Four Tico Children Found Crossing U.S. Border Alone

COSTA RICA NEWS – Four Costa Rican children were detained when they tried to enter without documents alone in the United States, confirmed today sources of the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (Costa Rica’s Immigration service).

The minors are children of Nicaraguans, but they are registered in the Civil Registry of Costa Rica, according immigraion.

After being arrested by the Border Patrol, these children were delivered to their parents, who are established in the United States, it was reported.

This is the first official report of Costa Rican children or teenagers who try to cross the border between Mexico and the United States, the focus of attention this year due to the massive influx of children of this region, without documents or accompanying adults.

Last week, Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) legislator, Humberto Vargas, alerted officials of Tico children at the U.S. border.

The Foreign Ministry denied that they were Costa Rican children based on the information provided by the Tico consulate in Houston, Texas.

However, the new information by immigration contradicts that communication and in fact the children are of Costa Rican nationality.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights reported 47 thousand people below 18 years of age arrested while trying to enter the United States, while the State Department to date reported the arrival of at least 57 thousand minors since October 2013.

Locally, both as the Patronato Nacional de la Infancia (PANI) – child welfare agency –  confirmed that at least 31 children have entered alone from Nicaragua to Costa Rica, in the last year and a half.