Biden Administration asks for volunteers to help place migrant children
CENTRAL COAST, Calif. (KION) As the number of migrant children in the U.S. surges, the Biden Administration is asking for federal workers to help care for and place unaccompanied migrant children arriving at the southern border.
“Today we have a crisis in which the treatment they are receiving is not the treatment they deserve,” said Professor William Arrocha of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey
More than 18,000 migrant children are in U.S custody, and the administration has struggled to find space to house them.
A group of volunteers from the central coast was mobilized to help ensure that these children have a safe place to stay until they can connect with a family member or sponsor here in the United States.
In a statement sent to KION, The American Red Cross Northern California Coastal Region, wrote in part, “The Red Cross Northern California Coastal Region has deployed 10 local volunteers to support these efforts. Red Cross volunteers will support FEMA and ORR to help address the basic human needs of these young people after their difficult journeys north.”
The Department of Health and Human Services is looking for volunteers who can help for 30 to 120 days. Volunteers will be assigned to San Diego and cities in Texas such as Dallas and San Antonio. Professor Arrocha also said that what we are seeing now with migrant children is no surprise.
"The crisis is due to a series of previous policies that created a bottleneck at the border,” said Professor Arrocha.
Professor Arrocha specializes in immigration, international development, and United States police relations with Mexico.
According to Professor Arrocha, Dealing with this situation requires inter-agency coordination at the national level that demonstrates a political will to accelerate coordination between governmental and non-governmental agencies.
“They have to be able to work as a team, they have to share resources and skills to care for these children. Special attention is required,” said Professor Arrocha.
Professor Arrocha also explains that apart from the 18,000 children on the border, there are still another 70,000 children and families who have been waiting from Mexico to enter the US, due to the policy of "staying in Mexico" that no longer exists.
