The Politics of Immigrant Categorization: Unaccompanied Central American Minors

• In Event: Ninez Migrante No Acompanada

Abstract

Literature on the seeking and granting of asylum often points to the long history of the concept, with World War II signifying the point when states recognized the need to formalize both the definition of a refugee and states’ responsibility to grant asylum. Refugees are entitled to basic protections under the 1951 convention and the 1967 protocol, which removed the geographic limits that had restricted the 1951 convention to Europeans escaping the persecution that accompanied World War II. By law, refugees cannot be sent back to countries where their lives would be in danger, yet repeatedly we observe instances in which refugees are defined as migrants - illegal migrants - and are consequently criminalized. This paper argues that the deportation of Central American children seeking asylum in the United States underscores the failure of both the Refugee Convention and receiving states to protect individuals who are fleeing danger. Heightened gang warfare in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador since 2012 has resulted in a drastic increase in the number of unaccompanied minors entering the United States from these countries via Mexico. Although the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) has responded by providing accommodations and care for the children and various organizations – primarily charitable organizations – have provided legal services, a large number of children have been deported to the countries from which they fled, despite the internationally accepted non-refoulement principle.

Author

• Terry-Ann Jones