On November 20, 2014 President Barack Obama took executive action to provide millions of undocumented workers and families with relief from deportation.  Those who will be affected by this action are mainly parents of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, who have lived in the country for at least five years.  In total, this could provide relief from deportation to around five million undocumented immigrants.  Unfortunately, this action does not address refugee children.  In the 2014 fiscal year alone, as many as 74,000 unaccompanied youth have fled from their countries to the United States.  Obama implemented Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to provide DREAMers with temporary relief from deportation and now parents of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents will be granted relief from deportation. Although this summer there seemed to be a surge of unaccompanied children mainly from Central America at the U.S/Mexico Border, the plight of these young and defenseless children has not been addressed in the current debates as much as it should have been.

Speaking from personal experience, I interned at an organization that dealt with a lot of unaccompanied and undocumented youth that came in search of assistance, mainly legal representation.  Being one of the few who spoke Spanish, it was my job to sit and listen as they recounted the details leading up to their decision to come to the US.  Many sought refuge from the hostile environments they faced in their countries, threats of violence and/or death on their family members if they didn’t join gangs, threats of rape and much more on the females.  An article in the NY Times entitled “Fleeing Violence in Honduras, a Teenage Boy Seeks Asylum in Brooklyn,” recounts the story of a young boy, aged fifteen, who in fear for his life and that of his thirteen year old brother, took his younger brother and fled from Honduras after being repeatedly threatened by gangs and watching as his uncle was gunned down and killed because they wouldn’t join.  It is stories like this that during my time as an intern I heard over and over again, stories involving violence that no child should ever have to face and so they seek refuge here in the US.  When they arrive they have hopes of a better life and yet oftentimes they are detained for weeks. Many lack access to adequate legal representation.

President Barack Obama has made the first step in resolving the issues surrounding immigration. However there is still much to do.  The U.S. should help to restore the lives of these unaccompanied minors, those who cannot defend themselves, and provide them with the refuge they seek.  They have come here for help and it’s time for the U.S. to stop ignoring their suffering and protect them.

This post was written by a student enrolled in the Capstone Seminar course in the undergraduate program in public policy at Hunter College. Any opinions expressed here are solely those of the student.