Community

Immigration Program Allows Central American Families to Bring Minors in Danger to the U.S.

Published

10 years ago

July 18, 2016

Cruz Hernandez and his wife Pabla Lobos haven’t seen their sons since the couple left El Salvador 16 years ago and resettled in Oakland.

“The truth is it’s really hard,” said Hernandez in an interview with the Post. “It’s been so many years since I’ve seen my sons. One of them was really little when I left. The hope I have is to be able to see them again.”

Hernandez’s family is one of hundreds of Central American families living in the East Bay who have left loved ones behind in order to seek better opportunities for their children still living in their home countries.

In recent years, however, countries like El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala have become life threatening places for certain populations due to repressive policing and widespread gang violence.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is one of the few immigration resettlement agencies in the Bay Area that works with the federal government to help families reunite with minors who are being persecuted in their home countries.

Through the Central American Minors (CAM) program, family members living in the U.S. with temporary protection services, DACA or DAPA, can apply to bring to the U.S. relatives under the age of 21 as refugees if their lives are in danger. The program applies to young people living in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.

At the beginning of the year, Hernandez heard about the CAM program and began working on the application for his two sons through the IRC. He is now halfway through the process and is waiting to hear if his sons will qualify for refugee resettlement.

“So far, the process is going well, but my sons’ lives are in danger because of the gangs in their town,” said Hernandez. “They rarely leave the house, but it’s still not enough.”

“Gang members often come to their house and threaten them if they don’t pay,” he said. “Also the police are a problem. They broke into my sons’ home and tossed them around, thinking my sons were guilty of a crime they didn’t commit.”

Hernandez’s case is one of hundreds that the IRC has dealt with since April of 2015. While the application process is simple, the waiting period, which involves a lot of communication with the minors, can be up to a year or longer.

To date, the IRC has won seven resettlement cases.

One of the cases is Francisco Serrano’s two daughters, who arrived to San Francisco from El Salvador at the beginning of June of this year. Last month, they saw each other for the first time in 17 years.

“Our situation was tough because of the gangs,” Serrano told the Post. “One of my daughters studied at the University of El Salvador and gang members were always stalking her.”

“We didn’t know if we should take her out of school because she’s always wanted to study,” Serrano said. “She wanted to become a teacher so bad that she kept going to school while on the bus sometimes people would try to rob her.”

Hernandez and Serrano both told El Mundo that if families are in situations similar to theirs, they should seek help from resettlement agencies like the IRC.

“We know so many families that are in this same situation,” said Hernandez. “The CAM program has helped me so much and it’s so hard to have your sons so far away. There is help here so that your children can be here with you.”

For more information, or if you think you qualify, contact the IRC at (510) 452-8222. The IRC is located at 440 W Grand Ave #500 in Oakland.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

Programa de Inmigración permite a las familias de América Central traer a los menores en peligro a los EE.UU.

Don't Miss

Op-Ed: Art as Healing

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Community

Four Candidates, Including Incumbent Barbara Lee, Qualify for Oakland Mayor’s Race

POST NEWS GROUP — Four candidates, including incumbent Mayor Barbara Lee, filed their papers to run for office by last Friday’s deadline, and the City Clerk issued a list this week of those who are qualified to run.

Published

21 hours ago

August 15, 2026

bpusa-syndication

View of downtown Oakland, California and City Hall. iStock photo.

By Post Staff

The four mayoral candidates who will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot are:

Brenda Grisham. A business owner in East Oakland and public safety advocate, Grisham led the successful recall campaign against Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. As part of her platform, she pledges to work with local, state, and federal partners to secure stricter gun control measures and investments in community violence intervention programs.

Barbara Lee. A former congressional representative and state Assembly member, Lee was elected by voters in a special election last year for a two-year term. Now running for a four-year term, she points out that her administration achieved major successes in addressing some of the city’s major challenges, including balancing the city budget, dramatically reducing crime, and making significant inroads into homelessness and illegal dumping.

