International Social Service-USA's staff (from left to right) Alanna Hays, Hannah Pursley, Elaine Weisman, Morgan Drayton, Ema Makas and Katrina Clemons attended a Symposium on February 13th and 14th entitled “In Children’s Best Interests: Advancing a Fundamental Standard for the Treatment of Immigrant Children.” The event was sponsored by the American University Center for Latin American and Latino Studies, the American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL) and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).
Over the course of the two day event, experts in immigration law and policy, child welfare, and human rights discussed the history of the best interest standard as a framework for protecting children globally, and how multidisciplinary professionals can apply these principles to work with immigrant children in the US. US Representative Pramila Jayapal gave a keynote address on the first day and asylee, attorney and advocate Liana Montecinos gave the plenary on the second day.
ISS-USA works with partners in 120 countries around the world to support cross-border permanency planning in the best interest of the child and currently has programming to support safe repatriation and reintegration in Guatemala and Honduras.
