Young Migrants

playing

This Seattle boy was just six when he was asked to protect an undocumented family

What it’s like for kids to understand that some of their friends live in the US “without papers”? A Seattle boy named Ronan found out when his best friend told him that he was in the United States without legal status.

This Seattle boy was just six when he was asked to protect an undocumented family
Border fence at Friendship Park, Tijuana

Without lawyers, 90% of children crossing into the US alone seeking safety could be sent back

Without lawyers, 90% of children crossing into the US alone seeking safety could be sent back
Sruti Swaminathan, 22, is the daughter of Indian immigrants. She told photographer Quetzal Maucci that while growing up in the US, she was embarrassed to bring Indian food to school for lunch.

This young photographer brings the stories of immigrant children to light

This young photographer brings the stories of immigrant children to light
Graffiti of the letters "MS", which stand for the street gang Mara Salvatrucha, photographed in San Salvador on April 22, 2014. Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Calle 18 are rival gangs that started in Los Angeles but now have a heavy presence in El Salvador.

Gang violence awaits a teen from El Salvador after his failed attempts to reach the US

Gang violence awaits a teen from El Salvador after his failed attempts to reach the US
Shelter

How one young boy fleeing violence in Central America faced danger at a US detention facility

How one young boy fleeing violence in Central America faced danger at a US detention facility
Salvadoran children at an after school violence prevention program created with money from USAID.

Migrants are being deported back to Central America, but their home countries aren't ready for them

Governments in Central American countries like El Salvador anticipate a big flood of migrants returning from the United States after being detained. But those migrants are coming back to the same depressed, and sometimes violent, conditions that forced them to leave in the first place.

Migrants are being deported back to Central America, but their home countries aren't ready for them
screenshot of video showing growing number of cases in immigration courts

More and more migrants are being tried as criminals in American courts

"Operation Streamline" is the federal government's program to fast-track immigration cases. It's certainly made it easier to prosecute migrants — or put them in jail. But critics say everything else about the program seems confused.

More and more migrants are being tried as criminals in American courts
A woman sells banana leaves at a market in Managua, Nicaragua.

Tens of thousands of Central American children are fleeing their homes — except in Nicaragua

Over the past year, the US Border Patrol has apprehended tens of thousands of Central American children crossing the US-Mexico border alone. So why are kids from Nicaragua, the region’s poorest country, staying at home?

Tens of thousands of Central American children are fleeing their homes — except in Nicaragua
Immigrants who have been caught crossing the border illegally are housed inside the Border Patrol Station in McAllen, Texas where they are processed. More than 57,000 unaccompanied children have been apprehended at the southwestern border since October, m

Conditions for migrants at a detention center in Texas are bleak and overcrowded

The World's Jason Margolis got a rare tour of the detention facilities in McAllen, Texas, that houses unaccompanied migrant children and families from Central America. There's been a recent surge of such migrants this year, stretching the border's immigration centers to the limit.

Conditions for migrants at a detention center in Texas are bleak and overcrowded
National Guard troops patrol along the US-Mexico border in Nogales, Arizona, in 2010. Texas is authorizing a similar call-up on its border.

Why Rick Perry is sending the National Guard to the Texas border

Texas Governor Rick Perry announced the deployment of National Guard troops to the border, saying a surge of undocumented immigrants has boosted crime. But analysts disagree with why Perry made the decision — and they don't think the troops will help.

Why Rick Perry is sending the National Guard to the Texas border
New Hampshire Protest

Protests spread north over unaccompanied migrant children coming to 'our town'

At first, there were isolated protests in border states like California and Arizona over relocating migrant children to detention centers while they awaited immigration proceedings. This weekend, anger and protests spread across the US, reaching New Hampshire, Maine, Minnesota and even Alaska.

Protests spread north over unaccompanied migrant children coming to 'our town'
Shadows of two men on a wall

How the US is trying to deter migrants from Central America — with music

A catchy song is getting plenty of play on Central American airwaves, but not everyone knows it was funded by the US government.

How the US is trying to deter migrants from Central America — with music
Arizona

The fierce debate over migrant children spurs rival protests in a small Arizona town

The crisis along the border over the surging number of unaccompanied minors coming to the US played out in an Arizona town Tuesday. A rumor spread that federal officials were sending some of the young migrants to a camp for at-risk youth in Oracle — and soon protesters on both sides turned out. But the migrants never arrived.

The fierce debate over migrant children spurs rival protests in a small Arizona town

Is US policy toward migrant children enticing them to cross into the US?

Some Americans blame President Obama for the flood of Central American children who have crossed into the US this year. They believe his policy sends a message of leniency that is attracting them. But a reporter who just returned from Guatemala and El Salvador says most are simply fleeing violence, and don't have any clue about US policy.

Is US policy toward migrant children enticing them to cross into the US?
A women and a child sit near a grave for the body of teenage migrant Gilberto Francisco Ramos Juarez, at a cemetery in San Jose Las Flores, north of Guatemala City, July 12, 2014. Ramos Juarez's body was found in the Rio Grande Valley of southern Texas, l

Are Republicans and Democrats maneuvering for a deal on the child migrant crisis?

The situation on the southern border is serious, with thousands of child migrants streaming across the border each month. Republicans and Democrats are blaming each other for the problem — but they're also signaling they might be willing to make a deal.

Are Republicans and Democrats maneuvering for a deal on the child migrant crisis?