR, largely disappear from contact.

The largest shelter for unaccompanied children in the Houston area is a 168-bed facility operated by BCFS in Baytown. Catholic Charities also runs two shelters: St. Michael’s Home for Children and St. Jerome’s Home for Children. Southwest Key manages two shelters in Conroe and Houston, while Galveston Multicultural Institute also provides housing to unaccompanied children. Services offered vary by shelter, but can include mental and physical health care, legal support, case management, ESL instruction and education, financial assistance, food, a chance to speak with family members in the U.S. or back home, and other services.

By September 2014, there were 1,825 first-time enrollees from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala in the Houston public school system. Just ten schools accounted for 40 percent of the new enrollees from Central American countries. Some of these children are entering the education system for the first time, and others require mental health support due to the trauma they experienced in their countries of origin. Those entering high school have less time to prepare to graduate, and they must still take English-language federal and state examinations. Furthermore, unaccompanied minors may miss school in order to work, either out of necessity or due to outside pressure. In response to these challenges, Houston Independent School District (HISD) plans to launch seven “newcomer hubs” at schools this fall; these hubs will offer increased ESL support and new technology.

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The story of “Kevin,” a victim of human trafficking from Honduras, as told by Andrew Trujillo, a Post-Release Services Program Officer with YMCA International Services in Houston:

“Kevin” grew up in Patuca, Honduras, in the state of Olancho. He lived with his parents and his two older sisters. Church was a big part of his family’s life, and sometimes they would go nearly every day. Kevin was targeted for recruitment by criminal groups, possibly gangs or drug cartels, by the age of 12. He was probably singled out because his family had a motorcycle, and he owned a bike—a sign that they were well off. He saw severe violence in his own community, and witnessed ten shootings. It was fear of being killed that forced Kevin, at the age of 14, to leave for the United States. He traveled by bus, car, and on foot with his adult cousin and her child.

Kevin arrived through the Rio Grande Valley, and after being apprehended by CBP and then released from ORR custody, he was sent to Beaumont where his uncle sponsored him. But instead of placing him in school, his uncle made Kevin work every night by putting in air conditioning systems. When Kevin did go to school, he was very tired. He explained to his YMCA International Services case manager that he was unhappy, and the case manager contacted CPS and law

enforcement in Beaumont. The government asked the family if Kevin could be placed with someone else, coordinated an unofficial transfer, and sent Kevin to the uncle’s former partner. She was then threatened by Kevin’s uncle, who said that if she kept caring for Kevin, he would take their joint child away.

After this placement didn’t work out, Kevin, with the help of church members, found a place to stay with friends from another church elsewhere in Texas. That placement wasn’t successful, so he moved to the residence of another person whom he had met at church. His uncle continued to threaten anyone who let Kevin stay with them—even in North Texas, far away from Beaumont. Fortunately, his church connections helped him find another family that would take him in and help support him. Although this was not an official placement, CPS gave it their approval.

One thing that has helped Kevin is a strong connection to his religious faith. Music is therapeutic for Kevin; he can play a number of instruments and performs at his church. (His program officer noted: “‘Kevin’ wanted me to make sure that any story about him always mentions the name of Jesus, because He is his Savior.”) Thanks to his church, he has found a stable home environment that allows him to be a kid.

Even though Kevin has found a supportive community in Texas, he misses his parents in Honduras and wants to petition for them to come to the U.S.. If he’s stressed out and

Stories from the Field:

“Kevin”

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unsure about what choice to make, he will call his dad for help. The YMCA worked with the FBI and was able to get Kevin an eligibility letter stating that he was a victim of human trafficking. He was also assisted by a Dallas-based nonprofit that supports survivors of trafficking. This nonprofit found an attorney who could provide him legal representation and send in the T visa application. As a trafficking victim, he obtained healthcare through Medicaid.

CPS also supported him and provided him with counseling, although he didn’t enjoy it initially.

Now 16, he lives with a supportive family and is able to focus on school rather than work. Kevin has one more immigration hearing; afterwards, he should be able to obtain his T visa and obtain legal status to continue his new life in Texas.

