Whose Child Am I?: Unaccompanied, Undocumented Children in U.S. Immigration Custody

In 2014, the arrest and detention of thousands of desperate young migrants at the southwest border of the United States exposed the U.S. government's shadowy juvenile detention system, which had escaped public scrutiny for years. This book tells the story of six Central American and Mexican children who are driven from their homes by violence and deprivation, and who embark alone, risking their lives, on the perilous journey north. They suffer coercive arrests at the U.S. border, then land in detention, only to be caught up in the battle to obtain legal status. Whose Child Am I? looks inside a vast, labyrinthine system by documenting in detail the experiences of these youths, beginning with their arrest by immigration authorities, their subsequent placement in federal detention, followed by their appearance in deportation proceedings and release from custody, and, finally, ending with their struggle to build new lives in the United States. This book shows how the U.S. government got into the business of detaining children and what we can learn from this troubled history.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations Acknowledgments 1. The American Dream 2. Which Way Home 3. The Least Restrictive Setting 4. Placement in Federal Custody 5. In Custody 6. Release 7. Immigration Court 8. The New American Story Appendix Notes Acronyms and Abbreviations Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Susan J. Terrio is Professor of Anthropology at Georgetown University. She is author of Judging Mohammed: Juvenile Delinquency, Immigration, and Exclusion at the Paris Palace of Justice and Crafting the Culture and History of French Chocolate.

Review :
"A powerful and timely exposure of the institutional violence suffered by migrant minors in federal custody who are being detained under two competing agendas-mandatory detention in custodial facilities and removal proceedings in immigration courts... Whose Child Am I? underscores the imperative of immigration reform for both practical and humanitarian reasons." New York Journal of Books "This volume is neither conservative nor liberal. It is a balanced presentation of the system, pro and con, for handling undocumented children who come to this country on their own or because they are brought here... Incredibly readable and insightful. An exceptional book that does real justice to an enormously important topic... Highly Recommended." -- K. E. Murphy, CHOICE connect