casa de crianza

Del libro "En las sombras de Estados Unidos":
"Hablamos con gente que estaba viviendo en recámaras, en la calle, en bibliotecas públicas, en casas de crianza y en un estacionamiento de campo de golf."

¿Eso sería orfanato?

Y también:
Puede que haya una diferencia legal entre el que busca asilo para provocar persecución y el que podemos llamar un refugiado económical, pero yo sostengo que en la cara de un ser desesperado, la diferencia puede ser insignificante.

¿Evitar persecución" no tiene más sentido?

foster homes

only to suffer persecution

...and I am absolutely not believing I'm able to suggest anything to you, so I will quickly defer to any other suggestion. My ability to read Spanish is somewhat like trying to wade through molasses. I can do it. It isn't easy.

foster homes---makes sense

I think your suggestion of "only to suffer persecution" is probably on the right track, but it still doesn't work quite right for me. The author is saying that refugees who face persecution if they return to their countries of origin are eligible for asylum, but refugees who are escaping poverty are not. He's making the case that the legal distinction doesn't really make sense since people seeking asylum for either reason suffer the same misery and humiliation. He's not saying that they come here for asylum and end up experiencing more persecution here (though that, too, is true), it's that coming here to avoid persecution is seen as more worthy of compassion than coming here to escape poverty.

My Spanish really isn't all that great, but thanks for the compliment. But, I'm improving day by day and this forum has contributed a lot. I just wish I had your eloquence with English.

Eloquence? You should have heard me when I was asked to do an impromptu prayer in Spanish. I can't even do that in English. The Hispanic pastor once asked me to do a homily just once without reading it. I did. But I nearly had to have it memorized, and I used cue cards.

What I get is: Maybe there would be a legal difference between someone who seeks asylum only to face persecution and one we can call an economical refugee, but I hold that when in the face of someone in despair, the difference may be negligible.

I agree. It is only common decency to first offer support and concern to someone in despair.