Precarious Protections : Unaccompanied Minors Seeking Asylum in the United States

More children than ever are crossing international borders alone to seek asylum worldwide. In the past decade, over a half million children have fled from Central America to the United States, seeking safety and a chance to continue lives halted by violence. Yet upon their arrival, they fail to find the protection that our laws promise, based on the universally shared belief that children should be safeguarded. A meticulously researched ethnography, __Precarious Protections__ chronicles the experiences and perspectives of Central American unaccompanied minors and their immigration attorneys as they pursue applications for refugee status in the US asylum process. Chiara Galli debunks assumptions about asylum, including the idea that people are being denied protection because they file bogus claims. Instead, the United States interprets asylum law far more narrowly than what is necessary to recognize real-world experiences of escape from life-threatening violence, particularly those experiences unique to children in Central America. Galli reveals the formidable challenges of lawyering with children and exposes the human toll of the US immigration bureaucracy. More children than ever are crossing international borders alone to seek asylum worldwide. In the past decade, over a half million children have fled from Central America to the United States, seeking safety and a chance to continue lives halted by violence. Yet upon their arrival, they fail to find the protection that our laws promise, based on the broadly shared belief that children should be safeguarded. A meticulously researched ethnography, Precarious Protections chronicles the experiences and perspectives of Central American unaccompanied minors and their immigration attorneys as they pursue applications for refugee status in the US asylum process. Chiara Galli debunks assumptions about asylum, including the idea that people are being denied protection because they file bogus claims. In practice, the United States interprets asylum law far more narrowly than what is necessary to recognize real-world experiences of escape from life-threatening violence. This is especially true for children from Central America. Galli reveals the formidable challenges of lawyering with children and exposes the human toll of the US immigration bureaucracy. "Based on six years of ethnographic fieldwork and interviews spanning the Obama and Trump administrations, Precarious Protections chronicles the experiences and perspectives of Central American unaccompanied minors and their immigration attorneys as they pursue applications for refugee status in the US asylum process. The book reveals that the commonsense understanding of asylum as a form of protection for people who fear returning to their homes is nothing like how the asylum law works in action. Narrowly interpreted US asylum law fails to adequately recognize the experiences of youth fleeing Central America today, leaving too many at risk of deportation back to life-threatening danger"-- Provided by publisher "[This book] chronicles the experiences and perspectives of Central American unaccompanied minors and their immigration attorneys as they pursue applications for refugee status in the U.S. asylum process. Chiara Galli debunks assumptions about asylum, including the idea that people are being denied protection because they file bogus claims. In practice, the United States interprets asylum law far more narrowly than what is necessary to recognize real world experiences of escape from life-threatening violence. This is especially true for children from Central America. Galli reveals the formidable challenges of lawyering with children and exposes the human toll of the US immigration bureaucracy"-- Back cover Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments 1. Exclusion and Protection in US Immigration Law and Policy 2. Central American Youths Escape from Violence 3. Enter the Bureaucratic Maze: The Legal Socialization of Unaccompanied Minors Begins 4. Access to Legal Representation: Representing Eligible Youths or Choosing the “Compelling” Case 5. Lawyering with Unaccompanied Minors: Helping Youths Apply for Asylum and Protections for Abandoned, Abused, or Neglected Children 6. Coming of Age under the Gaze of the State 7. Beyond Precarious Protections: Lessons for Humane Immigration Reform Methods Appendix Notes References Index