Pope Francis has described the plight of child migrants travelling to the United States as a humanitarian emergency and called for urgent measures to help them.
In a letter read at a meeting on migration in Mexico City this week, the Pope said that social and economic development in Central America and Mexico was the long-term priority in stemming the flow of migrants.
“Every day the numbers increase and such a humanitarian emergency demands in the first place urgent measures to protect and welcome these children,” said the Pope. “However, these measures are not enough if they are not accompanied by a policy of informing people about the dangers of the trip and above all of promoting the development of the countries from which the children originate.”
The Pope’s message came as figures newly released by the US Government showed that 57,000 children have tried to cross the border between Mexico and the US in the last nine months. They endure long journeys in terrible conditions and are prey to ruthless trafficking gangs, often arriving in the United States hungry and penniless.
“They travel to escape poverty and violence,” said the Pope in his message, which was read by the Vatican’s nuncio to Mexico, Archbishop Christophe Pierre. “They seek a better life which for the most part is in vain.”
The colloquium in Mexico City was organised by the Mexican Government and the Holy See and was attended by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State.
The bishops of Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and the US have called on the US Government to follow the Pope in declaring a humanitarian crisis. Such a move, they said, would allow the creation of “policies to provide basic services and protection” and “assign federal resources to the countries of origin to prevent the need for migration”.
President Barack Obama has requested US$3.7 bn from Congress to cope with the surge in the number of unaccompanied children coming to the US border, but members of Congress are pushing for a tougher stance in exchange for any funds.
Republicans, and some Democrats, want a 2008 immigration law designed to help the victims of human trafficking from Central America repealed. That law, passed overwhelmingly in Congress and signed by President George W. Bush, granted refugee status to children coming from Central America, exempting them from immediate deportation hearings. Many of those who supported the law said that they never intended it to reach any but a small number of children. Mr Obama and other Democrats have indicated they are open to fast-tracking the deportation process.
Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, who is considering a presidential run in 2016, was one of the only politicians to denounce the push for faster deportation of the children.
Top: A US Customs and Border Protection Placement Centre in Nogales, Arizona, where hundreds of mostly Central American immigrant children are processed and held. Above: The Mexican Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Meade Kuribrena with Cardinal Parolin at the opening of the colloquium. Photos: CNS/Reuters/SRE
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