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Homeland Security Bill is Important First Step for Unaccompanied Refugee Children

New York, NY

The Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children welcomes Congress' decision to transfer the custody of unaccompanied refugee children from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). The Women's Commission, however, hopes that Congress takes additional steps next year to ensure that refugee children fleeing human rights abuses are protected when they arrive in the United States.

"While shifting the care of unaccompanied refugee children to the ORR is a good beginning, it is only that - a beginning," says Wendy Young, Director of Government Relations and U.S. Programs for the Women's Commission. "Many troubling gaps remain in the protection of unaccompanied refugee children in the United States. The Women's Commission calls on the 108th Congress to pass a bill to make sure that these children have access to their basic rights as asylum seekers. This means they must be given pro bono legal counsel and access to guardians ad litem. These are basic protections, which are essential to ensure that these children have a fair chance at asylum."

The transfer of custody of unaccompanied children is part of the legislation creating a new Department of Homeland Security, signed into law by President Bush on November 25. The ORR, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, is a more appropriate agency to care for unaccompanied children than the INS. Each year, the INS detains approximately 5,000 unaccompanied children, ranging in age from toddlers to teenagers, often in harsh conditions and for prolonged periods. Sometimes these children are housed with juvenile offenders. Many of these minors are fleeing armed conflict and human rights abuses. Others have been forced to leave their homes because of abuse, neglect or even abandonment.

Unaccompanied children are frequently denied access to the legal and social services critical to their pursuit of asylum. Less than half of the children in immigration proceedings are represented by counsel, and no system exists for appointing a guardian.

"One true measure of a society is its treatment of children," says Young. "The United States must acknowledge and uphold the rights and needs of newcomer children in order to live up to its reputation as a nation that protects children."