The delegation of bishops is dedicating the entire week of October 23-29 to visit points on both sides of the border in Arizona and Texas where minors pass through and in particular, the programs that rescue the children and offer them shelter and social services. One of bishops who will meet the US delegation is H.E. Ascencio de León, Bishop of Ciudad Juarez and a member of ICMC's Governing Committee.

"Of special concern to the bishops and to ICMC is the growing number of children that have fallen victim to human trafficking schemes, wherein they are tricked or trapped into schemes that exploit them for forced labour or sex ", observed Johan Ketelers, Secretary General of ICMC. The bishops will be meeting with government representatives and entities as well as church and community-based organizations.

The number of unaccompanied migrant children arriving in the US has increased in recent years. In the year through September, 2005, the US Border Patrol apprehended 115,000 unaccompanied minors, up from 98,000 in 2001. According to an article in the Washington Post, almost 7,800 of the children were housed in federal shelters, 25% of them girls, 20% under 15 years of age. The article noted that increased enforcement of both the border and the US interior has had the consequence of less parents taking the risk of returning to accompany their children across the border, more children being abandoned along the way by those entrusted to do so, and hesitation by parents and relatives to seek their children when apprehended.

In the past two years, ICMC has offered case management services and child welfare expertise to over 2,500 of these children, regardless of their faith, race or nationality. A number of the children have fled situations of conflict, economic strife, abuse or gang persecution in their home countries.

Funded for this work by the US government through a contract with the Migration and Refugee Services of the US Catholic Conference of Bishops, ICMC staff works directly with the children in order to understand the circumstances of the child, to identify special needs (in particular trauma and mental health issues), and to make recommendations to the US government as to what is the best placement for a child while his or her case proceeds through the immigration system.

ICMC's highly skilled staff employ child welfare best practices and principles in all assessments and recommendations, with the greatest effort made to place children in the least restrictive setting possible. In most cases, this is reunifying with family members who are living in the US. For those that have no family in the US, the children are often placed in foster care.

The Gospel and Catholic Social Teaching compel the Church to raise its voice on behalf of those who are marginalized and whose rights are not respected. The example of this one-week border visit and study conducted by bishops from neighbour countries may motivate and inspire Episcopal Conferences in other parts of the world to organize comparable study tours. Amongst others, a positive outcome of this initiative can be:

• the call for greater protection of unaccompanied minors

• the call for reforms that address the root causes of forced migration

• the call for migrant worker protection and pathway to citizenship

• the call for the reunification of families whenever possible

• the more effective use of resources to address security concerns

More detailed information can be found on the "USCCB Border Tour with Bishops<", including the actual itinerary.