San Antonio Escorts: Detained immigrant children moving to air base
Friday, April 20th, 2012… All anyone can do is speculate about what’s going on,” Lavinia Limon, president of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, told the Express-News.
The children have been distributed among 10 states, where they receive government-provided housing, health care and psychiatric treatment. Nearly 9 of every 10 immigrant children are reunited with their families.
Unaccompanied children are not housed in immigrant detention centers, Linda Brandmiller, immigration services director for Catholic Charities in San Antonio.
Two-thirds of the children are from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, while 12 percent are from Mexico. About 80 percent are boys, with 83 percent being older than 14.
Half of the children crossing the border are caught by the Border Patrol, Limon said. Most of those contacting her organization for help say they fled forced recruitment into gangs or prostitution, she said.