A 10-year-old migrant boy was found wandering alone near the U.S.-Mexico border.
This comes as thousands of migrant children are being taken into U.S. custody. An immigration expert explains the root of the problem.
This comes as thousands of migrant children are being taken into U.S. custody. An immigration expert explains the root of the problem.
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00:00Can you help me?
00:01What happened?
00:02I came with a group of people and they let me vote and I don't know where they are.
00:20Did you come with your mom or your dad?
00:22Nobody. I came with a group of people and they let me vote and I don't know where they are.
00:52What do you think is the most important thing for a parent to do?
01:00I think that it's important to understand that if at some point they're at the border and they get separated,
01:06whether it's because the parent confides their child to someone else, entrusts their child to someone else,
01:13we really have to look at what are the reasons why they're doing that, what are the conditions and what have they been promised.
01:19I think that one of the reasons is obviously because there's a certain instability that's political, economic,
01:28in their home countries, as well as social.
01:32What they want is to be able to find a better life for their child.
01:50Smugglers have always played a role in bringing people to the United States,
01:56but it's not heightened in the sense of what you see in the media.
02:01It's not that smugglers are recruiting and increasing the number of people so that they can get them across.
02:10They're one factor of how people get here, but they're not the primary factor that people get here.
02:19And if they find themselves in these remote areas and they find themselves lost,
02:28it's because we in the United States do not have the system to welcome them, to process them in a way that's orderly.
02:36The Trump administration has completely destroyed the asylum system that even though it was weak previously,
02:58it was a system that was in place and it's completely destroyed it.
03:01And so now the Biden administration is trying to rebuild it.
03:04And at the same time, trying to address the need of people that are coming, of children that are coming.
03:10We need welcoming centers that immediately address the social needs,
03:15and that also provide avenues for reunification with the families members who are here.
03:21You have a law enforcement agency, which is the border patrol,
03:25who has been trained on treating criminals,
03:29not on treating people who haven't committed a crime and who have only seeking refuge in a country.
03:37I think that that's where we need to focus on because then that in itself keeps people from having to find alternative means that can put them in danger.
03:59The only people we're not going to let sitting there on the other side of the Rio Grande by themselves with no help are children.
04:22The fact that children are exempt from that doesn't necessarily create the situation of saying,
04:27oh, that's the only reason why you have such a high number or that people are taking advantage and therefore sending their children.
04:34That's not the case. The political pundits and sometimes the media overanalyzes.
04:41I think it's important for us to remember and to understand that it is not necessarily driven by policy,
04:48it's driven by human needs in terms of what's happening.
04:53And right now, actually, at the beginning of the year is when you traditionally have seen an increase of people coming and seeking to enter the country, seeking asylum.
05:03It's really devastating to see a child. I mean, I have an 11 year old that could be my kid.
05:20I'm sure any parent or any person would feel terrible that something like this would happen to the child.
05:27But I do think that instead of, you know, taking these videos and placing the blame on migrants because they're out in the desert, that's not going to solve an issue.
05:40The issue needs to be solved with policy.