Subcommittee Hearing: Unaccompanied Alien Children: Pressing the Administration for a Strategy

Chairman Salmon on the hearing: “In the past 12 months, over 66,000 Unaccompanied Alien Children from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have left their home countries to embark on a dangerous trek to the southern border of the United States.  These children and their families are being lured and misinformed by human smugglers and drug traffickers who have taken advantage of our unenforced immigration laws.  This has resulted in extremely dangerous conditions for these unaccompanied children, while weakening our capacity to secure our southern border.  This is particularly troubling now as we face the danger of increased terrorist threats with the growth of ISIS, in addition to the existing insecurity posed by narcotics traffickers.  I am convening a second hearing on this crisis to press the administration for a thorough description of its strategy to address the issues contributing to the shocking migration patterns from Central America. A solid strategy should include income generation and capacity building programs for the region.”

WITNESSES:

The Honorable Roberta S. Jacobson
Assistant Secretary
Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
U.S. Department of State

Ms. Elizabeth Hogan
Acting Assistant Administrator
Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean
U.S. Agency for International Development

Mr. Robert N. Kaplan
President and Chief Executive Officer
Inter-American Foundation