Piedmont Reacts to Federal Government's Treatment of Undocumented Children

The crisis of thousands of undocumented children pouring into the United States has many in the Piedmont worried.

President Barack Obama has asked Congress for almost $4 billion dollars in emergency appropriations to handle the influx of these children from Central American countries. Funds will also increase security at Southwest borders to prevent more children from illegally crossing into the United States.

Moises Serrano,25, grew up in Yadkinville. He's also undocumented. When he was 18 months old, his parents left Mexico and brought him and his two older sisters to the Piedmont. Serrano says he's afraid for these children. “I think we need to treat these children as refugees," says Serrano. "They keep immigrating this way because there is no viable, successful pathway into our country due to the flaws in our immigration system.”

President Obama has also said most of these children will be deported, something Serrano says he and many in the Piedmont Latino community are saddened about. U.S. law requires that apprehended children be turned over to the Department of Health and Human Services, which then places them with sponsors in the U.S. while their deportation cases are heard.