Susan Ferriss is a reporter specializing in children's issues at the nonprofit investigative news group the Center for Public Integrity in Washington, DC.
Susan Ferriss is a reporter specializing in children's issues at the nonprofit investigative news group the Center for Public Integrity in Washington, D.C. Among other stories, she's investigated policies that force farmworker kids out of school and excessive police ticketing of middle-school students in Los Angeles. As a Latin America correspondent for Cox Newspapers for nine years, Susan also reported on migration and transnational crime in Central America.
Under a 1996 law, US citizens who try to sponsor their undocumented spouses would require the spouses to endure a minimum 10-year exile from the United States. With kids in tow, US citizens are visiting Congress to plead for help.
Tens of thousands of young Central Americans crossed the US-Mexico border this year, many fleeing violence. Now they must navigate the US asylum system to try and stay here legally, but the system is being overwhelmed by the huge numbers of children.