Child and Family Migration to the United States: Continuing Flows and Evolving Responses

The number of Central American unaccompanied children and family units arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border has surged in recent years, reaching a peak of 137,000 in 2014. In this Migration Policy Institute webinar, experts from MPI discuss the shifting pattern of Central American migration and expectations for 2015; why inflows present a particularly acute policy challenge; and how states, localities, the federal government, and other countries in the region are responding. Speakers Marc Rosenblum, Margie McHugh, and Doris Meissner provide recommendations on policies that advance both critical protection and enforcement goals in situations of complex, mixed-status flows as well as means to address impacts in communities where child migrants have settled.