The nice thing about weeding and mulching is that it is mindless work. Pull a weed, spread some mulch, not much thought required to complete either job. It resulted in lots of thoughts about a current issue facing the United States. It is a big subject so this post may end up being divided into a couple of pieces. What has been the current vexing issue. Immigration. What do we do about all these children arriving on our southern boarder?
Let's start with current immigration law. The law in question here is the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008. The first question is this one. Who is William Wilberforce? Member of Congress? No. American citizen concerned with immigration? No. Mr. Wilberforce was born in England on August 24, 1759 at Kingston on Hull, Yorkshire and died July 23, 1833 in London. He was a member of the British Parliament from November 29, 1784 to February, 1825. What does this have to do with our current immigration problem? Mr. Wilberforce was a prime mover in the English abolitionists movement and for 26 years headed a parliamentary campaign to end the British slave trade which ended with the passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807. This did not end slavery in Britian and Wilberforce continued to be involved in work to abolish slavery in Britain. It was finally abolished by the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 which abolished slavery in most of the British Empire. Mr. Wilberforce died three days after hearing the passage of the law was assured in Parliament.
What does the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 require? The law passed in 2008 by unanimous consent by both chambers of Congress and signed into law by President Bush dictates how children caught crossing the boarder without their parents must be treated. Children coming from contiguous countries (Canada & Mexico), a boarder patrol officer has the authority to determine if the child is eligible to stay in the United States. Because the child can be directly and safely handed over to officials from his or her home country the process can and does move very quickly. Children from every other country must be handled differently. Repatriation involves an airplane flight and more preparation. The law requires that after being caught the child must be turned over to the Department of Health and Human Services within 72 hours so they can be placed in safe housing and cared for. Health and Human Services is also urged to find them legal counsel and child advocates who can explain the process of applying for asylum. The law does not require they appear before an immigration judge but it is common practice given the amount of time they are in the United States waiting for a decision.
Why the legal representation and appearance before an immigration judge? The applications for asylum are complicated. "T Visas" are designed for victims of human trafficking. "U Visas" are for victims of certain crimes. Relatives of the children already in the United States can try to claim them. All of these are difficult for experienced immigration attorneys to work through and cannot be handled by children. Congress recognized these children were vulnerable and arrived at our boarders traumatized, hungry, frightened and confused, while also lacking knowledge of our immigration system.
Working with juveniles gives you a perspective on their unique status in the legal system. It also helps you understand that they often do not understand how the legal processes work or the full impact of their conduct. Congress clearly recognized this when this law was enacted and signed. The problem is that there is so much distrust between Congress and President Obama . Their is a feeling that President Obama wants to have the law amended to allow the Department of Homeland Security broader powers to place children with relatives in the United States. Why is this a problem? If any member of the family is protected in some way from deportation then the entire family is considered protected.
What about numbers? So far this year over 50,000 unaccompanied minors have been caught on the boarder. Most of the children are from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. The Obama administration has requested about two billion to house these children, move immigration judges to the boarded to hear cases, provide U. S. attorneys and asylum advocates to counsel the minors.
That is basically how we have arrived at where we are today in the southwestern United States. How we have become overwhelmed by minors traveling to the United States in search of a better life and safety from the horrible conditions in some ways created by our war on drugs. The next post will explore the issues in another way.
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