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The U.S. government in 2014 launched a new $40 million USAID initiative in Guatemala to improve citizen security; in El Salvador, the U.S. is initiating a $25 million Crime and Violence prevention program that will create 77 youth outreach centers to offer services to at-risk youth; and in Honduras, the U.S. is giving $18.5 million for community policing and law enforcement efforts to reduce gang activity and crime and is also providing assistance to 40 youth outreach centers as part of a Crime and Violence Prevention program. The Border Patrol has created a Dangers Awareness Campaign, which uses billboards and public service announcements to persuade Central Americans not to migrate to the U.S. In 2014, President Obama met with the leaders of the Northern Triangle countries where he “acknowledged the United States’ shared responsibility” in addressing drug trafficking and U.S. demand for narcotics. The United States is the world’s largest market for illicit narcotics.

Another important development is the launch of the U.S.’s Central American Minors (CAM) Refugee/Parole Program. This program allows some parents who are legally present in the U.S. to bring their children into the country as refugees. The children must be residing in Guatemala, Honduras, or El Salvador, unmarried, and under the age of 21. By mid-August 2015, approximately 3,000 applications to the program had been filed, including 78 by Refugee Services of Texas, but only two interviews had been carried out. According to Sara Kauffman of Refugee Services of Texas, “it remains to be seen” whether this program will provide protected status to children. In November of 2014, President Obama issued a series of executive actions

The Federal Government’s Response

that would make some changes to the immigration system, namely for families and children through the expansion of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and the creation of DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of American and Lawful Permanent Residents). However, these executive actions have not been implemented due to a federal court order.

The chart on page 23 shows statistics reported by U.S. Border Patrol demonstrating that, although the overall number of unaccompanied alien children and family units apprehended at the U.S. southwest border in FY 2015 (October 1, 2014—September 30, 2015) has declined compared to FY 2014 (October 1, 2013—September 30, 2015), there are still large numbers of children and families crossing the border, despite government efforts to decrease this migration.

A contributing factor to the decreased number of child arrivals in the U.S. during FY 2015 was the increase in unaccompanied child deportations by the Mexican government. From October 2014 to March 2015, 9,671 unaccompanied children were deported by the Mexican government to El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, nearly as high as the number of unaccompanied children from the Northern Triangle who were apprehended at the U.S. border (9,802). As Adam Isacson of Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) explained, “the so-called ‘surge’ of 2014 hasn’t really ended. Enormous numbers of Central Americans are still fleeing, but most of them are now getting caught in Mexico instead of the United States.”

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U.S. Border Patrol Apprehensions of Unaccompanied Children and Families in the Southwest Border Sector, 2014-2015

Source: U.S. CBP Data available at https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-border-unaccompanied-children

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With the insights gathered over the past year and a half, there is an opportunity to be better prepared for this and any future crises that may require Texas communities to respond. With this in mind, we offer the following insights, gleaned from the collection of city-specific stories, experiences, and research gathered for this case study.

Maintain consistent, communicative, cooperative, coordinated and collaborative networks between state and federal government organizations like FEMA, ORR, CPS, and CBP, and local organizations, including schools, faith communities, refugee service providers, and non-profits.

Maintain consistent, communicative, cooperative, coordinated and collaborative networks within local non-governmental organizations involved in the response.

Maintain consistent, communicative, cooperative, coordinated and collaborative networks within governmental agencies.

Be sure to share leadership, accountability, and praise between all involved parties.

Create an effective and centralized donation management system that ensures delivery of donated materials when and where they are needed.

Maintain a central resource database with designated volunteers or staff to update it.

Clearly define volunteer opportunities, roles, training, and ongoing support and appreciation to ensure no volunteer burn-out occurs.

Reach out more to include the bilingual and

Lessons LearnedLatino community in the response effort.

Community involvement and understanding is crucial. More general education to the public about the immigration process and system is needed.

Advocacy in conjunction with action can be an effective model in creating change on all levels.

Continued media interest and coverage of the issue is crucial.

More social services are needed, such as access to mental and physical health care. Parents and guardians also need support while getting to know their children, with whom they have recently been reunited.

For families who slip through the gaps in social services, faith communities have an opportunity to provide additional assistance. This assistance can be provided by accepting documents that asylum seekers may have like passports, matriculas, or consular IDs.

Most importantly, as Kevin’s story illustrates, a coordinated response between multiple agencies, individuals, and communities is needed in order to ensure safe and healthy futures for Central American migrants coming to Texas.

Juntos Somos Fuertes.

