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COVID-19 pandemic impacting migrant children asylum cases, attorneys say

2 years 11 months 3 weeks ago Thursday, April 01 2021 Apr 1, 2021 April 01, 2021 6:36 PM April 01, 2021 in News - Local

More than 3,000 migrant children are housed inside the migrant processing facility in the city of Donna, waiting for a date in court with an immigration judge.

Nelson Garcia Lobo, director of the Mennonite Social Action Committee, a humanitarian organization in Honduras, said a large number of deported children, women and men are abused while migrating to the United States. 

Garcia said many arrive at the U.S. border looking for asylum due to violence within their family or in their community. 

"They have suffered abuses that most of us can't fathom," Immigration Attorney Belia Pena said. 

She says the coronavirus pandemic has made it difficult for children to understand why they need to talk about their traumas, especially online on a video call with an attorney. 

It's a difficult process that only starts after the child is in the custody of the Office of Refugee and Resettlement. 

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