DOJ, Sept. 9, 2016 - Matter of Guzman-Polanco, 26 I&N Dec. 806 (BIA 2016) - "The crime of aggravated battery in violation of the Puerto Rico Penal Code is not categorically a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 16(a) (2012), but controlling... Read More
"Last month, I returned for the first time in a decade to Enrique’s home in the Nueva Suyapa neighborhood of Tegucigalpa. I lived there for a week. I saw a huge change in why children are migrating north to the U.S.—a level of violence... Read More
"To permanently stem this flow of children, we must address the complex root causes of violence in Honduras, as well as the demand for illegal drugs in the United States that is fueling that violence. In the meantime, however, we must recognize this... Read More
"Despite some politicians characterizing the U.S. side of the border as a war zone, statistics released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection show that assaults against CBP agents and officers decreased by 13 percent last year." - Melissa... Read More
" Violence in three Central American countries is the primary reason behind a dramatic upsurge in the number of unaccompanied immigrant children crossing the border into the United States, and until conditions in these countries change substantially... Read More
"In the last few years, what's really been a driving factor has been the increased violence in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. These are really the three countries that these children are coming from. And increasingly, these countries are... Read More
"Reasons include escaping from abuse and very real threats by powerful and violent street gangs, including the 18th Street gang and the Mara Salvatrucha gang. These gangs frequently engage in forced recruitment of teenage boys, sexual slavery of... Read More
A Pulitzer Prize winning author who followed the treacherous trip of a young Honduran boy to the United States said many of the children crossing the border today are refugees and should be treated as such. Sonia Nazario, who won the Pulitzer for a 2002... Read More
"A growing number of wealthy and middle-class Mexicans are fleeing rising violence and kidnappings perpetrated by criminal syndicates that have taken over swaths of Mexico." - Melissa del Bosque, The Texas Observer, Oct. 25, 2011 . Read More
"They enter the United States legally from Mexico with the proper papers and visas, but then they cannot go home. So they overstay their visas. They are surgeons, businesspeople, entrepreneurs, members of Mexico’s wealthy middle and upper... Read More
"Mr. Chairman, the ongoing generalized violence, leading to coercion and threats to the lives of citizens—particularly children—of these countries, is the overwhelming factor facing these children and propelling their migration. Extortion... Read More
"Given the ever-increasing brutality of the cartels, the question is whether and how the United States Government should begin to prepare for what could be a new wave of migrants coming from Mexico. ... This monograph focuses on the asylum claims... Read More
"We analyzed these locations to determine the factors pushing child migration to the US Southwest Border. We assess these reasons vary regionally. For example, many Guatemalan children come from rural areas, indicating they are probably seeking economic... Read More