Collaborative on Global Children's Issues

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?

Hundreds of thousands of children are leaving their homes, either with family members or on their own, experiencing internal displacement and attempting to cross borders throughout the Americas. Those who embark on a migration journey do so for a variety of reasons. Some are fleeing violence and crime; others have been facing climate-induced disasters, food insecurity, and extreme poverty. Drivers may differ depending on area of origin, gender, and ethnicity. An overarching commonality, however, is age. Across the Americas, being young is the strongest predictor of an intention to migrate.

As various stakeholders seek to address root causes and stem the tide of “irregular” migration, it is important to consider what the decision to leave home means for children and youth. 

For this topic, the Collaborative on Global Children's Issues asks: To what extent do the approaches of national and international governments and partners prioritize the perceptions and needs of young people who are inclined to migrate? What efforts are underway to help children and families feel rooted and safe in their communities of origin, before the migration journey begins? What can we learn from these efforts and their impact?

This is the first of three series published as part of Innovating Protection for Children on the Move Across the Americas, a forum convened by Georgetown University’s Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues, Institute for the Study of International Migration, and the Georgetown Americas Institute in coordination with strategic partners.