NBC Nightly News ran this story a few evenings ago about the increase in unaccompanied immigrant children traveling alone from Central American countries to the US. More than twice the number of children are making this dangerous journey alone compared to last year, fleeing abusive homes, gang violence, or extreme poverty. The Florence Project is the only pro bono legal service organization assisting these children in Arizona. The number of children we are assisting has nearly doubled in the last two months as additional shelter beds have opened in Phoenix to hold children while they await family reunification and removal proceedings. An expanded story on this issue – and the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision on S.B. 1070 – will be forthcoming in our fall newsletter (which you can subscribe to electronically here or via mail by emailing us at firrp@firrp.org.
