Community | August 14, 2009 | 2 comments

Unaccompanied Immigrant Youth, A Common Story

source: http://www.racewire.org/archives/2009/08/on_their_own_unaccompanied_imm_1.html

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Sahuaro
When 14 year-old Alfredo Lopez Sanchez arrived in Florida from Guatemala in 2001, he put an end to years of brutal abuse at home. But America was no safe harbor. Traumatized and hindered by a language barrier (he spoke only a Mayan dialect), Sanchez descended into an 18-month odyssey in detention, shuttling alone through several facilities, including one for adult criminal offenders. Despite clear evidence that he had suffered abuse, his asylum claim was initially denied. It was only after bringing the case to a Florida juvenile court that he was granted permission to remain in the country.

Thousands of others are not that lucky, finding themselves sometimes in border communities in Mexico, a country they fear and do not know.
  1. groups:
    Community,   US Politics,   sahuaro,   Immigratrion
  2. tags:
    Children,  USA,  Florida,  Immigration,  2 more
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