Central American Migration: Family Separation

In countries like Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, many face an insurmountable level of violence, insecurity, and lack of economic opportunities. “Join-or-die” gang recruitment policies make life nearly impossible for innocent youth in gang-controlled areas. Corrupt or otherwise inadequate policing fails to protect them. Additional underlying causes for flight including poverty, failed harvests due to environmental degradation and climate change, and a lack of livelihood opportunities contribute to the ongoing “push factors” for why people continue to flee.

As a Church and as a nation, we must protect children in their home communities, in the United States and in transit. Meeting our responsibilities requires a regional approach and addressing both the short-term needs of these children and the longer-term problems that spur flight. Pope Francis and the USCCB have condemned the continued practice of separating children from their parents at the U.S./Mexico border.
 

[Continue reading the official message here.]

Learn How You Can Help Stop Family Separation