“The INS Cannot Simply Send Them Off into the Night:” The Language of Detention in US Court Cases on Migrant Child Detention

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dc.contributor.authorLorraine Thompson, Anna
dc.date.accessioned2017-05-01T17:43:51Z
dc.date.available2017-05-01T17:43:51Z
dc.date.copyright2017en_US
dc.date.issued2017-05-01
dc.description.abstractIn this paper, I argue that the language used by American court cases allows for the differential application of rights and treatment of children in detention. In wake of what the media dubbed the “Central American Refugee Crisis” between 2011 and 2014, the US-Mexico border experienced an increase in the number of unaccompanied children and family groups. Apprehended children and their families were placed in detention centers. My research combined cultural and linguistic anthropological techniques to question the mass incarceration of these children. From a selection of six court cases all pertaining to the detention of migrant children I argue that courts consideration of a child as both an “alien” and a “minor,” the ambiguous use of the principle “best interests,” and a child’s familial status all contribute to children receiving different rights while detained. This research also discusses how the experience of “the state” as a monolithic and unified entity is made manifest though the everyday actions of legal actors, including word choice.en_US
dc.description.reviewstatusRevieweden_US
dc.description.scholarlevelUndergraduateen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/8042
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.subjectMigrationen_US
dc.subjectChildrenen_US
dc.subjectDetentionen_US
dc.subjectBest interesten_US
dc.subjectMinoren_US
dc.subjectAlienen_US
dc.subject.departmentDepartment of Anthropology
dc.title“The INS Cannot Simply Send Them Off into the Night:” The Language of Detention in US Court Cases on Migrant Child Detentionen_US
dc.typeHonours Thesisen_US

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