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July 16, 2014

The Honorable Senator Feinstein
331 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Re: Safeguard Protections for Children Fleeing Trafficking and Persecution

Dear Senator Feinstein,

We, the 100 undersigned California-based human rights, womens and childrens rights,
immigration, refugee and anti-trafficking organizations, are deeply concerned by the refugee
crisis taking place on our doorstep as unprecedented numbers of children from Central America
arrive seeking safe haven in the United States. These children have braved hazard and hardship
to flee violence, and we have both moral and legal obligations to ensure their rights and their
safety. We urge you to continue to stand strong for children by rejecting any proposed
legislation that undermines existing protections for unaccompanied children, and calling on
the Administration to provide full due process for unaccompanied children from Central
America, rather than truncated screenings or expedited proceedings.

You have always been a champion of childrens rights, in particular the rights of unaccompanied
immigrant children, dating back to your herculean efforts to pass the Unaccompanied Alien
Child Protection Act starting in 2000. Your steadfast commitment to these vulnerable children
resulted in the transfer of their care and custody to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, an
agency better equipped to ensure child welfare standards, and ultimately to the enactment of your
groundbreaking amendment to the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008
(TVPRA) to ensure that the United States treats unaccompanied immigrant children
appropriately according to their unique protection needs. We are calling on you once again to be
a champion for unaccompanied children, this time to defend against any changes to the TVPRA
and to oppose any administrative measures that would undermine the TVPRA. Stripping
children of due process rights and of meaningful access to protection is a misguided
response to this refugee crisis and tarnishes our values as a nation.

Children are coming to escape increasing violence; the focus on enforcement over
protection will not stop them.
It is no coincidence that the three countries whose children are arriving in the highest numbers
Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala are countries with among the highest murder rates in the
world. These countries lack functioning child welfare systems and are unable to keep children
safe and punish their abusers. The reasons compelling children to come to our border from
Central America include risk of labor and sex trafficking, gang and drug cartel violence
directed at children, and other deprivations of childrens fundamental rights. In its March
2014 report, Children on the Run, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) found
that nearly 60% of children fleeing Central America whom the expert agency interviewed
have valid international protection concerns and are potentially refugees.

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Contrary to the message the Administration is sending, children and parents are well aware of the
dangers of the journey. But they often feel they have no choice but to migrate or to send their
children, because staying in their countries means certain harm or death. As a result, increasing
enforcement measures will not stop the flow of children.

Stripping children of existing protections is a fundamentally flawed approach.
Under the TVPRA, unaccompanied children from non-contiguous countries, including Central
America, are placed in removal proceedings and can seek immigration relief for which they may
or may not ultimately qualify. This provision of the TVPRA was designed in recognition of the
fact that unaccompanied children are uniquely vulnerable, and they require special protections to
ensure that they are screened properly for legal and social service needs and given adequate time
to share their experiences that could be a basis for U.S. protection. These children cannot be
expected to reveal their personal histories, which may involve trauma, persecution or trafficking,
to Border Patrol or other authorities immediately upon arrival. For developmental reasons and
mental health reasons, it takes time for a child to feel secure enough to provide the personal
information necessary to ascertain her eligibility for asylum or other relief.

Unlike the existing procedure for children from non-contiguous countries, contiguous country
children (i.e., Mexican children) can be repatriated directly from the border unless Customs and
Border Protection (CBP) finds them to be at risk of persecution or trafficking. However, CBPs
preliminary screening of Mexican children often fails to identify those in need of protection.
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Extending this type of superficial screening to Central American children repatriating them if
they do not immediately express a fear of return or establish that they have been trafficked or are
at risk of trafficking would mean that we are likely to return to harm, and even death, many
children who are potentially eligible for U.S. protection.
Moreover, the U.S. Asylum Officer Guidelines for Children as well as federal circuit precedent
recognize that children may be unable to express a fear of persecution and therefore they accept
that objective evidence can establish a childs well-founded fear of persecution. Expediting
childrens repatriation simply because they may be unable to express a subjective fear of
persecution upon apprehension contradicts the U.S. Guidelines and federal court precedent by
failing to consider objective evidence. Returning children directly from the border also risks
violating our domestic and international obligations not to refoule (return) individuals to
situations of persecution.

