Parents of global youth: contesting debt and belonging

A Better “Best Interests”: Immigration Policy in a Comparative Context

“…The SIJ petition is arguably the only way by which the voice of the child might figure into immigration proceedings. While in many ways consistent with the view that children are necessarily dependent on or victims of adults (Heidbrink ; Heidbrink and Statz ; Statz , ), the SIJ visa program theoretically presents an opportunity by which advocates might push for expanded rights of children and, ultimately, a more nuanced perspective on migrant youth. Yet, in practice, the SIJ visa remains a fairly narrow remedy for unauthorized children in the United States (Ajemian 2007; Heidbrink ).…”

“…Young people may circulate between households or geographical territories in an effort to satisfy basic needs, ensure their physical and psychic integrity, or expand educational, professional, or marriage opportunities—and, importantly, this mobility is often undertaken with the explicit or tacit support of their extended kinship networks. Yet, as the literature reveals, considerations of best interests for unaccompanied children are often fortified by socially situated notions of what constitutes a “good” childhood, which often conflict with how young people and their families understand the space of youth and the meanings of migration (Mai ; Heidbrink and Statz ; Galli ; Statz ; Heidbrink ).…”

“…Additionally, when considering children's release to a sponsor or parent, there is little to no weight granted to the distinct cultural contexts from which young people and their families originate. Relying on biological understandings of family discounts the multiple and varied family formations found around the globe (Heidbrink , ; Heidbrink and Statz ).…”

In Their Own Words: Children and the Facilitation of Migrant Journeys on the U.S.-Mexico Border

“…Yet this research has often faced criticism for the way it provides no room for children to articulate their own perspectives or to explain the complexities of their experiences beyond those that narrowly describe them as victims or offenders. Critical scholars have raised concerns over the ways children are portrayed as exploited, poor and desperate victims (Howard, 2014;Okyere, 2018), offspring to greedy, ignorant and backward parents (Heidbrink & Statz, 2017;Howard, 2012) but also as predators in the making, leaving the criminalization of their communities and their families unexamined. In the case of Juarez, the distorted and simplistic narrative of the child smuggler has also been reproduced by local authorities and academics, and has even been used to justify the surveillance and criminalization of local youth.…”

The Coercive Power of Debt: Migration and Deportation of Guatemalan Indigenous Youth

“…In my interviews with young migrants, many youths and their families discuss the decision to migrate collectively, weighing, for example, the age and earning potential of young over older family members; the Spanish language ability of the would‐be migrant—a skill necessary to negotiate migration through Mexico and for everyday life upon arrival in the U.S.; the young person's character amidst the temptations of alcohol, drugs, sex, and consumerism associated with the U.S.; and gender, given the stark realities of sexual abuse and rape that place female migrants at heightened risk. Indeed, migration debt is not always negative or exclusively financial; it may bolster youths’ position within expansive kinship, communal, and ethnic networks that offer emotional and financial support over time and space (Heidbrink and Statz ). For young people, debt is not exclusively understood in monetized terms but also as a form of indebtedness and belonging in which migration debt may be seen as a form of trust, investment, and social obligation that binds a child or youth to family.…”