“They Were Going to Kill Me”: Resilience in Unaccompanied Immigrant Minors

Abstract

Unaccompanied and undocumented immigrant minors (UUIM) have become the focus of increased attention. Unfortunately, public discourse is often decontextualized, simplistic, and polarized. Empirical literature fails to capture the experiences of UUIM and identify strategies to promote their well-being. In this article we begin to address these gaps through qualitative inquiry. We analyzed written narratives of 292 Latino UUIM using a theoretical thematic analysis. Participants described motives for, and experiences of, the migration process. Guided by Ungar et al.'s (2007) conceptualization of resilience, five subthemes emerged: access to material resources, relationships, identity and cohesion, social justice, and perilous journey. The results from our study highlight (a) the youth's difficult and often traumatic experiences in their homeland, (b) the factors that made migrating to the United States appealing to them, and (c) the dangerous journey they experienced. Implications for practice, research, and advocacy are discussed.

A matter of survival: why unaccompanied children leave the northern triangle of Central America

“…The desire for family reunification is explicitly identified as a motive for migration in the following quotations drawn from Becker Herbst et al's (2018) Orozco and Yansura (2014) reported that, in their survey of adult immigrants from the NTCA, between 12% and 16% of respondents named family reunification as the main cause for the migration of unaccompanied children (p. 15). The Guatemalan NGO staff members interviewed by Nichols et al (2017) affirm that it is not only children who wish to be reunited with parents, but also migrant parents who plan to send for their children once they are economically stable and the children are old enough to make the journey on their own (p. 1979).…”

Injustice in the Justice System: Reforming Inequities for True “Justice for All”

“…Between October 1, 2015, and August 31, 2016, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol apprehended nearly 55,000 undocumented, unaccompanied immigrant minors at the border of the southwest region of the United States (U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 2016). UUIM cross the border into the United States to afford themselves and their families a better future (Aldarondo & Becker, 2011;Becker Herbst et al, 2018). UUIM have reported taking a perilous journeys characterized by extreme hunger and thirst, physical injuries, illness, risk of physical harm, and poor treatment from immigration officials (Becker Herbst et al, 2018).…”

“…UUIM cross the border into the United States to afford themselves and their families a better future (Aldarondo & Becker, 2011;Becker Herbst et al, 2018). UUIM have reported taking a perilous journeys characterized by extreme hunger and thirst, physical injuries, illness, risk of physical harm, and poor treatment from immigration officials (Becker Herbst et al, 2018). Youth who enter the U.S. immigration system are held in custody by the subsidiary agencies of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.…”

“…As a next step, most UUIM are transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement and placed into detention facilities to await their immigration process outcome (Menjívar & Perreira, 2019). While waiting, many youth are placed in short-term holding cells called las hieleras [the freezers] for up to two weeks (Becker Herbst et al, 2018;Jones & Podkul, 2012). These facilities may be so overcrowded that youth have to take turns lying down on the concrete floor.…”

Academic success and resiliency factors: A case study of unaccompanied immigrant children

“…Unaccompanied immigrant children as students face a myriad of problems when familial resources are unavailable (Herbst et al, 2018). This student population is at-risk and faces profound disadvantages when they begin school.…”