Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
We've been looking at the growing numbers of unaccompanied minors crossing the border into the U.S. in recent weeks. Tomorrow, Vice President Joe Biden will be in Guatemala to meet with leaders of several Central American nations about this issue.
According to Customs and Border officials, nearly 50,000 children have crossed in the past eight months. It's believed that number could reach 90,000 by the end of the year. Experts say gang activity, drug trafficking and increasing violence are all factors in the increase.
For more, we're joined by Suyapa Portillo, professor of Chicano/Latino Transnational Studies at Pitzer College. Part of her research focuses on working conditions near factories — known as maquilas — in Honduras, where the highest number of young migrants are coming from.
What Should The U.S. Do With Apprehended Child Migrants?
When unaccompanied minors crossing the border from Honduras, or elsewhere, are apprehended, officials face a difficult challenge: what to do with them. Southern California Public Radio reporter Leslie Berestein Rojas joins Take Two to talk about this increasingly difficult issue.