Officials from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees have explained their stance on the influx of Central American children illegally crossing the border into the U.S. In an interview this week, officials said that they want the U.S. and Mexico to treat the children as refugees. This means that the children would be protected internationally rather than being immediately deported to their home country.

According to the Associated Press, about 50,000 unaccompanied minors have illegally crossed the border since the fall of 2013 in an attempt to escape violence in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, causing a call to consider them refugees.

"The U.S. government contracts with organizations that handle all the details of accepting a refugee from another country," the officials said, explaining the U.S.'s refugee process. "For example, the International Rescue Committee receives refugees at airports, sets up apartments, finds them jobs, helps them register with social services and helps assimilate them into everyday American life. That means 16 hours of class on American customs and traditions, as well as English-language courses at a local community college."

Afterwards, refugees spend six months being accustomed to various common U.S. activities.

In order to be considered a refugee, the minors would have to register with the UNHCR. They would then be placed on a list, where one of 10 different countries can choose to "resettle" them. Every year, the U.S. takes in about 70,000 out of 100,000 refugees on the list, officials said.

The U.S. also has a history of taking in refugees from Latin America. In the 1980s, Guatemalan and El Salvadorian civil wars sent many refugees to Southwest U.S.

"The U.S. has taken in hundreds of thousands of refugees from all over the world since the 1970s following humanitarian crises in Cuba and other countries," officials explained. "In 1980, Congress was forced to create laws addressing political asylum after about 125,000 Cubans fled to the U.S. via boat. While the government welcomed the Cubans at first, authorities later learned many had been released from prison and mental health facilities."

A refugee is different from an asylum seeker, which is one who has entered the U.S. and has a "well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality or political beliefs," the officials explained, and thus qualify for international protection, according to the UNHCR's offical website. The U.S. decides if the person is granted asylum. A refugee, on the other hand, has yet to enter the U.S. but is fleeing from persecution as well.

According to the officials, experts say that most of the Central American minors "cannot prove they qualify for asylum after entering the U.S." David Simmons, an immigration attorney and University of Denver law professor, told AP that being forced into gangs does not automatically count as persecution.

"If you're a victim of gang violence, you haven't been singled out for political persecution," he said. "It may be a very good reason to get out of your country, but it's not political persecution."
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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar

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