Norton Hispanic Heritage Month Roundtable to Probe Status of Central American Children Who Came to D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Wonder what ever happened to the children from Central America who surged into the country this summer and made their way to the District of Columbia? Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will seek answers at an immigration roundtable, entitled "D.C. and the Surge of Unaccompanied Minors from Central America," tomorrow morning, Tuesday, October 14, 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School, located in Ward 1 at 1100 Harvard Street NW. The audience will be adults and Carlos Rosario students, many from Central America, not members of the public, but the press is invited. The roundtable, held during Hispanic Heritage Month, will feature Jallyn Sualog, Director of the Office of Refugee Settlement at the Department of Health and Human Services; Roxana Olivas, Director of the D.C. Office of Latino Affairs; Abel Núñez, Executive Director of the Central American Resource Center; Susana Martinez, Promoter Pathway Director at the Latin American Youth Center; Mirna Amaya, Dean of Community Relations and Student Services at Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School; and a student who will speak on the experience of coming from Central America to the District of Columbia. The roundtable will be welcomed with remarks from Allison Kokoros, principal of the school.

Norton said that Hispanic Heritage Month is an optimum time to report to the city on the status of unaccompanied children here from Central American countries, such as El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, how many of the more than 50,000 unaccompanied children who have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border came to D.C., and how many of them are under the care of their extended families or foster families. The Washington, D.C. metropolitan area has one of the largest Central American populations in the country, including close to 60,000 Latinos in the District, mostly from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, and most residing in Wards 1 and 4.

"These unaccompanied children did not disappear," Norton said. "We need to know how they are being integrated into our schools and our community. We will seek answers on Tuesday from providers who have had direct contact with these refugee children and are helping them become part of our community."

When the large numbers of Central American children began fleeing from transnational gangs and drug cartels, Norton called on her Congressional Latino Council and other key District Latino leaders to discuss what the District should do to prepare. That meeting produced several recommendations, including treating the children as refugees, as the United Nations has classified them, not as undocumented immigrants, and providing pro bono legal services.