SC Connecticut News

In a recent study, Yale sociologist Ángel Escamilla García explores the impact of U.S. immigration laws on the journeys of migrant children from Central America traveling through Mexico to the U.S. border. The study reveals that these laws compel young migrants to make difficult decisions to avoid deportation upon reaching the United States.

Escamilla García's research, published in Ethnic and Racial Studies, is based on interviews with 32 minors from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador at shelters in southern and northern Mexico. These interviews highlight how migrant youth learn about U.S. legal classifications and adapt their strategies accordingly.

“The legal categories created by U.S. immigration law have an impact that extends well beyond the county’s territorial borders, which makes journeys of vulnerable groups, such as unaccompanied children, slower and more perilous,” said Escamilla García, assistant professor of sociology in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Unaccompanied children (UACs) are categorized separately under U.S. law due to their vulnerability. They often seek asylum or Special Immigrant Juvenile Status to gain legal status in the U.S., but must meet specific eligibility criteria.

The study found that young migrants obtain information about U.S. immigration law through conversations with other migrants (50%), consultations at shelters (20%), and social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp (30%). This knowledge influences them to conceal experiences of violence during their journey.

Edelmira, a 17-year-old from Honduras, shared her experience of sexual assault after crossing into Mexico but chose not to report it after learning it wouldn't affect her asylum application. “The attorneys already told me that it’s good to report violence so that the authorities know what is happening, but they also told me that what happened to me here doesn’t matter in my case up there [in the U.S.],” she explained.

Minors without sponsors are placed under the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement in shelters or foster homes while their cases are pending. Facundo, a 17-year-old Guatemalan, had arranged for a family friend in Florida to sponsor him but changed plans upon learning he might face detention if his sponsor wasn't a relative.

Some minors opt to travel alone believing it increases their chances of staying in the U.S., as illustrated by Junior from Guatemala who separated from his brothers near the border for this reason.

“These decisions, all made by vulnerable young people as they are traveling across Mexico toward uncertainty on the U.S. border, demonstrate that migrant minors have agency,” Escamilla García noted. “They’re not naïve. They react to what they learn and change plans due to legal considerations based on their knowledge of U.S. immigration law.”