The United States and the Border: Mexican Children's Drawings of Family Separation

• In Event: Elevating Youth Voices: Documenting Journeys of Migration and Separation

Abstract

In the current age of border talk, enforcement, and policies that further separate families, children who remain in Mexico are rarely asked what they understand the border and the United States to be like. While there have been reports of the brutal effects of family separation at the border for children, especially through drawings, children’s perceptions of the U.S., migration, and family separation also exist farther away from the physical border between the U.S. and Mexico. This paper seeks to understand how Mexican children make sense of their family separation through narratives and drawings of their understanding of the U.S. Data stems from a three year, multi-sited ethnography across New York City and several states in Mexico.

Authors

• Olivia Barbieri, Harvard University

• Virginia Alex, Boston College

• Gabrielle Oliveira, Harvard University