Social Work, Human Rights, and the Migration of Central American Children

A humanitarian crisis related to an influx of unaccompanied children from Central America arriving in the United States demands a comprehensive approach ensuring appropriate intervention to protect basic human rights. Advocates and policymakers are scrambling to find ways to address the complex needs of these vulnerable children, most of whom are fleeing violence, criminal coercion, and/or extreme deprivation in their home countries. Legislative attempts to guarantee access to due process are threatened by a restrictive ideological stance instead of employing a needs-based strategy for reform. Social workers can play a key role by responding to the crisis in ways that draw from core social work values and contribute to a collaborative, comprehensive solution that addresses the needs of these children.