A humanitarian crisis is growing on the Arizona border that has caught the U.S government and the Obama administration by surprise. Hundreds of unaccompanied children have been crossing illegally into the United States. The influx of children has grown steadily over the past few weeks with no coherent U.S. policy in place.
Border Patrol agents in Nogales, Arizona, have turned a vacant warehouse into an emergency station to house more than 750 children whose numbers are growing daily. The crisis has prompted Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to ask “the reason for this massive influx of illegal crossings and the cost to taxpayers for having to deal with the crisis created by the president.”
Normally when dealing with Mexican citizens who are in the U.S. illegally, they are put on a bus and sent back to Mexico. However, the children who are now in holding by immigration are of Central American origin, with many coming from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Because of their point of origin, the children automatically become wards of the state and their care comes under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Initially, an official from Honduras inspected the facility last week and claimed the conditions appalling, with many children not bathing in at least 10 days and sleeping in plastic containers. Since his visit, portable showers and better sleeping materials have been put in place. In addition, the U.S. government is shipping many of the children to various military bases in Texas and California to help with the crisis. It is hoped that connections can be made for the children to family members already in the United States while they are at the Nogales facility.
According to government officials, the estimated cost this year alone will be in excess of $2.28 billion dollars as an estimated 47,000 children have entered the U.S. This number is double the previous year’s number and does not include adults.
