Virtual Event on Children on the Move - Barriers to Health and Access for Migrants on the Border and in the U.S. (June 16)

A virtual presentation  “One Common Story”, will take place on June 16 at 2pm EST . The presentation focuses on the stories of children in San Cristobal Chiapas, Mexico. In Chiapas, 98% of indigenous children live in poverty, many without birth certificates, without knowing how to read or write. Many other children are abandoned by parents who stopped here, on their way from Guatemala or Honduras to the USA. 

The obstacles migrants face when they reach the Mexico-U.S. border are not new, and the pathways to legal status in the U.S. have always been complex. From the inception of the U.S. approach to regulating immigration, health considerations have been leveraged to justify policy. However, the health of the people who must navigate the U.S. immigration system is increasingly jeopardized by those policies.

This session will highlight some of the characteristics of the U.S. immigration system that enable the unjust treatment of migrants and explore the manners in which U.S. immigration enforcement can exacerbate migrants’ health concerns at the border, in detention, and in the U.S. The panelists will also discuss the ramifications of the Center for Disease Control’s Title 42 for migrants, the conditions of border detention centers, and health abuses reported.