Update: On June 26, 2018, a federal judge in California ordered a halt to most family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border and mandated that the government reunify all separated children under the age of five with their parents by July 10, 2018, and all children age five and older by July 26, 2018. The deadline has passed yet hundreds of families remain separated and at risk.
By Anita Teekah
July 23, 2018
Immigrant children and young people crossing into the United States are uniquely vulnerable to human trafficking. They may not know their rights or understand that they are being exploited. In many cases, they are already fleeing human trafficking in their country of origin. This past May, the Trump Administration imposed a “zero-tolerance” policy where families were separated at the border. Although it was recently retracted via Executive Order on June 20, 2018, this harmful policy is likely to place more than 2,000 children at risk of abuse, and exploitation.
Once children are separated from their social and financial safety nets, they are at much higher risk of exploitation. They may engage in survival tactics in order to access necessities such as shelter, food, and clothing. They can be more easily coerced into labor trafficking situations or sex trafficking.
The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act (TVPA) defines human trafficking as a modern form of slavery. This includes sex trafficking, such as survival sex for minors, and labor trafficking, such as forced labor. Human traffickers exploit people who do not have access to legitimate work or fear deportation. Immigrant children and young people are at higher risk of trafficking because of several factors. These include language barriers, lack of a support system, economic vulnerability, and a history of prior abuse. In addition, the policy that is being implemented at the U.S.-Mexico border restricts their movement.
The Trump Administration estimated that 2,342 immigrant children had been separated from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border between May 5, 2018, and June 9, 2018. In the wake of national and international outrage, the Administration abruptly reversed its own policy through Executive Order “Affording Congress an Opportunity to Address Family Separation”. This declared that families would no longer be separated at the border upon crossing. Instead, they would be detained together indefinitely. However, children may still be separated from their families when their welfare is determined to be at risk. It is unclear who would make that determination.
Even though the child separation policy has been rescinded, there is no plan in place for reunification of those 2,342 immigrant children with their families. According to the New York Times, over 300 children came through Cayuga Centers in Harlem, New York, with 239 children currently remaining there. Mayor de Blasio noted that the federal government has not advised of the exact number of separated children sent to New York State, nor where they were being housed. The children from Cayuga include some as young as 9 months old, who have thus far been placed in temporary foster care.
These children are at an extremely heightened risk of human trafficking. Not only are they without a stable support system, but the abrupt separation from their parents has the potential to cause severe and lasting trauma. Even the best of foster homes can do only so much to mitigate the harm. In the Streetwork Project, our homeless youth program, we frequently work with young people who have run away from temporary foster care settings and ultimately wound up in desperate situations that made them vulnerable to trafficking.
Safe Horizon is one of the largest direct service providers to victims of human trafficking on the east coast. In our Anti-Trafficking Program (ATP), we assist trafficked adults. In the Streetwork Project, we often work with youth who engage in survival sex, which is a form of sex trafficking. In our Child Advocacy Centers, we see the youngest victims of trafficking, children who have been exploited by someone in their family or social network. In our Immigration Law Project (ILP) we advocate on behalf of immigrant survivors of crime, torture, or abuse.
To protect children from these risks and harms, it is critical that the Administration ensures all families crossing the southern border are not separated. They should be kept together, in humane conditions, to strengthen and preserve their social safety networks. Unaccompanied minors should be given immediate access to interpreters, culturally competent services, legal and immigration assistance, housing and medical care, and assistance with family reunification.
At Safe Horizon, we will continue to advocate for policies that help protect children and adults from crime and abuse.