A Developmental Perspective on Unaccompanied Migrant Youth in the U.S. Immigration Legal System

Abstract

Abstract This chapter focuses on a subset of immigrant youth—unaccompanied youth who enter the United States without a caregiver and without legal status—and their experiences as they navigate the U.S. immigration system. The chapter considers (a) how these youth’s developmental capacities and limitations shape their experiences within the U.S. legal system, including detention and deportation proceedings, and (b) how participation in the legal system shapes the youth’s development. It summarizes legal issues affecting migrant youth, including child detention, the Flores settlement, and the Trafficking Victim Protection Reauthorization Act; youth’s experiences in Office of Refugee Resettlement custody; available forms of relief for migrant youth; and youth’s lack of right to counsel in deportation proceedings. It also examines the effects of development on youth’s detention, understanding of and participation in the legal system, and testimony in immigration proceedings. The chapter concludes that the U.S. legal system fails to consider development science in its policies and practices with migrant youth.