The U.S. must address the root causes of migration through long-term solutions.

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See Appleseed, Children at the Border: The Screening, Protection and repatriation of Unaccompanied Mexican
Minors (2011), available at http://appleseednetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Children-At-The-
Border1.pdf.; Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS) & Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), A Treacherous
Journey: Child Migrants Navigating the U.S. Immigration System (2014), available at
http://www.uchastings.edu/centers/cgrs-docs/treacherous_journey_cgrs_kind_report.pdf; Womens Refugee
Commn, Forced from Home: The Lost Boys and Girls of Central America (2012), available at
http://womensrefugeecommission.org/forced-from-home-press-kit.


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Only long-term solutions that meaningfully address the root causes for their migration
violence, abuse and exploitation, and social exclusion, as well as failure of the rule of law will
improve conditions for children in the region, which in turn will stem the flow of children. The
U.S. must work with community-based partners in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, as
well as with U.S.-based experts, to address these root causes, and to address smuggling and
trafficking as a regional issue.

We urge you to continue to stand strong for immigrant children by rejecting any proposals
to modify the TVPRA or to undermine its provisions. Thank you for your leadership on this
issue and your commitment to vulnerable children.

Sincerely,

Adelante Youth Alliance
Advancing Justice Asian Law Caucus
African Advocacy Network/Dolores Street Community Services
AIDS Legal Referral Panel
Alliance for Community Transformations
Asian Americans for Community Involvement
Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach
ASPIRE-Bay Area
Asylum Access
Bagalman & Tranchina LLP
Bean + Lloyd, LLP
Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition
Black Alliance for Just Immigration
CAB Board Low-Income Representative
California Coalition Against Sexual Assault
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance (CIYJA)
California NOW
California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
Central American Resource Center of Los Angeles
Casa Cornelia Law Center
Catholic Charities San Francisco, Marin, San Mateo
Center for Employment Training
Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
Center for Justice & Accountability
Central American Resource Center of Northern California
Childrens Advocacy Institute
Chinese for Affirmative Action
Coalition Against Sexual Exploitation
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles

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Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking
Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County, Inc.
Community Legal Services in East Paolo Alto
East Bay Community Law Center
East Bay Sanctuary
El Rescate
Equal Rights Advocates
Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project
Free the Slaves
Freedom Network USA
Immigrant Legal Resource Center
Immigrant Youth Coalition
Immigrant Center for Women and Children
Inland Empire Immigrant Youth Coalition
International Institute of the Bay Area
International Legal Alliance Group
Jewish Community Relations Council
Jewish Family & Childrens Services of the East Bay
Just Neighbors Ministry
Justice for Immigrants San Jose
La Raza Centro Legal
Landerholm Immigration, APC
Law Office of Alan G. Bennett
Law Office of Ann Block
Law Office of David S. Wright
Law Office of Donald N. Hubbard
Law Office of Grace R. Alano
Law Office of Helen Lawrence
Law Office of Jeffrey Martins
Law Office of Jeffrey OBrien
Law Office of Judith M. Morrow
Law Office of Rosy H. Cho
Law Office of Scott A. Mossman
Law Office of Tanya Brannan
Law Office of William Stahl
Law Offices of Christina Y. Chen
Law Offices of Sherrill Kushner
Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area
Legal Advocates for Children and Youth
Legal Services for Children
Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice
Loyola Law School Home Base Immigration Clinic
Maria Baldini-Potermin & Associates, P.C.

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Matloob Law Office
Mujeres Unidas y Activas
Napa Valley Dream Team
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Immigration Law Center
Northern California Chapter of the American Immigration Laywers Association
Nuestra Casa
Opening Doors, Inc.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish
PODER
Public Counsel
Public Law Center
Refugee & Human Rights Clinic, UC Hastings College of the Law
San Diego Dream Team
Santa Cruz County Immigration Lawyers
Santa Cruz County Immigration Project
SEIU 521 Latino Caucus
Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN)
Social Justice Collaborative
Sophia in Trinity Community
Southwestern Law School Immigration Clinic
Student Advocates for Higher Education, San Jose State University
The SAGE Project
Transgender Law Center
University of Southern California Immigration Clinic
Western Center on Law & Poverty
Working Partnerships USA