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This article argues that the U.S. Congress should make changes to extend protections under Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS). First, says the author, Congress should pass legislation to eliminate the requirement that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) must consent to grants of SIJS. Next, Congress should eliminate the per-country limitation on SIJS-based adjustment of status visas and triple the number of visas allocated per year in order to account for all the unaccompanied minors that may be eligible for SIJS. These implementations would give effect…
Abstract
There has been a record surge of unaccompanied immigrant minors (UAMs) entering the United States, with 86% of those apprehended at the US‐Mexico border originating from the Central American countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. A majority of immigrant children are separated from either one or both parents at various points during the migration process. Although average separations last 4 or more years, and may be deeply distressing, there is little research on family separations among Central American UAMs. Further, little is known about the developmental impact of…
This article from the journal of Pediatrics argues that the treatment of migrant children at the U.S. southern border fulfills the three criteria for torture according to the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) and Rome Statute. These criteria are: severe pain and suffering, purposeful, and state consent. The article includes a call to action for pediatricians and child health professionals to "collaborate with other advocates and advocacy organizations to forge local, national and international responses to stop and prevent…
Abstract
The current global migration crisis has had a profound impact on family structures and dynamics. In the past few decades, scholars have paid increasing attention to the changing realities of families in transnational spheres through the: conceptualisation of the transnational family; ethnographic studies on transnational child-rearing practices; demographic analyses of cross-border families and more. As member of family units, children have naturally been part of the discussion, however few studies have explored the transnational child as the unit of analysis. In an effort in…
Abstract
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a public health order on March 20, 2020, restricting people seeking asylum in the United States, as well as unaccompanied non-citizen children attempting to cross into the United States, from accessing legal protections guaranteed to them under U.S. and international law. Under the order, such individuals are instead immediately expelled from the country in an effort to protect border facilities and the citizenry of the United States from COVID-19. As the order reasons, these immediate expulsions minimize the…
Executive Summary
The routine human rights abuses and due process violations of unaccompanied alien children (UAC) by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have contributed to a mounting humanitarian and legal crisis along the US–Mexico border. In the United States, the treatment of UAC is governed by laws, policies, and standards drawn from the Flores Settlement, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), and CBP procedures and directives, which are intended to ensure UAC’s protection, well-being, and ability to pursue relief from…
Abstract
Family separation as a result of parental deportation of immigrants living in the USA triggers both child and family trauma and economic impact to the state. A child’s separation from their parents is an adverse childhood experience that can induce depression, anxiety, and aggression and could create long-lasting negative impacts and reduce their likelihood of succeeding socially, academically, and economically. The implications of the influx of parents into the child welfare system for welfare authorities are discussed, highlighting Florida as an example. With respect to the…
Abstract
This case explores the complex ways unaccompanied Latinx Indigenous minors experience the intersection of immigration policies and U.S. school policies and practices and the implications this has for school leaders. As such, we present three critical incidents that center three students’ experience with and through U.S. schooling—from enrollment, to navigating schooling linguistic support, and then finally the ways in which disciplinary policies heighten the consequences of immigration reform. Through the critical incidents, readers will meet Santiago, Manuel, and Cristian…
Abstract
Around 4.5 million U.S. citizen children are at risk of being separated from a parent due to deportation. This means that many citizen children who have a deported parent are growing up with fragmented families and long-distant parents. These children are often in the care of their remaining family members. Therapists need to understand what remaining family members can do to ease the transition for children and help them to make sense of their parent being deported. A retrospective lens is employed to explore adult experiences of their family post-deportation. Findings show that…
Abstract
Families who left their homes in Central America and Mexico searching for a better life in the United States often left their children behind until they were financially secure enough to send for them. The children usually waited years to reunite with their parents while many never made the voyage. The children’s emotional stories are conveyed in their own words detailing how vulnerable they felt when abandoned, confused, and at times, rejected after finally connecting with their long-lost families. The psychological trauma for the parents, and especially for their children, is…