NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 8 (RIA Novosti) – Young Central American migrants facing deportation hearings have often fled from drug gangs and need US protection, Rev. Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, told RIA Novosti.
“These gangs go from home to home in Central American and try to recruit the children. They demand that the children work for them and become a gang member. If the child doesn’t join, there will be consequences,” said Salguero, also the pastor of a New York City church.
“We need a comprehensive approach of providing sustainable and secure development in the origin countries of these young migrants, together with humane treatment and access to due legal process when they cross the border into the US.”
In June, US President Barack Obama announced plans for new visa rules, boosted border security and paths to citizenship for some 11 million US-based illegal immigrants, including tens of thousands of unaccompanied children from crime-riven Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. On Friday, he delayed reforms until after November’s mid-term elections.
