Washington, Nov 17 (EFE).- The United States last week received the first Central American children whose asylum requests were approved as part of a program launched almost a year ago, a State Department spokesman told EFE on Tuesday.

“Six minors from El Salvador arrived last Thursday. They are the only ones to have arrived so far,” Rubani Trimiew, spokesman for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, said.

The State Department has received about 5,000 requests since it began the program last December but, up to this point, not a single child had been allowed into the United States to reunite with his or her parents due to the long bureaucratic process.

The procedure for requesting asylum begins with the request by the father or mother, who must be an adult residing legally in the United States and who must appear in person at a specialized agency.

The next step consists of interviews with the child in his or her country of origin by U.S. officials and, if the request is approved, the child must pass medical and security checks and a cultural orientation before traveling to the United States.

If the child obtains refugee status, he or she has the right to legal permanent residence

and, after five years, normally can request U.S. citizenship.

The program adheres to the definition of refugee under U.S. law, whereby people whose requests are accepted must “demonstrate that they have been persecuted or fear they will be persecuted because of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or status as a member of a particular social group,” according to an official program document.

Meanwhile, there are no guarantees that all children will be granted asylum who are fleeing high rates of violence or lack of economic opportunities in the region, which are considered to be the main causes of migration to the United States EFE