American Children Seek Better Lives in Mexico

In the Southern California county of Riverside, 75 Mexican American children have been sent to Mexico in less than four years. Until recently, judges put these American children up for adoption with U.S. families. Now U.S. and Mexican authorities in Riverside and Sacramento are collaborating to reunite the minors with their relatives, even if they live on the other side of the border. Unlike American adoptive families, the Mexican families receive no financial aid from the U.S. government even though the children are American citizens. The minors may return to the United States when they are of age or if the government finds that they are being abused by their families. “We know that in this country there are economic opportunities, but these chidren’s lives don’t only depend on economic values,” Olga Nacif of Riverside’s International Alliance program of the Department of Social Services told La Opinión. “There are a lot of things that love and affection can give them and they can only find that in their culture and with their closest loved ones.”

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