U.S. will phase out programme for Central American child refugees
SEPTEMBER 27, 2017 / 5:06 PM / 9 DAYS AGO
Mica Rosenberg, Yeganeh Torbati
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s administration is ending a programme that allowed children fleeing violence in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to apply for refugee status in the United States before leaving home.
The administration will phase out the Central American Minors (CAM) programme during fiscal year 2018, according to a report provided to Congress and obtained by Reuters. That report also sets the overall refugee cap for the year at its lowest level in decades.
The CAM programme started at the end of 2014 under the administration of former President Barack Obama as a response to tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors and families from Central America who arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border seeking asylum in the United States.
The programme allowed vulnerable young people with parents in the United States to process their applications in their home region and avoid making the dangerous trip through Mexico to the U.S. border on their own, said Karen Musalo, the director of the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at University of California-Hastings.
More:
http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-immigration-minors/u-s-will-phase-out-programme-for-central-american-child-refugees-idINKCN1C234W?rpc=401&
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