Unaccompanied Alien Children Research Articles

Social globalization, well‐being indicators and unaccompanied child migration from Central America

AbstractThis research investigates the effect of well‐being indicators and social globalization on the migration of Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) from Central America. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the surge in UAC that began in 2014 at the U.S. southern border is driven primarily by violence or whether other factors are at play. The apprehension of UAC serves as a proxy for measuring unaccompanied child migration to the United States. Unemployment rates of young adults and expected years of schooling are included as a measure of youth engagement in productive activities, while homicide rates measure the threat to leading a productive, healthy life. Global social network links are considered as possible pull factors of migration and measured through a social globalization index. The results of a fixed effects regression model reveal that youth idleness, along with increased social globalization, prove to be significant in explaining heightened UAC migration.

Children seeking asylum: Determinants of asylum claims by unaccompanied minors in the United States from 2013 to 2017

AbstractThis paper examines the treatment and processing of immigration court decisions for unaccompanied alien children (UAC) in the United States from 2013 to 2017. We focus on two primary questions in our research: (1) whether asylum cases involving UAC are substantially different in outcome than non‐UAC cases, and (2) whether there have been significant differences in the immigration courts' asylum decisions involving unaccompanied minors before and after the Trump administration came to power. We utilize various multilevel models to test individual applicant‐, immigration judge‐, county‐, and state‐level variables on the likelihood of UAC receiving a positive outcome in immigration court. We find strong support for the second hypothesis and mixed support for the first. Overall, our findings suggest that multiple political, economic, social, and geographical factors influence immigration hearings for UAC beyond the individual strength of any one child's case.

A Study and Analysis of the Treatment of Mexican Unaccompanied Minors by Customs and Border Protection

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 removal, such as asylum. As nongovernmental organizations and human rights groups have documented, however, CBP has repeatedly violated these legal standards and policies, and subjected UAC to abuses and rights violations. This article draws from surveys of 97 recently deported Mexican UAC, which examine their experiences with US immigration authorities. The study finds that Mexican UAC are detained in subpar conditions, are routinely not screened for fear of return to their home countries or for human trafficking, and are not sufficiently informed about the deportation process. The article recommends that CBP should take immediate steps to improve the treatment of UAC, that CBP and other entities responsible for the care of UAC be monitored to ensure their compliance with US law and policy, and that Mexican UAC be afforded the same procedures and protection under the TVPRA as UAC from noncontiguous states.

APA Condemns Use of Therapy Records in Immigration Cases

APA Condemns Use of Therapy Records in Immigration Cases

Introduction

“We saw no issues,” reports the Department of Homeland Security in a self-study of its practices for detaining children at the US–Mexico border, “except one unsanitary bathroom.” The system is working as it should; all is well. “CBP [Customs and Border Protection] facilities we visited,” the report summarizes, “appeared to be operating in compliance with the 2015 National Standards on Transport, Escort, Detention, and Search.” A footnote on page 2 of the September 2018 document defines the prisoners at these facilities, the “unaccompanied alien children,” as “aliens under the age of eighteen with no lawful immigration status in the United States and without a parent or legal guardian in the United States ‘available’ to care and [provide] physical custody for them.” Available is in scare quotes. This tic of punctuation discloses to us that the parents of these children have been arrested and removed. They arenot available, and cannot take physical custody of their children, because they themselves are in physical custody. In a further typographical error, the word “provide” has been omitted: the children arewithout a parent or legal guardian in the United States “available” to care and physical custody for them.The dropped word turns “physical custody” into a verb and sets this new action,to physical custody, in tense relation to “care.”

Suffer the Little Children to Come: The Legal Rights of Unaccompanied Alien Children under United States Federal Court Jurisprudence

