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Jose Luis Ayala Iniguez

Susie Huerta

Engl. 1T

19 March 2018

Unaccompanied Minors

A refugee is a person who is forced out of their countries in order to escape war,

persecution or natural disaster. In October of 2015 more than 10,000 children crossed

the U.S-Mexico border, according to The Washington Post by an article

Unaccompanied Children Crossing Southern Border in Greater Numbers Again, Raising

Fears of New Migrant Crisis. A majority of these children were from El Salvador,

Guatemala and Honduras. These children come to the US in order to escape their

nation’s economic instability and gang wars. Valeria Luiselli, an award winning Mexican

author, goes into depth about this topic in her book Tell Me How It Ends An Essay In

Forty Questions. Luiselli not only shares her experiences working in the US immigration

system as an interpreter, but also reveals the harsh conditions these kids are put in by

the US government when arriving to the US. Through her observations and research

upon this humanitarian crisis, Luiselli argues that the US are not making any effort to

solve this problem and are treating these incoming unaccompanied minors inhumanely.

I agree with Luiselli’s argument that unaccompanied minors should be granted refugee

status and asylum, due to the poverty in their homelands; in which drug cartels and

gangs have the power to control their communities, creating only violence which results

in these unaccompanied minors to flee to the US, where they are mistreated by

immigration services.
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Central America’s economic status is too unstable for children to live in. While

the US being more economically stable should provide asylum to these unaccompanied

minors, which will in return boost the US economy. The US portray themselves to be the

best country, persuading these children to flee to the US. The World Bank Group, an

organization that funds and gives voice to developing countries, provide information on

Honduras economic status. They provide data showing that “more than 66% percent of

the population live in poverty in 2016”, also stating that “one out of five hondurans live in

extreme poverty”. This data shows why so many unaccompanied children are migrating

to the US. Honduras poverty line is staggering to believe and unstable for any person to

live in. In US 14.5% of Americans live below the poverty line according to the US

Census agency, much lower than Honduras. American politicians are ignorant to the

neighboring countries conditions. Politicians need to understand the economic

conditions of these children in order to provide them a safe haven. In return these

children would become participating residents of America, contributing back to society

and helping reduce the poverty line once becoming adults.

Although these children escape poverty from their nations, American citizens

argue that immigrants do not contribute to the US GDP. Presenting their claim that

these children coming in are all minors, not allowing them to contribute to the workforce.

While this may be true, American citizens ignore the big contribution immigrants have to

our economy. In the article Mass Deportation Would Impoverish US Families and

Create Immense Social Cost by Robert Warren and Donald Kerwin, they analyze data

and conclude the negative impacts of a mass deportation of immigrants in the US.

Stating that “the nation’s GDP would be reduced by an estimated $4.7 trillion over 10
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years”. Showing that immigrants play a big role in our economy and that US citizens

would be negatively impacted without them. While it may be true that these incoming

minors wouldn't be able to work in our society when coming, the US can nourish them

by providing them with an education and asylum. These children can then obtain an

education and become participating citizens in the US workforce.

In addition to Honduras poverty, it’s not the only problem these unaccompanied

minors are faced with. Nations in Central America are controlled by drug cartels, forcing

kids to either participate or be prosecuted. The US must recognize not only that these

kids are the definition of being a refugee but also their contribution to the drug cartels.

Sonia Nazario, a reporter for New York Times, interviews children from Honduras upon

their living conditions and community. Nazario comes to a conclusion that these Narco

groups are spreading through neighborhoods in Central America and are recruiting

more soldiers for their drug sales. Then declaring that these drug cartels are growing

due to their large amount of income and through extorting the nations weak

government, due to the coup of 2009.(Nazario 5) Drug cartels are becoming stronger

and controlling the nation more than its government. This causes children to become

either affiliated or against, resulting in them escaping to the US. The US also must

recognize that although this may be occuring in Honduras they due share responsibility.

As Luiselli describes in her book, “Central America, legally or not; little mention of the

fact that the consumption of drugs in the United States is what fundamentally fuels drug

trafficking in the continent.”(Luiselli 85) Luiselli is not blaming the US for the drug cartels

existence in Central America but rather is recognizing their contribution to the problem,

something that the US does not want to accept. The US must recognize that they share
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responsibility for these drug organizations, which are harassing and killing minors in

Honduras. The US must tend to the problem and must offer help, which could be in

granting these children refugee status and asylum.

