FOR

IMMEDIATE RELEASE



Contact: Marsha Hirsch
November 12, 2015




Acting Director








(980) 228 1020






Marsha.Hirsch@Carolinarefugee.org

New Government Program Allows CRRA to Resettle First Central American
Minors in North Carolina
Carolina Refugee to reunify family after 15 years of separation

Charlotte, N.C. - Carolina Refugee Resettlement Agency (CRRA) is welcoming the
first Central American Minor refugees to Charlotte from El Salvador on Thursday
November 12, 2015 to join their father after 15 years of separation. These minors
will be among the first in North Carolina to be resettled through a new government
program that was initiated last year by President Barrack Obama.

The Central American Minors Program (CAM) was initiated in December 2014 to
prevent the surge of unaccompanied minors under the age of 21 crossing the border
without documentation. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in
2014 over 68,500 unaccompanied minors crossed the border scared, exhausted and
deprived of food and water. The CAM Program provides a safe and legal process for
unaccompanied minors hoping to join their families in the United States.

Refugee resettlement agencies across the Untied States are the only federally
mandated organizations that can process CAM applications. CRRA leads the state in
the number of submitted CAM applications. To date, CRRA has completed 100
applications and will continue to hold workshops on a monthly basis to assist
parents in applying for their children.

Family reunification is at the heart of this program and our agency, stated Amber
Shrenkel, CRRA Project Manager. To see this family unified after 15 years of
separation is truly a heart warming experience. We hope to educate more families in
the region about this program so we can bring together as many families as we can.

Parents living in the Charlotte area who have legal status in the United States and a
child under age 21 that was born and is currently living in El Salvador, Honduras or
Guatemala initiate the application process. To be awarded refugee status, children
must meet the US definition of a refugee by proving a "fear [of] persecution due to
race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social
group" in their home country and clear several background checks by the US
government


ABOUT CRRA

At CRRA we embrace refugees who arrive in Charlotte, recognizing their troubling
experiences, trying to ease their transition into a new country, and respecting their
need to remember where they came from. Our infrastructure allows us to settle
refugees of all nationalities and religions. Our agency, working through HIAS and the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, receives a Resettlement and
Placement federal grant administered via the Department of State. This grant covers
basic services for refugees during their initial period of resettlement.

Carolina Refugee Resettlement Agency
5009 Monroe Road Suite 100
Charlotte, NC 28205
(704) 535 8803
www.carolinarefugee.org

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