Catholic Charities of Miami Promotes Its Work to Reunite Children with their Families

Peter Routsis-Arroyo, CEO, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami, was in Tallahassee this week to visit lawmakers at the Capitol. Routsis-Arroyo joined Christie Arnold, FCCB associate for respect life and social concerns, to speak with lawmakers about the work of Catholic Charities to settle minors who have reached the border unaccompanied by an adult and reunite them with family members already present in Florida and elsewhere in the U.S.

Today these young people - boys and girls, infants to teenagers - are coming mainly from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. The desperation that has led the parents of today's unaccompanied minors is not unlike the desperation that motivated Cuban parents to send their children alone and unaccompanied to the United States. During the 60 years since the establishment of Operation Pedro Pan to assist these children, Catholic Charities in the archdiocese has continued to take care of new waves of unaccompanied minors without interruption.