Unaccompanied Immigrant Kids Hit NYC Area In Record Numbers

NEW YORK — The number of immigrant children sent to the New York City area from the southern border has jumped sharply in recent months, according to a nonprofit that helps the kids.

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York has served more than 3,000 unaccompanied immigrant children since October, a number that's likely on track to hit about 8,000 by this coming October, said Mario Russell, the organization's director of immigrant and refugee services.

That would be the most in the history of the nonprofit, which has usually served 2,000 to 4,000 kids in past years, according to Russell.

"We’re on target to really deal with a high watermark for us," he told reporters Thursday.

The influx has been seen since the city had to take in about 400 children last summer who were separated from their parents at the southern U.S. border. That was a result of the Trump administration's widely condemned "zero tolerance" policy toward illegal border crossings.

Almost all of those kids have since been reunited with their parents, Catholic Charities says. But others have apparently continued to stream in — with 95 percent of them coming from the so-called Northern Triangle countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, Russell said.

Catholic Charities is leading a trip to those Central American nations later this month to learn more about what is driving people to flee for the United States. The delegation of seven people — including state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli — will depart April 22 to meet with church and labor leaders along with heads of state.

"If we know all the answers the wouldn’t be going," said Msgr. Kevin Sullivan, Catholic Charities's executive director. "... We know the global issues, but we’re going to learn things that are surprising, and hopefully what we learn can impact what we’re doing here and how we can help families to reunite."

Catholic Charities meets with all children who are transferred to the metropolitan area from the border after being screened and vetted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection, according to Russell.

Those who land in the area are generally go two to four weeks before they're reunited with a family member here or elsewhere, according to Russell.

"They could be going to a mom and dad in Seattle. They could be going to their godfather in Chicago or to their brother in LA," Russell said. "So they don’t necessarily all stay here."

Changes within the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement have led more children to be placed in New York, so the rush of kids Catholic Charities has seen is not necessarily tied to a larger number arriving in the U.S., Russell said.

Immigrant kids can still be separated from their parents if an adult is detained because ICE thinks they are a criminal, drug addict or security threat, Russell said. But he said children who come with their families share common bonds with those who come alone.

"(It's) the same story, the same problems, the same threats, the same insecurity, the same persecution and the same abusive poverty," Russell said.