In March of 2021, approximately 19,000 unaccompanied children attempted to enter the United States through the border with Mexico. For a small percentage of these children, Florida communities are their new home, where they still face challenges. Many of these children have endured traumatic experiences, and many of them find themselves in a state of limbo as cases clog up a fragile and unprepared immigration system, exacerbating their isolation. 

The IRC opened its locally-funded office in Miami in 1960 in response to the Cuban Revolution and, over the decades, has served over 25,000 refugees, asylees, survivors of human trafficking and other vulnerable populations in South Florida. Due to nationally reduced refugee admissions, the IRC ended its refugee resettlement program in Miami in 2018. Although its resettlement program concluded in 2018, the IRC in Miami continues to serve the community by providing holistic, trauma-informed services to survivors of human trafficking and unaccompanied children and their families.