Editor’s note: The number of children staying at Holy Family who were separated from their families at the border has not been released by the institute. An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated a specific number.
The federal government is housing child migrants in Pittsburgh as part of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy announced in April.
The children, separated from their families by Customs and Border Patrol, are fanned out to housing centers across several states as their parents or grandparents are arrested and criminally prosecuted for illegal entry into the U.S. According to the Department of Homeland Security, 1,995 children were separated from 1,940 adults between April 19 through May 31.
The children sent to Pittsburgh, who are being housed at Holy Family Institute in Emsworth, range in age from 4 to 17. They are from countries including Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, said Sister Linda Yankoski, the CEO at Holy Family. Children who crossed the border by themselves are also staying at Holy Family, but the institute is not specifying how many children of each group are there.
“This is good work that we’re doing,” she said.
Holy Family Institute is under contract with the Office of Refugee Resettlement under the Department of Health and Human Services to house the children, and is the only facility in Pittsburgh being used, Sister Linda said.
The Catholic nonprofit provides programs to children and families, including housing, behavioral and mental health services, workforce development, college preparation, and drug and alcohol addiction counseling. Sister Linda said the institute provided services to 30,000 families last year.
“If there’s a child in this country that doesn’t have a place, that’s our mission as a Catholic charity,” she said.
Holy Family first began providing services for unaccompanied minors in 2010 after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti. Then, in 2014, the institute housed dozens of unaccompanied migrant children when a wave of nearly 60,000 from Central America crossed the U.S. Southern border, according to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimate.
“It doesn’t matter what country they come from,” Sister Linda said.
The children in her care, Sister Linda said, never leave campus. They receive all of their schooling, medical and mental health care there.
There is a gym and a field for recreation, and a typical day includes schooling, playtime, time for homework, television and story time.
“They have a full day of activity,” Sister Linda said.
Much of the staff is bilingual, and they provide traditional, familiar meals for the children, she pointed out.
“The goal is for them to feel safe and secure,” she said.
In the past, Sister Linda said, the typical unaccompanied minor would stay at Holy Family about 30 days.
“With this new situation, I don’t know what it’s going to mean,” she said. “We are a very short-term placement.”
The children will stay at Holy Family until their sponsors are cleared by the government , Sister Linda said.
The policy of separating children from parents has drawn wide criticism from immigration attorneys, religious leaders including David Zubik, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, and the American Civil Liberties Union.
Kristen Schneck, partner at Fox Rothschild LLP in Pittsburgh, said the policy frustrates attempts at asylum. It forces immigrants to abandon their legal cases and therefore makes getting their children back their first priority.
“Separating families and terrorizing children and their parents in an effort to prevent future migration — it ignores the horrifying circumstances which they have experienced. It makes it hard for these individuals to seek the legal relief that they’re applying for,” said Ms. Schneck, who also serves as advocacy co-chair and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement liaison for the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement did not respond to a request for comment.
Eileen Dusch works at Holy Family and adopted one of the boys who stayed there following the earthquake in Haiti.
Although she now works in the international college prep program, Ms. Dusch said that she has seen from her experience in 2010 what the program can do with young children from other countries.
"They're with staff that care about them," she said. "These kids should feel a sense of comfort. They are safe. They get a bed to sleep in and exposure to education.
"That's the biggest thing they need — structure every day."
First Published: June 17, 2018, 12:00 p.m.
