[act-ma] 01/21 Crisis: Children Immigrants from Central America. What Can Be Done?

[Charlie Welch]

  Lecture Digs Deep Into Children Immigrant Crisis

In 2014, the perennial crisis of child immigrants from Central America 
came to a head. 63,000 children emigrated from Central America by 
illegally crossing the Texas border from October 2013 to July 2014, a 90 
percent increase over the previous year, according to the Migration 
Policy Institute. 
<http://migrationpolicy.org/programs/us-immigration-policy-program/child-migration-crisis-united-states> 
Though the surge in child immigrants has slowed, it has not stopped, and 
officials looking to stem the tide must balance the need for border 
security with a deep understanding of the forces which compel children 
to leave their homelands behind.

On Thursday, Jan. 29, the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies 
at Boston University <http://www.bu.edu/pardeeschool> will host the 
latest in its Inaugural Year Lecture Series 
<http://www.bu.edu/pardeeschool/2014/10/19/bacevich-pardee-lecture-permanent-war-greater-middle-east/> 
with a lecture and discussion entitled /Crisis: Children Immigrants from 
Central America. What Can Be Done?/ 
<http://www.bu.edu/pardeeschool/news_and_events/calendar/?eid=163467>

The event will be in the *Metcalf Trustee’s Ballroom, 1 Silber Way, 9th 
Floor, from 4 – 6:15 p.m.* A reception will follow the keynote lecture 
and panel discussion.

Keynoting the lecture will be Liduvina Magarin, 
<http://www.rree.gob.sv/index.php/institucion/marco-institucional/autoridades/viceministra-para-salvadorenos-en-el-exterior> 
Vice Minister of Foreign Relations for Salvadoreans Living Abroad. 
Magarin has been in the spotlight as awareness of the plight of children 
immigrants has spread, helping to open a consulate in McAllen, Texas and 
slamming the condition of juvenile border detention centers.

“These centers do not meet the appropriate requirements for receiving 
children. [The children] are prisoners, they sleep on the floor, with 
respiratory diseases, underfed, with the air conditioning very high,” 
said Magarin in a 2014 conversation with Salvadorean President Sanchez 
Ceren.

Magarin is a lawyer by profession and holds a Masters degree in Local 
Development from the Universidad Centroamericana, as well as several 
degrees in public administration.

During the administration of President Mauricio Funes she served in the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs as advisor to the Minister’s Office on Legal 
and Administrative Affairs, Director General of Human Resources, 
Executive Director of the Mesoamerica Project and Director General of 
the Foreign Service.

Magarin will be joined in a panel discussion by Salvadorean Ambassador 
Francisco Altschul, as well as professors Sarah Sherman-Stokes and James 
Iffland. <http://www.bu.edu/pardeeschool/profile/james-iffland/>

“The roots of the heart-breaking child immigrant crisis are complex and 
need to be analyzed thoughtfully,” Iffland said. “Intelligent (and 
compassionate) solutions need to be developed on both the Central 
American and U.S. sides of the equation.”

The event is free but requires pre-registration. Please email 
eventsPS at bu.edu <mailto:eventsPS at bu.edu> to register.