Mindy Pechenuk. An educator and activist, Pechenuk is a registered Republican and supporter of Lyndon LaRouche, who has been described by observers as a conspiracy theorist and cult leader. She ran unsuccessfully for mayor in last year’s special election and for the at-large council seat in 2024. She seeks to end Oakland’s police commission and MACRO and invest in more police while launching a new local war on drugs.

Julius Robinson. While little information is available so far about Robinson, he was quoted in a KTVU story about Thao’s recall, stating that people in Oakland want to come together as a community but lack infrastructure and leadership.

bpusa-syndication

Posts by bpusa-syndication

Black History

Oakland Observes Black August with Block Parties, Film Showings, Workshops

POST NEWS GROUP — Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

Published

23 hours ago

August 15, 2026

bpusa-syndication

George Jackson wrote two books: “Soledad Brother,” and “Blood in My Eye” before her was killed in an attempt to escape prison on Aug. 21, 1971.

By Jana Lang, Propel Youth Reporter

Study. Train. Fast. Fight.

These are the four tenets of Black August, a month dedicated to commemorating the sacrifices of political prisoners and Black revolutionaries in the struggle for Black liberation.

Observers are urged to study the history of the Black struggle for freedom, train their bodies for health and self-defense, fast to cleanse the mind, body, and spirit, and fight ongoing oppression alongside their communities and local political organizations.

Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

While in prison, George befriended fellow prisoner W.L. Nolen, who introduced him to the works of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Frantz Fanon. This radicalization coupled with his experiences of violence while imprisoned led to him writing and publishing two books, “Soledad Brother” (1970), and “Blood in my Eye” (1972). In January of 1970, George and two other prisoners were charged with murdering a corrections officer at Soledad State Prison in Monterey County.

On Aug. 7, 1970, Jonathan Jackson burst into a Marin County courtroom armed with a shotgun to demand the freedom of the Soledad Brothers. He, along with the inmates he freed, was shot and killed while driving away. This involved one of the Black Panther Party’s most notable associates, Angela Davis, because the shotgun was registered in her name. She was later acquitted of charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder in 1972.

On Aug. 21, 1971, George Jackson was assassinated by a corrections officer after attempting to escape and free other inmates. As a result, there were uprisings and protests within prisons all over the country that year, calling forth resistance against racial oppression and mass incarceration.

Since its outset, Black August has evolved across the country, taking many forms to honor this history and embody the four tenets.

In Oakland, the upcoming Black August Experience, hosted by Youth Alive! and the East Oakland Boxing Association (EOBA), is a free, family-friendly event celebrating the legacy of Black August. Activities include free food and drinks, a kids’ activity zone, interactive workshops, live cooking and boxing demonstrations, and more.

Happening on Aug. 21 from 4-8 p.m. at the EOBA Patio, Carolyn Flynn, director of administration at EOBA, said the event, in its second year, will be an opportunity to engage with people in person through food, shared space, and education.

“We do regular classes in education, and those are ongoing programs that we offer, but we wanted to have [an opportunity] for our neighbors to utilize this space.” Combined with Youth Alive’s work in community violence prevention and youth leadership, this event surely aims to bring the Oakland community together to capture what Black August means today.

Here are additional Black August events happening in Oakland:

Forum and Community Discussion hosted by the Oakland Liberation Center, 1499 Fruitvale Ave., Aug. 14, 7 p.m.

“George Jackson/San Quentin” Screening hosted by Nostalgic for Nothing Cinema at Moments Co-Op, 410 13th St., Aug. 16, doors at 6 p.m., show at 6:30 p.m. (Masks required and scent-free)

Commemorating the Struggle, Building the Altar for Liberation: Black August at Bandung Books, 2269 International Blvd., Aug. 23rd, 1-5 p.m.

Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), will host “Black August: The Arc of Liberation” at Oakland City Hall on Sat. Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.