U.S. Anti ‐​Asylum Policy Forces Migrant Kids to Come Alone Without Parents

David J. BierLast month, theNew York Timespublished a  detailed article that describes how some migrant teenagers who crossed the U.S. border without their parents are now working in difficult jobs. Although it focuses on the treatment of children as workers, the most important question is: why aren’t these kids traveling with their parents? The ans wer is clear and obvious: U.S. anti‐​asylum policy prohibits their parents from coming, so the children come alone. The results are tragic and predictable.Indeed, I  explained and predicted this outcome (here,here,here, andhere). You have to read through most of theTimes reporting before you find the most important line:Parents know that they would be turned away at the border or quickly deported, so they send their children …Figure 1  tracks the history of child asylum border policy, and the share of Central American children coming without their parents. After the official end of the policy known as “family separation” in 2018—under which children were taken from parents who were prosecuted criminally—the share of chil dren from the Northern Triangle coming without their parents fell from 38 percent in July 2018 to a low of 20 percent in July 2019. The Trump administrationreleased families with their children into the United States, so they largely came to the border together.In June 2019, however, the Trump administration announced it would send Central American kids with their parents back to Mexico under t...

Source: Cato-at-liberty - March 31, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: David J. Bier Source Type: blogs