The fears that cause them to fleeįrom September 2013 to September 2014, about 68,000 unaccompanied minors were apprehended by U.S. Armed with that data, psychologists and other mental health professionals are developing interventions to help these children heal and thrive. Studies have shown some develop anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other conditions. They may start school, not knowing the language or whether they will be allowed to stay.Īs psychologists' research has documented, children who have experienced trauma, fear, separation from family and isolation are subject to a variety of psychological stressors and mental health challenges. Some have reported being abused physically and sexually by facility personnel (a complaint was filed in June 2014 by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of 116 unaccompanied immigrant children).Īfter processing in detention facilities, these unaccompanied minors are typically placed either with families or in foster homes or other government-sponsored facilities while they wait for immigration hearings, which can take a year or more. They endured unheated facilities, limited food and water, and lack of access to bathrooms and showers. Since unaccompanied children from countries other than Mexico or Canada can't be deported without a hearing due to a 2008 law aimed at stopping human trafficking, these children were placed in U.S. Some as young as 5, most in their teens, they turned themselves in to authorities, seeking asylum and giving horrifying accounts of violence they'd either been victim to or witnessed - beatings, rapes, murders and drug gang intimidation - both in their home countries and on their journey to the United States. Last year, thousands of unaccompanied minors like the Torres children surged across the Mexican border, most from Central America.
![who are you school 2015 summary who are you school 2015 summary](http://funcurve.com/wp-content/uploads/who_are_you_school_2015_08-720x405.jpg)
Today, she is a cardiovascular surgical intensive care nurse, married with three children. Though her brother dropped out of high school at 16, Hami graduated, went on to college and earned her citizenship. She constantly feared being found by immigration authorities, always looking over her shoulder for officials who might find out she was undocumented.Įventually, Hami was able to build a new life for herself. They lived in a crime-ravaged neighborhood where Hami was expected to join a gang for protection. Yet once the children made it to this country, the ordeal wasn't over. The Torres children had left their home country to reunite with their mother and stepfather, who had entered the United States three months before.
![who are you school 2015 summary who are you school 2015 summary](http://funcurve.com/wp-content/uploads/who_are_you_school_2015_30-720x405.jpg)
![who are you school 2015 summary who are you school 2015 summary](https://dramapearlshome.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/who-are-you-school-2015-poster.jpg)
Then the two children were folded into the spare-tire compartment of a car for the drive across the border. Terrified, they trekked for hours with a group of older strangers through desert scrub that slashed Hami's bare legs bloody. Twenty years ago, Hami Torres fled Mexico at age 13, her 11-year-old brother in tow.