The Stream

Central American migrants: A refugee crisis for the US?

US president has called the recent surge of young migrants ‘an urgent humanitarian situation’.

Detainees are escorted to an area to make phone calls as hundreds of mostly Central American immigrant children are being processed and held at the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Nogales Placement Center in Nogales, Arizona, June 18, 2014. (REUTERS/ROSS D. FRANKLIN/POOL)

Should Central American child migrants in the United States be treated as refugees? Of the 52,000 unaccompanied children apprehended since October at the US southern border, most say they are escaping poverty and violence. The UN is now pushing for the child migrants to have refugee status, which may force the United States to accept more of them.  

In this episode of The Stream, we speak with:

Jorge Lima @JorgeALima
Policy Director, LIBRE Initiative
thelibreinitiative.com

Jose Luis Zelaya @JoseLuisInspire
Unaccompanied migrant child 

Enrique Morones @Border_Angels
Founder, Border Angels
angelesdelafrontera.org

Harry Ramos
Pro-tem Mayor, Murrieta, CA 

What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.