Collaborative on Global Children's Issues

The number of young people fleeing high levels of violence, crime, natural disasters, food insecurity and poverty and crossing the U.S.-Mexico border reached a 20-year high in the U.S. government’s fiscal year 2021 (October 1, 2020 – September 30, 2021). This included a record number of children who entered the United States unaccompanied. This is not just a wave. It is a trend that is likely to continue as children across the Americas continue to face a cascade of risks.

Many newly arriving migrant and asylum-seeking children arrive at the home of a parent or relative in the United States after years of separation. Some have lived with a great deal of independence, taking care of their own survival under extraordinary circumstances. Most need significant support upon their release from federal custody and as they navigate their new lives in the United States.

Communities across the country are challenged to meet the needs of newcomer children and youth, often with little federal or state support.

For this topic, the Collaborative on Global Children's Issues asks: What are the needs of migrant and asylum-seeking children and youth in the United States? What efforts are underway to help them find protection and stability in their new communities? Who is responsible for providing support?

Children and families continue to travel between South and Central America, Mexico, and the United States in record numbers. Many experience abuse, exploitation, detention, deprivation, and discrimination along their migration journeys.

International law underscores that all children have a right to safety and to access protection, seek asylum, and remain and reunite with family members. National, state, and local governments have the responsibility to protect children and families on the move, regardless of where they are from or where they are going. However, child welfare and protection systems—already fragile prior to the COVID-19 pandemic—have been overwhelmed and unable to respond to the scale of need. Civil society and community-based responses are key to building and sustaining protective factors for children and families along the migratory route, but these are also underfunded and over capacity.

For this topic, the Collaborative on Global Children's Issues asks: How do young people find protection along the migration corridor and at the border? What strategies do children on the move develop to increase their sense of safety and protection? What can we learn from these? How can policies and programs respond to the lived experiences of children on the move?