Selling drugs isn't the worst of these childrens’ situation, it's the violence that

follows them as well, gangs like MS-13 are a major influence in communities in El

Salvador. These gangs are often a threat to these childrens security of themselves and

their families. Luiselli touches upon this by stating that these kids have all been infected

one way or another by the “tentacles of MS-13”. She supports this by sharing that these

gangs often threat minors by telling them that their sibling(s) or girlfriend(s) will be raped

if they do not join. (Luiselli 74&75) In context Luiselli describes MS-13 contact with

being touched by “tentacles” monsturfying MS-13. Unfortunately some kids end up

joining in order to protect themselves and their loved ones. The majority end up leaving

and fleeing to the US in order to be safe and escape being killed by participating in gang

activities. These kids are not given any opportunity in their homelands, making it only

morally correct for the US to accept these kids who flee from death and offer them

asylum.

Unfortunately many US politicians argue that this gang violence is not their fault

or problem to face. Although the US may not support this violence in El Salvador they

do share some fault. In the article The Teens Trapped Between A Gang and The Law

by Jonathan Blitzer, he explains the truth behind the US and MS-13. He reveals that the

MS-13 did not originate in El Salvador but rather in LA. In the 1980’s Salvadorian

refugees fled to the US due to the civil war that the US contributed in. He then declares

that these refugees were threatened by other gangs and in return created MS-13 to
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protect themselves. Unfortunately these refugees were deported back and spread

throughout Central America.(Blitzer 5) While the gangs were created as self defense

they have adapted to be drug cartels in order to attain more power in their communities.

Unfortunately those gangs have spread to the US and made themselves a target for

both police and immigration services. The US is ignorant for their fault in the crisis and

need to tend to the problem by providing these kids asylum from their dangerous

countries.

While these childrens’ homelands are dangerous, they also suffer in the hands of

immigration service when arriving to the US. The US do not acknowledge this problem

in their own nation, which actually justify giving these children refugee status due their

experiences. They are unethically tended to by the US immigration services. ( Luisellis

presents that Immigrations services dehumanize these children by locking them into

“Hieleras”-slang term for the space they are put in detention centers- which are put fatal

conditions and are often harassed by the officers. Luiselli reveals more information

about the inhumane conditions of these detention centers. She shares that children

must be kept in the “hieleras” for only 72 hours but unfortunately are kept for longer.

(Luiselli 22) The US ignore these children's’ human rights by treating them like animals

rather than human beings. Although these children may not be entering the US legally,

it does not justify the US in tutoring these children. These children must be tended to

properly and should be offered asylum due to horrifying experience in these detention

centers.

The US need to offer these unaccompanied minors refugee status and asylum

due to the poverty in their homelands, which allow drug cartels and gangs to control
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their communities. This then results in violence, causing these children to flee to the US,

where they are dehumanized by the Immigration services. US citizens need to start to

recognize and influence our politicians in the benefits of offering asylum to incoming

unaccompanied minors. Immigrants contribute a lot to the US, just as much as other

residents of the US. Citizens are often manipulated to feel threatened by immigrants

due to ignorant politicians. By offering asylum and refugee status, the US will be not

only helping themselves, but as well as these refugees. I share a connection to this

problem because I myself am an immigrant. I have been given the opportunity by the

US to continue my education, in order to one day contribute back to society. Being an

immigrant to this country, I believe that these unaccompanied minors will only benefit

the US and help the US grow.

Work Cited

Markon, Jerry, and Joshua Partlow. “Unaccompanied Children Crossing Southern Border
in Greater Numbers Again, Raising Fears of New Migrant Crisis.” The Washington
Post, WP Company, 16 Dec. 2015, www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-
eye/wp/2015/12/16/unaccompanied-children-crossing-southern-border-in-greater-
numbers-again-raising-fears-of-new-migrant-crisis/?utm_term=.fb64a7254c09.
“Overview.” World Bank, www.worldbank.org/en/country/honduras/overview.
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Warren, Robert, and Donald Kerwin. “Mass Deportations Would Impoverish US Families and
Create Immense Social Costs.” Journal on Migration and Human Security, vol. 5, no. 1,
2017, pp. 1–8., doi:10.14240/jmhs.v5i1.71.
Nazario, Sonia. “The Children of the Drug Wars.” The New York Times, The New York Times,
11 July 2014, www.nytimes.com/2014/07/13/opinion/sunday/a-refugee-crisis-not-an-
immigration-crisis.
Html.
Luiselli, Valeria, and Lizzie Davis. Tell Me How It Ends: an Essay in Forty Questions. 4th
Estate, 2017.
Blitzer, Jonathan. “The Teens Trapped Between a Gang and the Law.” The New Yorker, The
New Yorker, 26 Dec. 2017, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/01/the-teens-trapped-
between-a-gang-and-the-law.

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