Ataiants, J., Cohen, C., Riley, A. H., Tellez Lieberman, J., Reidy, M. C., & Chilton, M. (2017). Unaccompanied children at the United States border, a human rights crisis that can be addressed with policy change. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 20(4), 1000–1010. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-017-0577-5

Summary

In this source, the authors talk about the influx of unaccompanied children who are crossing the US-Mexico border and how their rights are being violated by government authorities. They mention that the reasons as to why they are fleeing their homes is because of violence, poverty, and exploitation. This is causing a human rights crisis in the US and it is affecting the health of these immigrant children. The focus of their paper is to get the audience to get some background on the situation surrounding unaccompanied children and to recommend the improvement of some policy and procedures in order to encourage the wellbeing of these unaccompanied minors. The author made a great point when they said, “Without legal orientation, some children are subjected to deportation in absentia for failure to appear in immigration court.” This shows how the wellbeing of these children is affected because these children are coming to the US in order to be safe and live a better life, but if they’re deported, they’re just being put back into a dangerous environment which affects their good health.

Rhetorical analysis

This article is a Journal. The name is: Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health. The author’s are all part of different affiliations but most of them are affiliated with Universities. The purpose of this journal is to highlight the struggles that immigrant minors face once they make it to the US border and are apprehended. It is also to showcase how the policies that surround these immigrant children need to be reformed in order to actually benefit the wellbeing of the minors. The author’s do a great job on giving recommendations and suggestions as to what should be done and how it would benefit immigrant children. And not only do they give suggestions as to what should be done, they also make sure to include reasons why their suggestions might be faulty. One of the suggestions made is to pass a pending bill that was first introduced in 2016. “The bill guarantees legal counsel for minors and vulnerable categories of immigrants, mandates legal orientation for detained immigrants, and proposes a pilot case management program to increase immigration court appearance rates for undocumented immigrants, including unaccompanied children.” This is a good first step that should be implemented because it can ensure that children are being represented correctly and thus reduce the rate of immigrant minors who get deported.

This source is very credible because they article has many references that back up the statistics and claims that the author’s make. this makes the source a strong piece of writing because it introduces a lot of factual information in an organized way. It is relevant to my research question because it not only talks about adjudication and the policies surrounding legal counsel, but it mentions ways that the government can help these children get fair hearings to ensure that their safety and wellbeing isn’t at risk. The conclusions that were made in the article is that the government should aim to take immediate action in order to improve their screening processes, give proper training to their employees, and to steer clear of inappropriate and degrading language. This would help improve the health and welfare of immigrant children in America and it would show that the government has their best interests at heart.

Quotables

“From the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it reaffirms that “childhood is entitled to special care and assistance,” that children need “special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection,” and that “there are children living in exceptionally difficult situations” who “need special consideration” [1].”

“In reality, however, children have to rely on pro bono assistance from a network of immigrant lawyers and legal clinics with limited resources [23]. The process is further exacerbated by language barriers, as many unaccompanied children do not speak English and there is shortage of interpreters in immigration courts [32].”