LOS ANGELES — As thousands of children from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador pour into the United States, immigrant resource centers like the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) in Los Angeles rush to their aid.
Originally a Central American-focused organization that helped refugees from El Salvador after civil war tore the country apart in the 1980s, CARECEN transformed into a human rights organization that fights for the right of all immigrants. It provides legal immigration services, advocacy, English learning classes, and college preparation. Now, it is working with other organizations to collect and deliver supplies to detention centers that are filling up with children, and with consulates to unite children with family members already in the U.S.
CARECEN Media Contact Ana Garcia says the organization is concerned about the kids. “It’s extremely sad because many of these kids go through terrible, terrible encounters,” she says. “You hear so many stories – women being raped and robbed – some of these kids don’t make it to their destination. They’re fleeing poverty, they’re fleeing violence, and they hope that by coming to the United States, they will find a better life.”
She says some kids come to find relatives in the United States, but have a hard time when relatives don’t even know the kids are coming. If they get lost somewhere along their journey, neither relatives back in their home countries nor relatives in the United States have a way of finding them. But those are not their only troubles – Garcia says one of the most urgent issues is how the kids are treated in detention centers upon reaching the States. “We want to make sure they’re being treated humanely,” she explains, “are given enough food and water, and that they’re not kept in the centers for too long because many of these kids are dealing with a lot of trauma that the centers are not equipped to handle.”
A second concern has to do with the kids being minors, and needing quality legal representation. Many of the children end up coming before a judge without legal representation, and don’t have the knowledge to defend themselves. Garcia says this is one of the most significant differences between working with child immigrants and adult immigrants. While some of the children may end up being sent back to their home countries, the ones that remain, she wants to make sure are being well taken care of.
But if any city is well prepared to deal with newly arrived immigrants, it is Los Angeles. With the highest number of immigrants in the country, it is often seen as a “gateway” for foreigners. Garcia says immigrants have an important presence in the community. “Immigrants from all over the world come here,” she says, “and they also take part in shaping our culture. They benefit our economy and manufacturing and jobs and production and purchasing power. In Los Angeles, I would say we really have a responsibility to the immigrant community.”
As an immigrant herself, Garcia is passionate about working at CARECEN, and shares that passion with the other staff members. She is confident that CARECEN will step up to successfully fight for these children’s rights, like it has done in the past. “We might not have all the resources in the world,” she says, “but we’re always looking to do something. However way we can help, we’re more than willing to.”
– Rachel Reed
Sources: CARACEN, CNN
Photo: The Huffington Post