1. Unaccompanied Children at the United States Border, a Human Rights Crisis that can be Addressed with Policy Change
- Author
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Mariana Chilton, Jamile Tellez Lieberman, Janna Ataiants, Mary Clare Reidy, Amy Henderson Riley, and Chari Cohen
- Subjects
Economic growth ,Human Rights ,Epidemiology ,Linguistic rights ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Immigration ,Fundamental rights ,Poison control ,Right to property ,Article ,Politics ,Government Agencies ,Political science ,Southwestern United States ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Mexico ,media_common ,Refugees ,Human rights ,05 social sciences ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,050301 education ,Emigration and Immigration ,United States ,Minors ,International human rights law ,Policy ,Law ,0503 education ,050104 developmental & child psychology - Abstract
In recent years, unaccompanied minors have been journeying to the United States (U.S.)–Mexico border in great numbers in order to escape violence, poverty and exploitation in their home countries. Yet, unaccompanied children attempting to cross the United States border face treatment at the hands of government representatives which violates their inherent rights as children. The result is a human rights crisis that has severe health consequences for the children. Their rights as children are clearly delineated in various, international human rights documents which merit increased understanding of and recognition by the U.S. government. This paper calls for the improvement of policies and procedures for addressing the rights of unaccompanied immigrant children; it provides specific, rights-based recommendations which work together to safeguard the rights of the child at the U.S. southwestern border.
- Published
- 2017