Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Jan. 29, 2009 |
| Report Number |
RL34414 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Chad C. Haddal, Analyst in Immigration Policy |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
Since enactment of the Refugee Act of 1980, the Immigration and Nationality Act has contained a designation for a group of children defined as "unaccompanied refugee minors" (URMs): refugee children in the United States under the age of 18, without a parent or close relative who is willing or able to care for them. The State Department identifies refugee children overseas who are eligible for resettlement in the United States but who do not have a parent or guardian. Once these URMs are admitted to the United States, the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS's) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is tasked with caring for them until they are either reunited with their families or reach the age of 18. Since 1980, approximately 12,000 URMs have been handled by ORR.
Once in ORR's custody, a URM will be placed in the agency's URM program, wherein ORR works with state and local service providers, as well as volunteer agencies, to provide URMs with foster placement, services, and any needed care. As a means of placing URMs, both ORR and the state and volunteer services they work with have a number of options at their disposal, including foster homes, group homes, independent living, semi-independent living, placement with a relative, and residential treatment facilities.
The divide over URM policy in the United States generally falls between two groups: advocates of increased URM inflows and supporters of current levels. Groups that support greater URM inflows note the rising levels of refugees worldwide, along with media accounts of numerous URMs in regions such as Darfur. Proponents of refugee inflow levels under the current URM policy contend that present levels suffice. The central policy question for Congress in the URM debate revolves around the number of URMs being identified abroad and brought to the United States.
From FY1999 through FY2005 (the most recent year of data available to CRS), there were a cumulative total of 782 new URMs admitted to the United States. With an annual average of approximately 112 children, the annual rate has fluctuated between a low of 35 children in FY1999 to a high of 212 in FY2001. In FY2005, ORR received 108 URMs, of which 71 were male and 37 were female. The source countries for URMs fall mostly within one of three geographic regions: Sub-Saharan Africa, Central America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East.
Some legislation that was introduced in previous terms of Congress that would address several of the issues and charges that advocates have raised regarding unaccompanied refugee children are likely to be reintroduced in the 111th Congress. Most visible among these previous efforts was the Unaccompanied Alien Child Protection Act of 2007 (S. 844), which was sponsored by Senator Diane Feinstein. This report will be updated as warranted.
