migrant children

The Biden administration announced new actions to prevent the labor exploitation of migrant children released from U.S. custody.

President Joe Biden announced he will not increase the 15,000 cap on the number of refugees who can be resettled in the United States for the current fiscal year.

As the U.S. took in almost 19,000 migrant children, labeled “unaccompanied minors,” in March, faith-based organizations such as Catholic Charities throughout the U.S. have been doing their part to help.

A report by The New York Times says Central American migrant children seeking asylum in the United States are being sent to Mexico.

The Smithsonian Museum of American History is looking at the possibility of acquiring for its collection drawings made by children ages 10 and 11 at a Catholic Charities center in Texas, which may depict their stay at federal detention centers for immigrants near the border.

A report published Jan. 17 says the number of immigrant children separated from their parents at the border last year is unknown and the number given out by government officials at the end of 2018, saying that 2,737 children were separated, is not accurate. The number may be much higher.

Some migrant children under age 5 separated from their families by the government were reunited with loved ones July 9 with help from Catholic organizations.

During a news conference after the second and last day of a group of Catholic bishops visit July 2, they stressed the “urgent” need to do something to help the migrant children.