SPENCER MICHELS:

Nearly 100 miners who came to the U.S. without their parents make up about a quarter of the student body at Oakland International High School in California. Altogether, nearly 60,000 unaccompanied minors were caught at the border this year.

Most are from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Protests both for and against the Obama administration immigration policies greeted their arrival. When apprehended, many of them claimed fear of gang violence and persecution in their home countries, so they were allowed into the U.S., pending a hearing in immigration court.

But, in Oakland and in some other California cities, there was little debate over whether to welcome them.

Carmelita Reyes is co-principal of International High.