Children of Poverty, War Stagnate in Camps : Resurgence of Central American Immigration Points Up Plight of Youths Held by the INS

Jose, a 17-year-old Honduran, said he was strip-searched and had little to do during the three days he was detained at the U.S. Border Patrol facility in San Ysidro. “We were kept locked inside all day and were not allowed any recreation or exercise,” he said.

Alba, from Nicaragua, said she had spent more than six months at the former U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service detention facility in Hollywood. “During this entire time,” said the 17-year-old, “neither I nor any of the other children have received any educational instruction of any type. Only a few books are available to us, but they are in English, which I do not read, speak or understand.”

Carlos, a Guatemalan, said he had few outlets for physical activity at the INS compound in Inglewood. “None of the other children or I are provided with any form of organized physical exercise here,” said Carlos, 16, who had spent four weeks locked up at the INS’ Inglewood Detention Center.

Culled From Depositions

These youths, who were all held in 1986 and whose impressions were culled from sworn statements on file in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, are among the thousands who have passed through INS detention facilities in recent years. The issue of their imprisonment--there are an estimated 100-200 minors in INS custody nationwide at any given time, with the single largest group in Southern California--has been debated since the late 1970s, when many Central American refugees began arriving in the United States.

They are accused of being in the United States illegally. The juveniles are among those illegal immigrants--including children, mothers and entire families, along with the more traditional single men--whose ranks swelled to record numbers in recent years, providing impetus for passage of the major immigration-reform law of 1986.

That law probably contributed to a sharp decline in would-be immigrants seeking to enter the country illegally last year. But U. S. Border Patrol statistics in San Diego show that those numbers are again rising--especially among Central Americans, arrests of whom have almost doubled in 1988 contrasted with the same period last year. Those figures, attributable to the continued civil strife and decline in living standards throughout much of Central America, point to a prospective increase in the number of children in INS custody, after a relative decline in the past year or so.

Most children held by INS for more than a few days are Central Americans. That is so for a simple reason: Most undocumented foreigners arrested are Mexican citizens who agree to return to Mexico without lengthy deportation proceedings.

Seeking Political Asylum

Many detained children are seeking political asylum or other relief from deportation; they may wait months or years before their cases are adjudicated. Youths’ time in custody may range from less than a day to as much as a year, experts say, although two weeks is considered typical for Central American juveniles.

Before being arrested, many children have made the long and dangerous trek from Central America unaccompanied by their parents, who may already be in the United States or may never have left home. Some are from broken homes. If arrested with their parents, the INS holds them together.

Critics charge that the youths are generally held in impersonal, ill-equipped facilities--including the Border Patrol compound in San Ysidro, where most stay for only a night or two, and INS detention facilities in Inglewood, Laredo, Tex., and the former site in Hollywood. Children and their attorneys say the facilities offer little or no instruction, few activities and limited opportunities for visits. Other youths are kept in county-run juvenile facilities where they may mingle with accused criminals.

Cost to the U.S. taxpayer for incarcerating the youths averages about $40 daily per child, experts say, although some costs reach as high as $100 per day.

As few of the children can afford lawyers--and U.S. authorities are under no requirement to provide representation--immigrants rights groups say that many have languished without adequate legal assistance, harming their chances for release. Many cannot afford to post bond, which typically is from $500 to $2,000.

For almost three years, immigrant advocates have waged a legal battle in U. S. District Court in Los Angeles seeking to improve conditions for the youths. In response to the class-action suit, the INS agreed last December to house youths held for more than 72 hours in facilities more akin to the Casa San Juan in San Diego, where they are to have classroom education and improved living conditions. The INS also agreed to cease mingling the children with adult detainees other than their parents. The INS has until June 1 to make the changes.

In March, a federal judge in Los Angeles ordered the INS in March to halt its strip-searching of youths, a practice that critics found particularly offensive.

Still pending, however, is the issue of how long the youths must remain in custody. Advocates, citing the potential for trauma while in custody, are seeking to have the children released more easily pending immigration proceedings.

“These children are fleeing political violence, severe economic conditions, even hunger,” noted Peter A. Schey, executive director of the National Center for Immigrants’ Rights, a Los Angeles advocacy group. “They should be placed in the custody of families, friends and relatives who are willing and able to care for them.”

It seems that INS officials and their critics agree that the children would be better off in the care of families. But the two sides cannot agree on how to accomplish that goal.

Adults in deportation cases are routinely freed after posting bonds, pending legal proceedings. They are then able to live relatively normal lives until their cases are resolved.

But not children. INS rules state that children can generally be released only to close relatives or legal guardians, even when bond is available. Often, the youths have no relatives in the United States or they are unable to contact them. And family members are themselves frequently undocumented and afraid to come forward. In fact, critics have charged that the children are held as “bait” to entice relatives to come forward--an allegation disputed by INS officials, who acknowledge, however, that undocumented adults who claim the children are subject to arrest and deportation.

In an effort to resolve the problem, lawyers representing the incarcerated children are attempting to have them released to “responsible adults” whose suitability would be judged by a review process similar to that used for foster-parent programs. Advocates say many willing families are already in the pipeline, particularly in the Los Angeles area.

Responding to criticism, the INS last Christmas released two dozen youths into the custody of the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Los Angeles, which placed them in foster care or undertook to locate family members. The INS plans to continue the archdiocese release program. But U.S. authorities, citing fears for the children’s well-being, are still generally reluctant to place the children with other “responsible” adults, as immigrant advocates would like.

“We’re not enjoying having to put these kids in custody,” said INS Western Regional Commissioner Harold Ezell, “but I’d enjoy it a lot less if one of these little faces ended up on a milk carton, and they disappeared because they were put in the wrong hands.”

Ironically, lawyers representing the youths in the Los Angeles lawsuit say children were often released to the wrong hands--including those of smugglers--until the INS tightened its juvenile-release policy in 1984. Advocates are not seeking a return to the former practice, but they say that placing the children with “responsible” families is a more humane--and less costly--alternative. At this point, they say, it’s simply a question of getting the INS to agree to a procedure.

“There is well-documented trauma associated with detention of minors,” said Carlos Holguin, a Los Angeles attorney working on the lawsuit. “That’s why juvenile experts are unanimous in urging that their time in custody ought to be minimized. That’s what we’re trying to accomplish.”