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. 2019;45(2):273-292.
doi: 10.1080/1369183X.2017.1404261. Epub 2017 Dec 20.

Integration of Unaccompanied Migrant Youth in the United States: A Call for Research

Jodi Berger Cardoso  1 , Kalina Brabeck  2 , Dennis Stinchcomb  3 , Lauren Heidbrink  4 , Olga Acosta Price  5 , Óscar F Gil-García  6 , Thomas M Crea  7 , Luis H Zayas  8
Affiliations

Integration of Unaccompanied Migrant Youth in the United States: A Call for Research

Jodi Berger Cardoso et al. J Ethn Migr Stud. 2019.

Abstract

Between October 2013 and July 2016, over 156,000 children traveling without their guardians were apprehended at the US-Mexico border and transferred to the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). During that same period, ORR placed over 123,000 unaccompanied migrant youth-predominantly from Central America-with a parent or other adult sponsor residing in the US. Following placement, local communities are tasked with integrating migrant youth, many of whom experience pre- and in-transit migration traumas, family separation, limited/interrupted schooling, and unauthorised legal status, placing them at heightened risk for psychological distress, academic disengagement, maltreatment, and human trafficking. Nonetheless, fewer than 10% of young people receive formal post-release services. This paper addresses the paucity of research on the experiences of the 90% of children and youth without access to post-release services. To bridge this gap, this article: (a) describes the post-release experiences of unaccompanied youth, focusing on legal, family, health, and educational contexts; (b) identifies methodological and ethical challenges and solutions in conducting research with this population of young people and their families; and (c) proposes research to identify structural challenges to the provision of services and to inform best practices in support of unaccompanied youth.

Keywords: Central America; child migration; post-release services; refugees; unaccompanied minors.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure Statement: No potential conflicts of interest are reported by the authors.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Unaccompanied Migrant Youth Apprehensions on the US-Mexico Border Data Source: US Customs and Border Protection
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Pre-, Peri-, and Post-Migration Sources of Ecological and Individual Risk and Resiliency
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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