Abstract This article analyses United States (US) federal court jurisprudence to determine the legal rights of unaccompanied alien children (UAC) in various stages of immigration enforcement proceedings. After briefly discussing statistics on UAC in the US, it explains the legal context of US laws governing unaccompanied minors. Through examining 40 cases decided by the 12 US Circuit Courts of Appeals and various federal district courts, the article specifies how these courts interpreted and expanded on the procedural legal rights of UAC upon apprehension by immigration officials, during placement or detention decisions of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), prior to voluntary departure, during asylum proceedings, when rearrested after release, and while released pending immigration proceedings. According to the US federal courts, the government must grant unaccompanied minors procedural due process if it denies their release to the custody of an available and willing legal custodian. Case law examining the rights of UAC prior to voluntary departure emphasizes the need to grant them the opportunity to consult with a responsible adult, including a lawyer from a free legal services list that should be provided to them. Federal courts have also tackled various procedural issues concerning asylum claims filed by UAC. These include the right of third parties to custody of the unaccompanied minor, the minority age at the time of the asylum application, and the right of UAC to request consent for a state juvenile court’s jurisdiction prior to applying for Special Immigrant Juvenile status. In removal proceedings against UAC, federal courts have elaborated on the scope and meaning of the right to counsel and the right to a bond rehearing upon their rearrest because of allegations of gang membership. Finally, federal courts have also examined issues concerning the rights of UAC while detained in ORR facilities and while in US territory. These include the right of an unaccompanied alien child to terminate a pregnancy while in ORR custody and the right not to be subjected to physical and sexual abuse while placed in a detention facility.

What's happening in the Texas ‘tent city’ for immigrant children

In October, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) went to Tornillo, Texas, to visit the temporary shelter it established for “unaccompanied alien children” (UAC) at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) land port of entry (LPOE). The press referred to this shelter as a “tent city.”

When Special Immigrant Juveniles and Trial Courts Intersect: The Value of Data-Informed Case Management

In recent years, the United States experienced a large influx of unaccompanied alien children (UAC). While state courts do not adjudicate the immigration status of UAC, depending on the circumstances, courts may find themselves involved in the process by which UAC seek immigration relief. Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) is a designation under the US Immigration and Nationality Act of 1990 to assist such children obtain temporary immigration relief and possibly lawful permanent residency. Obtaining SIJS requires specific factual findings to be made by a state juvenile court in a predicate order. The influx of UAC has resulted in increases in cases with SIJS requests experienced by state courts nationwide. This article describes a Maryland trial court’s evolving approach to the management of these cases and the use of data to inform and guide that evolution.

Chinese Difference and Deservingness

Each year, approximately 1,500 youth migrate alone and clandestinely from China to the United States. If apprehended and placed in removal proceedings, these individuals and their legal advocates often prioritize specific narratives of family and age to qualify for legal relief. Such narratives are not new, of course. Shaped and arguably demanded by the law and broader ideologies of race, childhood, and citizenship, in many ways these accounts reflect both the intent and the constraints of an earlier subset of migrants, the Chinese “paper sons” who purchased family stories and identity papers to circumvent the Chinese Exclusion Act. Yet, as this article demonstrates, a meaningful divergence exists—one chiefly dependent on contemporary migrants’ status as “children.” For Chinese youth designated Unaccompanied Alien Children, establishing the vulnerability worthy of protection largely relies on a complex tale of cultural obligation and coercive, exploitative parents. As a result, instead of selecting one family over another as a century ago, today a specific and considerably more damaging image of the migrant’s family is put forth. Moving between the “paper sons” at the start of the 20th century and those daughters and sons at the end, this article critically explores the role that relatedness, either fictitious or filtered, plays in establishing legal relief in the United States. It likewise examines the unsettling of valued ties that occurs when actual, intimate relationships are silenced or diminished in the process.

Falling through the cracks: The paradox of post-release services for unaccompanied child migrants

Immigrant children who enter the United States unaccompanied by a parent or guardian and without legal status are defined by the US legal system as unaccompanied alien children (UAC). Limited data from advocacy organizations has found that UAC are leaving their countries of origin because of threats of violence and privation, but virtually no research examines how they integrate into their communities and families once they settle in the US. Drawing on interview data with UAC and case studies of four programs contracted to provide services for them, this exploratory study explores UAC's unique barriers to integration and the effectiveness of these programs to help them adapt. Findings emphasize the impact of geography and the uneven safety net in immigrant new destinations, such as suburbs and the American southeast. Implications for social work practitioners and policymakers are discussed.

Forgotten Children of Immigration and Family Law: How The Absence of Legal Aid Affects Children in the United States

