Should the rise of young migrants from Central America be considered a refugee crisis?

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Jul 14, 2014

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Should the rise of young migrants from Central America be considered a refugee crisis?

The increase of young migrants from Central America poses a central dilemma to U.S. policy: how to respond to the surge of children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border?

FILE - This June 18, 2014, file photo, detainees sleep in a holding cell at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection, processing facility in Brownsville,Texas. Immigration courts backlogged by years of staffing shortages and tougher enforcement face an even more daunting challenge since tens of thousands of Central Americans began arriving on the U.S. border fleeing violence back home. For years, children from Central America traveling alone and immigrants who prove they have a credible fear of returning home have been entitled to a hearing before an immigration judge. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, Pool, File)

The increase of young migrants from Central America poses a central dilemma to U.S. policy: how to respond to the surge of children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border?

In her latest opinion piece in the New York Times, journalist Sonia Nazario makes the case that the problem should be considered a refugee crisis.