‘Border children’ reach Riverhead, reunite with family

Along with paperwork and processing help, Sister Margaret said the Apostolate provides follow-up services to help children acclimate into the local community and get them enrolled in school, a requirement of federal law.

The families must also prepare for their future legal battles by retaining lawyers to fight to ensure their children can stay. The Apostolate helps in the legal matters, too. “As advocates, we are watching out for these parents,” Sister Margaret said.

During their passage through Mexico, Estabon and Pedro stayed in makeshift hotels or hostels, where they slept three to a bed to hide from sex traffickers seeking adolescents, Sister Margaret explained. The most trying part of the trip was navigating what the boys called “el Rio Bravo” or the Angry River — the Rio Grande.

The boys were two of a group of 20 adults and children crossing the river in a rubber raft.

“We were afraid someone might accidently poke a hole in our raft,” Estabon said. “If it happened, we would drown.”

According to the International Red Cross, the Rio Grande’s rough currents claim the lives of hundreds of border-crossers each year.

It was about 4 a.m. on the Fourth of July when the boys finally saw their parents, Marta and Mario, for the first time in 11 years. They also got to meet their 7-year-old sister, Katie, for the first time.

Congressman Tim Bishop (D- Southampton) said Estabon and Pedro were the first of the “border children” he had been informed of being reunited with family in his district, though said he was not surprised to hear some would find a home in the area.

Overall, he said, he anticipates “the number of kids coming to our area will be low,” but added that “without knowing the dimension of the problem and knowing where these children are settling,” it’s difficult to determine their impact on local school districts or services.

Riverhead school officials were unavailable for comment.

“This is a humanitarian crisis that I believe we have an obligation to deal with in a way that shows the compassion of the country, but at the same time respects the rule of law, making it clear we don’t have open borders,” Mr. Bishop said.

He also noted that “the law does not provide permission for unaccompanied minors to stay in the county indefinably.”

On July 8, President Obama asked Congress for $3.7 billion to help manage the flood of unaccompanied children arriving in U.S. from Central America.

“I support what the president has requested,” Mr. Bishop said, adding that Congress is expected to make modifications to the request.

“There is speculation they will cut it in half,” he said.

According to the Obama administration, more than 50,000 unaccompanied children have entered the U.S. since October.

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