海角论坛

March 3, 2017 鈥� A book published by Georgetown 海角论坛 professor was selected as a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2016.

Whose Child Am I? Unaccompanied, Undocumented Children in U.S. Immigration Custody is Terrio鈥檚 exploration of the plight of undocumented minors who fall into the temporary custody of the U.S. government. The Choice Outstanding Academic Title honor is bestowed on less than 10 percent of each year鈥檚 roughly 7,000 entries, making it a major recognition for Terrio.

Terrio鈥檚 280-page tome is the culmination of seven years of research and writing. After her experience studying juvenile courts in France and the undocumented unaccompanied minors in their hearings, she was inspired to examine the issue in the U.S. She visited detention facilities and conducted hundreds of interviews with both undocumented children and representatives of the system attempting to process them.

鈥淲e knew about the adult immigration detention system. 鈥� Nobody knew about this huge, shadowy system for juveniles,鈥� she said.

In theory, the system works as follows: When undocumented children are apprehended by immigration or law enforcement officials, those without a parent or guardian are transferred to a program known as 鈥渃ustodial care,鈥� under the Department of Health and Human Service鈥檚 Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).

Custodial care was envisioned as a humanitarian solution, created in response to a class-action lawsuit for young undocumented immigrants who suffered miserable conditions under the prior enforcement-run system. It provides a temporary living situation for these at-risk youth while attempting to find relatives to whom they can be released. But according to Terrio, the results often look more like prisons than shelters.

鈥淭hese are closed facilities and very strictly monitored programs. The government decides where they will be placed, when they will be released and to whom they will be released,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd then sometimes these kids act out, because they don鈥檛 understand why they鈥檝e been put under lock and key.鈥�

The system still serves a humanitarian goal 鈥� it鈥檚 designed to keep children out of the hands of the drug dealers and sex traffickers who often entrap desperate border crossers 鈥� but Terrio believes the politically motivated push for more aggressive border security has clouded its mission and created a conflict of interest. The children, she asserts, are not being served.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e diverted into this separate juvenile detention system that was created with a protective mandate 鈥� But simultaneously, they鈥檙e put into deportation proceedings in federal immigration courts, where they have no access to government-funded attorneys.鈥�

While the majority of children in this program are caught by Customs and Border Patrol agents at the U.S.-Mexico border, Terrio also tells the often-tragic stories of some who fall in another way. One child was a near-lifelong New York resident who discovered he was undocumented after being apprehended for hopping a subway turnstile. Police turned him over to ORR鈥檚 custodial care program. Now a ward of the state, he could face deportation.

鈥淚t was heartbreaking,鈥� Terrio said. 鈥淗e didn鈥檛 even speak Spanish. He was culturally American. He was asking 鈥榃hen did I become an immigrant?鈥欌��

鈥淚 saw the government on the one hand designating itself as legal guardian of these UACs (Unaccompanied Alien Children), while on the other hand they鈥檙e put into immigration court proceedings without government-funded legal representation,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 speak the language. They don鈥檛 understand the legal system. They鈥檙e at a distinct disadvantage.鈥�

The situation has further deteriorated since 2014, when Terrio鈥檚 book originally went to press, as the custodial care system was completely overrun with immigrant children fleeing the cartel- and gang-fueled conflicts that have plagued El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

鈥淲hen I first started researching, there were 6,000-8,000 kids channeled annually into the system,鈥� Terrio said. 鈥淚n 2014, it was over 61,000.鈥�

This mass exodus from Central American countries has highlighted and exacerbated existing problems within the bureaucracy to dramatic effect. What began as a small program now detains thousands of children in de facto temporary prisons, failing to provide most with adequate legal representation and hastily releasing some without proper vetting: In one 2014 case, six children were approved for release to a human trafficker.

The question of who is responsible for these children 鈥� already difficult to resolve when their numbers are small 鈥� has become all but impossible.

鈥淭he system was completely swamped, and the safeguards sort of evaporated in 2014. It was never intended to take care of this large a number of kids,鈥� Terrio said. 鈥淭o me, [the human trafficker case] was emblematic of a system that was bursting at the seams.鈥�

Unlike some expos茅s, Whose Child Am I? goes beyond critiquing the system to actually propose policy solutions. The keys, Terrio believes, are twofold: The government needs to treat the violence in Central America as a bona fide refugee crisis and fund resettlement services accordingly, then provide adequate legal representation to minors who are placed in removal proceedings in immigration court. And while President Barack Obama鈥檚 administration left many advocates wanting on this issue of undocumented immigrant rights, Terrio is concerned that a flawed but inherently humanitarian program might transform to a deportation-focused machine under President Donald Trump.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e going after kids who don鈥檛 have family in this country 鈥� kids who are the most vulnerable, really,鈥� Terrio said. 鈥淭hat signals that the new administration鈥檚 priority is to remove them as fast as they can.鈥�

Terrio has been interviewed by the  and , among other outlets, and hopes to continue drawing awareness to the hundreds of young people caught in limbo.

鈥淎t the end of the day, they鈥檙e kids, you know?鈥� she said. 鈥淣o, we can鈥檛 take care of all the problems of the world. But the factors pushing them here are so horrific that I feel policy has to shift, and at least provide some minimal protections.鈥