U.N. Pushes U.S. to Call Illegal Immigrants 'Refugees' Kara Jones | Jul 08, 2014

Tens of thousands of adults and unaccompanied minors continue to pour over our southern border as the United Nations presses the U.S. government to treat these illegal immigrants as “refugees.” With true refugee status, these immigrants would be eligible to seek asylum. Those granted asylum could then file a form to obtain permanent residence and could even petition to bring their entire family into the United States.
The Associated Press reports:

[The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees] said it believes "the U.S. and Mexico should recognize that this is a refugee situation, which implies that they shouldn't be automatically sent to their home countries but rather receive international protection."

The U.N. defines a refugee as “someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. Most likely, they cannot return home or are afraid to do so. War and ethnic, tribal and religious violence are leading causes of refugees fleeing their countries.” FULL STORY