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Unaccompanied Migrant Children and Youth: Navigating Relational Borderlands

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Children and Borders

Part of the book series: Studies in Childhood and Youth ((SCY))

Abstract

Liliana is a six-year-old girl from Tamaulipas, Mexico. In 2012, her parents hired smugglers to bring her across the Mexico-U.S. border. They feared for Liliana’s safety because of the cartel violence that plagues Tamaulipas. Yet, Liliana’s smuggler failed to get her across the border unnoticed. While he fled, she was apprehended by a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent, taken to an adult detention facility near the border for processing, and then transferred to a U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) shelter for unaccompanied minors. There, she was clothed and counseled while awaiting reunification with her parents. The center also provided an opportunity for Liliana to join other detained child migrants in a classroom setting, where a teacher provided lessons to stimulate children of various ages. Like all detained unaccompanied minors, Liliana’s legal immigration proceedings began immediately following her apprehension. She attended her first court hearing once released from the shelter. When questioned by the judge, Liliana did not understand that she had crossed an international border and was presently in a different country (Preston, 2012). She only knew that she was finally with her parents.

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Authors
  1. Stuart C. Aitken
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  2. Kate Swanson
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  3. Elizabeth G. Kennedy
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. European University Cyprus, Cyprus

    Spyros Spyrou (associate professor of Anthropology and Sociology) (associate professor of Anthropology and Sociology)

  2. European University Cyprus, Cyprus

    Miranda Christou (assistant professor of Sociology of Education) (assistant professor of Sociology of Education)

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© 2014 Stuart C. Aitken, Kate Swanson and Elizabeth G. Kennedy

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Aitken, S.C., Swanson, K., Kennedy, E.G. (2014). Unaccompanied Migrant Children and Youth: Navigating Relational Borderlands. In: Spyrou, S., Christou, M. (eds) Children and Borders. Studies in Childhood and Youth. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137326317_13

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