The absence of government‐appointed legal counsel in immigration proceedings adversely affects large numbers of children in the United States. Children born in the United States to parents without citizenship status (U.S.‐born children of noncitizen parents or UCNP) are harmed by a parent's detention and removal. Unaccompanied alien children (UAC) who have entered the country without legal status are adversely affected by their own detention and removal. The possibility of obtaining relief from removal is drastically diminished by the lack of legal representation. Currently UAC and immigrant parents are not entitled to court‐appointed attorneys. Any meaningful change in immigration law, such as a federal statutory amendment to provide UAC and immigrant parents with government‐appointed counsel is unlikely due to the present political dissension in Congress regarding this issue. Because UAC and immigrant parents are not entitled to government‐funded legal representation, a pro bono legal service system has developed, but is unable to meet the present need adequately. For immigrant parents, this Note proposes the adoption of a statute to allow the appointment of court liaisons in family court proceedings. The court liaison is a nonattorney who is familiar with the processes of the family court and ensures that immigrant parents are fully informed regarding all pertinent family court proceedings. For UAC, this Note proposes an amendment to the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act to mandate the appointment of a child advocate to all UAC. The child advocate is not a lawyer, but works with the UAC's attorney to provide the child with legal representation and advocacy. Key Points for the Family Court Community: UCNP confront the loss of parents to detention and removal. Children are condemned to limbo, torn between absent biological parents and placement in foster care. The recent surge in the number of UAC who enter the United States by crossing the border from Mexico has been described as a humanitarian crisis. These children often remain alone without legal protection, vulnerable to detention and removal. Ideally, UAC and the immigrant parents would be provided with government‐funded legal representation in immigration proceedings. In the absence of the federal statutory reform necessary to make that a reality, state statutory reform to allow for the provision of court liaison programs for immigrant parents and federal statutory reform to allow the appointment of child advocates for UAC can begin to offer children and families needed legal support and advocacy.

Humanitarian Protection for Children Fleeing Gang-Based Violence in the Americas

By the end of 2011, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) began to see a steady rise in the number of Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) from Central America, particularly from the Northern Triangle countries— El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala—arriving to the US-Mexico border. The number of children entering the United States from these countries more than doubled during fiscal year (FY) 2012 and continued to grow through FY 2014. In FY 2013, CBP apprehended over 35,000 children. That number almost doubled to 66,127 in FY 2014, with Central American children outnumbering their Mexican counterparts for the first time. Research has identified high levels of violence perpetrated by gangs and drug cartels in the Northern Triangle countries and Mexico as a primary reason for this surge. Under the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) passed with bi-partisan support in 2008, children from Central America cannot be deported immediately and must be given a court hearing. In contrast, unless there are indicia of trafficking, Mexican children are returned immediately to their country. Advocates have expressed concern that expedited removal of Mexican children places children with valid humanitarian claims at risk of being returned to harm, including forcible recruitment into drug cartels and trafficking rings. After the spike in arrivals in FY 2014, several members of Congress called for a change in the TVPRA, urging that Central American children be treated like Mexican children and undergo expedited procedures for their removal. Many of their constituents supported such measures. The Obama administration requested additional funds to strengthen border security, speed up deportation procedures and implement measures to address the humanitarian crisis in Central America. Groups and individuals across the country came together to provide shelter, medical and psychological care, and legal representation to many of these children. Despite these efforts, much needs to be done to ensure that their rights are protected. This paper provides an overview of the violence perpetrated by gangs and other criminal organizations which compels many children to flee their communities. It describes the US government's obligations to protect UAC upon arrival, and good practices of other governments relating to the protection of child migrants and refugees. It also discusses Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, gang-related asylum case law, and the difficulty of prevailing in asylum claims based on persecution by gangs. It concludes with recommendations to the administration and policymakers to ensure compliance with US obligations under national and international laws.

An Analysis of the Health Hazards Posed by a Surge of Unaccompanied Alien Children to the Lower Rio Grande Valley Border

The health hazards posed by the 2104 surge of unaccompanied alien children to the Lower Rio Grande Valley border were minimal.

Humanitarian Protection for Children Fleeing Gang-Based Violence in the Americas

By the end of 2011, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) began to see a steady rise in the number of Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) from Central America, particularly from the Northern Tr...

Crossing the border from boyhood to manhood: male youth experiences of crossing, loss, and structural violence as unaccompanied minors

Despite the immense literature that exists on the dilemmas and unjust practices surrounding migration, little has been written about the youth who make migratory journeys on their own or who are separated from their adult companions along the way. Termed ‘Unaccompanied Alien Children’ by Homeland Security, the experiences of these youth provide insight into how immigration policies are enacted and how they reflect national views on the poor and marginalised. The research discussed here covers six years of interviews and participant observation with male youth residing in shelters on both sides of the US/Mexico border at the San Diego/Tijuana corridor. The research demonstrates how state policies and perceptions of gendered male youth by both nations reinvents them as dangerous while at the same time denies them a masculine subjectivity, thereby furthering their marginalisation and assuring their failure.