July 30th Panel: Unaccompanied Minors and Their Journey through the US Immigration System

Unaccompanied Minors and Their Journey through the US Immigration System

When: Monday, July 30, 2012, 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM

Where: Migration Policy Institute, 1400 16th Street, NW, Suite 300 (Third Floor), Washington, DC 20036

Speakers: Michelle Brané, Director of the Detention and Asylum program, Women's Refugee Commission; Jessica Jones, Equal Justice Works Fellow, Detention and Asylum Program, Women's Refugee Commission; Wendy Young, Executive Director of KIND

Moderator: Kathleen Newland, MPI Co-Founder and Director of the Refugee Policy and Migrants, Migration, and Development Programs

"Both the US Border Patrol and the US Department of Health and Human Services report recent increases in the numbers of unaccompanied minors who are crossing the US-Mexico border, being picked up, and placed into their care. With unaccompanied minors having a particular set of protection needs, there is growing concern over the recent increase and how to handle the influx while ensuring their needs are met. Representatives from the Women's Refugee Commission conducted a fact-finding mission at the border recently to discover more about this trend and the resulting impacts, and KIND serves unaccompanied children who enter the US immigration system alone and strives to ensure that no child appears in immigration court without representation. MPI is pleased to host a discussion with experts from both KIND and the Women’s Refugee Commission, focusing on the causes of the increase in unaccompanied minor migrants, the situation these minors face once detained or apprehended, and the challenges confronting both nongovernmental organizations trying to provide aid and the US government agencies responsible for processing minors through the system."

For more information call +1-202-266-1929 or email events@migrationpolicy.org.