US Latinos Divided on Handling Influx of Undocumented Immigrant Children, Reform This Year ‘Very Important’
U.S. Latinos are divided on how to address the influx of undocumented Central American children entering the country, but a majority gave low marks to President Barack Obama's handling of the issue.
According to the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 49 percent of Latinos support continuing with current U.S. immigration policy, even if the process "could take a long time." Meanwhile, 47 percent of Hispanics want an expedited immigration process, regardless of whether the undocumented immigrant eligible for asylum is deported.
Thirty-nine percent of U.S. adults say they are content with current U.S. immigration policy, but 53 percent want the process to move more quickly.
As Pew Research noted, the current U.S. immigration process can take months, even years, for an undocumented immigrant to be processed through the country's system, regardless of the outcome.
The Department of State's Refugee Processing Center noted more than three million refugees have arrived in the U.S. since 1975. The U.S. has a quota on the number of refugees that can be admitted from different countries worldwide.
Based on 2013 data, a maximum of 5,000 refugees were allowed into the U.S. from Latin America and the Caribbean. More than 4,400 people from the Latin American and Caribbean region were given refugee status in 2013, which is more the double the number from 2012. The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Immigration Statistics noted undocumented immigrants entering the country from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras since 2003 are "overwhelmingly" seeking asylum in the U.S., rather than applying for refugee status.
While Obama requested $3.7 billion for emergency funding to ease the immigration crisis, Senate Democrats have instead proposed a $2.7 billion deal they say is more likely to pass. The proposed budget aims to provide more immigration court judges in order to speed the legal process.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection revealedthat 57,525 undocumented immigrant children under the age of 18 and traveling without a parent or guardian were apprehended between Oct. 1, 2013, and June 30, 2014. The aforementioned figure is nearly 30,000 more than for 2013. For 2015, the White House said up to 150,000 undocumented children will enter the U.S.
Pew Research also revealed approximately 94 percent of Hispanics have heard "a lot" or "a little" of the immigration crisis, compared to 89 percent of U.S. adults.
Hispanics disapprove of Obama's management of the surge of undocumented children entering the U.S. -- 46 percent to 34 percent.
A full 75 percent of Hispanics said it is "extremely" or "very important" to pass new immigration legislation this year, compared to 61 percent of U.S. adults. Hispanics also said Democrats would do a better job addressing immigration reform than Republicans -- 54 percent to 40 percent.