The baby face of immigration

Deportations of undocumented immigrants have increased dramatically under the Obama regime. Nearly 400,000 people were deported in 2011, including thousands of parents forced to leave their children. As a result 5,100 children entered the US foster care system which is already in shambles & in dire need of suitable foster parents. Now there is a baffling surge in unaccompanied children migrating from Mexico & Central America to the US. None of the usual experts understand why this increase is happening. Children have always migrated to seek refuge or reunite with parents but the dramatic increase is unsettling even jaded immigration officials. The US Department of Health & Human Services has taken in 7,000 to 8,000 unaccompanied immigrant children each of the past three years but in the first quarter of 2012 alone took in 5,252 children (double the same period last year). This staggering reality was highlighted when federal officials moved 200 unescorted children to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas for  housing more like detention than human services. This young girl is headed to the US from Central America. Her vulnerability will be preyed on &/or she will survive by the kindness of strangers along the way. The remarkable thing is that so many children actually make it across the border. Immigration is a human right. (Photo by Chico Sanchez, from “Brothers on the Road”)