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection: Statistics and Summaries – http://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats“Dangers” Campaign Resources – http://www.cbp.gov/border-security/humanitarian-challenges

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR): Children on the Run. http://www.unhcrwashington.org/sites/default/files/1_UAC_Children%20on%20the%20Run_Full%20Report.pdf

The World Bank: Data on Intentional Homicideshttp://data.worldbank.org/indicator/VC.IHR.PSRC.P5

American Immigration CouncilChildren in Danger: A Guide to the Humanitarian Challenge at the Border http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/docs/children_in_danger_a_guide_to_the_humanitarian_challenge_at_the_border_final.pdf

Migration Policy Institute:“Central American Migrants and ‘La Bestia’: The Route, Dangers, and Government Responses”http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/central-american-migrants-and-la-bestia-route-dangers-and-government-responses

Vera Institute of Justice:“The Flow of Unaccompanied Children Through the Immigration System: A Reource for Practitioners, Policy Makers, and Researchers” http://www.vera.org/sites/default/files/resources/downloads/the-flow-of-unaccompanied-children-through-the-immigration-system.pdf

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services: Obtaining Asylum in the United States – http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-asylum/asylum/obtaining-asylum-united-statesIn-Country Refugee/Parole Processing for Minors in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala (Central American Minors – CAM) – http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-asylum/refugees/country-refugeeparole-processing-minors-honduras-el-salvador-and-guatemala-central-american-minors-cam Executive Actions on Immigration – http://www.uscis.gov/immigrationaction

NOWCastSA:“Mothers and Children in Detention”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5RVUNpPegY&feature=youtu.be

Women’s Refugee Commission: “The Complex History and Tragic Return of Family Detention” https://womensrefugeecommission.org/blog/2281-the-clear-moral-and-complex-history-of-family-detention

Sources

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Office of Refugee Resettlement: Unaccompanied Children Released to Sponsors by Countyhttp://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/unaccompanied-children-released-to-sponsors-by-county

The Texas Tribune: “Interactive: Federal Children’s Shelters in Texas”https://www.texastribune.org/2014/06/24/federal-childrens-shelters-texas/

Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)https://supportkind.org/

Los Angeles Times: “Texas Schools Pressed to Accommodate Influx of Young Immigrants,” by Molly Hennessy-Fiske, 9/10/2014http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-texas-immigrants-school-20140911-story.html#page=1

Houston Chronicle: “Influx of Central Americans Poses Challenges for Schools,” by Lomi Kriel, 5/21/15http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Influx-of-Central-American-children-poses-6279810.php

Fox News Latino: “The Border Surge, a Year Later: Schools Struggling with Influx of Unaccompanied Minors,” by Bryan Llenas, 6/24/15http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2015/06/24/border-surge-year-later-schools-struggling-with-influx-unaccompanied-minors/

Houston Independent School District, Multilingual Programs Department: Welcome Newcomer Immigrant/Refugee Students Handbookhttp://www.houstonisd.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=77691&dataid=32297&FileName=Refugee-ImmigrantHandbook.pdf

Refugee Services of Texas Houston Services – http://www.rstx.org/houston.htmlGuide – “Welcome to Houston! Information and Resources for Caregivers of Immigrant Children and Youth in Houston, Texas” – https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6wK14uMCAbOR1N5T1M5a3JJeUU/view?usp=sharing

KPRC2: “School Provides Education for Immigrant Children,” by Robert Arnold, 9/30/14http://www.click2houston.com/news/school-provides-education-for-immigrant-children/28326702

The White House, Office of the Press Secretary: “Fact Sheet: Unaccompanied Children from Central America,” 6/20/14https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/06/20/fact-sheet-unaccompanied-children-central-america

Council on Foreign Relations: “Central America’s Violent Northern Triangle”http://www.cfr.org/transnational-crime/central-americas-violent-northern-triangle/p37286

Pew Research Center: “With Help from Mexico, Number of Child Migrants Crossing U.S. Border Falls”http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/28/child-migrants-border/

Washington Office on Latin America: “Assessing the Alarming Impact of Mexico’s Southern Border Program” – http://www.wola.org/news/new_data_highlights_the_alarming_impact_of_mexico_s_southern_border_program“Mexico Now Detains More Central American Migrants Than The United States” – http://www.wola.org/news/mexico_now_detains_more_central_american_migrants_than_the_united_states

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