Article
NEWS 4 SAN ANTONIO: Lawmakers react to unaccompanied children placed in unsafe situations
SAN ANTONIO, Texas,
November 25, 2015
Wed, Nov 25 2015, 07:22 PM EST
The disturbing story of children who were supposed to be placed into a safe home, but instead were placed into an abusive situation was brought to you exclusively on News 4 last night. Now, local lawmakers who saw that story are hoping to make a change. "a situation where there are strong allegations have been made and we are certainly going to make sure that sponsor does not present any risk of abuse or maltreatment or exploitation or even trafficking and we have to make sure that we follow up on any allegations,” says, Congressman Henry Cuellar Congressman Cuellar says his office monitored the situation in 2014 when close to 7500 children made their way into the u-s unaccompanied and with no documents, He says there is no excuse to not knowing what is next for those children, and there must be a larger follow up from authorities. Now, recent statistics showing an uptick has him asking for preparation for arrivals. "We have to make sure that we secure our borders and people come in where they are supposed to, but the moment they are in we have to make sure that these children don't once again become a victim of abuse, maltreatment, and we have to do more to follow up,” says, Congressman Henry Cuellar Congressman Joaquin Castro sent News 4 a statement in reaction to our story revealing children being placed into sweat shops and even sex trafficking, He said, "These allegations are disturbing and I plan to investigate them further. I'll be calling on Immigration and Customs Enforcement to reassess its placement guidelines for unaccompanied children and determine if those procedures require revision. I ask anyone who has personally experienced or has knowledge of this mistreatment to come forward so we can provide assistance. We must ensure that the young people who come to this nation seeking refuge don't endure further trauma." |