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May 04, 2008

Council on Foundations
Helping Mexican Children Who Cross the Border

Hispanics in Philanthropy, a nonprofit group in San Francisco, and Fundemex, an alliance of businesses devoted to eradicating poverty in Mexico, have formed a partnership to promote the rights of children who cross the Mexican border alone in search of their families. Many of these children face human trafficking, detention, and long separations from relatives.

“A child isn’t concerned with national borders; a child simply wants to live with his family,” said Margarita Zavala, the first lady of Mexico, in announcing the partnership at an event celebrating the 25th anniversary of Hispanics in Philanthropy. “We must be true to our humanity by helping these children reunite with their families.”

More than 44,000 children are deported from the United States to Mexico every year, roughly half of whom are unaccompanied by parents or other adults. Children who are detained in juvenile detention centers before being deported are sometimes subjected to food deprivation, physical punishment, and solitary confinement, according to reports by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

The partnership will focus first on bringing together charity leaders, scholars, and government officials to conduct research and develop policy proposals on the problem of unaccompanied migrant children.

Diana Campoamor, president of Hispanics in Philanthropy, said her group is beginning a fund-raising campaign to attract money from other donors and nonprofit groups for the effort. More foundations, she said, need to consider supporting transnational issues through their giving.

— Caroline Preston

Sunday May 4, 2008 | Permalink

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