As discussed in last week’s column , MICOP (Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project) provides invaluable services to about 15,000 Indigenous residents from its offices in Santa Maria and Oxnard. This column delves into one program, Opportunities for Youth (OFY), a state-funded pilot program to assist unaccompanied, undocumented minors.
From October 2020 to August 2021, 9,254 unaccompanied, undocumented minors were released to sponsors in California, including 90 in Santa Barbara County and 139 in Ventura County. This is not a new occurrence — while county numbers dipped during the pandemic, they were at similar levels two years ago. When these minors arrive at the border, they are referred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which seeks sponsors, preferably family members, for the youth.
The pilot program began only a couple of months ago and MICOP currently has enrolled four youth in Santa Barbara and 11 in Ventura in the program. ORR does not release contact info for youth and sponsors, and locating these individuals, according to Program Director Leticia Sandoval, has been challenging. Sponsors, often farmworkers, work very long days, rendering difficult both the discovery of potential participants and persuasion to join the program. Sponsors may have other undocumented members in the household. COVID places constraints on in-home meetings, and there are privacy concerns with using public venues.