Mapped: Georgia’s unaccompanied migrant children
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Atlanta received 3,965 of the 530,000-plus unaccompanied migrant children who arrived in U.S. cities between 2015 and 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Why it matters: Unaccompanied migrant children are especially vulnerable as federal, state and city leaders spar over sheltering and supporting foreigners who have crossed the border without permission, with some states seeking to crack down hard on illegal immigration.
- "Migrant children, who have been coming into the United States without their parents in record numbers, are ending up in some of the most punishing jobs in the country," the New York Times reports.
By the numbers: Atlanta took the 11th-largest share of unaccompanied migrant children of all U.S. cities during that time frame. Most of the children came from Guatemala (2,679), Honduras (838), El Salvador (181), Mexico (122), and Nicaragua (81).
- The numbers are based on federal data on migrant children sponsors' ZIP codes, obtained by the Times through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Driving the news: Migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border will now be largely cut off from accessing the U.S. asylum system after President Biden signed an executive order Tuesday.
Zoom in: Gov. Brian Kemp signed a new immigration law on May 1 that penalizes local governments offering "immigration sanctuary policies." The law also requires local jails to notify the federal government if a detained person is undocumented.
- Kemp signed the law after an undocumented Venezuelan man allegedly killed a nursing student on the University of Georgia campus in February.
- Meanwhile, the Atlanta City Council passed legislation at Monday's meeting to retroactively OK the city's application for a $10 million federal grant to support Atlanta's migrants.
Between the lines: Americans are increasingly skeptical of outsiders, a recent Axios Harris Poll survey found, "partly based on misconceptions about immigrants committing crimes and seeking welfare benefits, both of which are largely untrue," as Axios' Russell Contreras has reported.
State of play: The AJC reports that immigration lines at Georgia's only Immigration and Customs Enforcement office, which is in Atlanta, have recently grown to unprecedented lengths.
- The Wall Street Journal reports job opportunities are bringing migrants to Georgia in spite of the state's strict immigration policies.
Zoom out: Congressional efforts to tighten border security have repeatedly failed as Republicans look to avoid handing Democrats and the Biden camp a political win ahead of November's elections — conditions that stand to hobble any further attempts at border reform between now and Election Day.
- Absent congressional action, the Biden administration is trying other approaches — including a "fast-track" asylum process.
The bottom line: Addressing the border is one thing — but hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied kids are already in the U.S., and looking to local, state and federal officials for help and protection.