Degree Year

2022

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Politics

Advisor(s)

Kristina Mani

Keywords

Child migrant, Immigration, Ethics, Cosmopolitanism, Interviews, Policy

Abstract

Yorki J. Encalada Egúsquiza, an academic who studies border issues, discusses the reality that Child Migrants (CM) face, “They are minors traveling alone, then they have to appear in immigration courts, regardless of age. We're talking about children, in some cases, toddlers, without lawyers, who have to face a court that wants to deport them.” United States immigration policy fails to aid CMs who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border; in a practice of exclusionary policy, it further traumatizes children who have journeyed to the U.S. alone. Using interviews I have conducted, memoirs, political theory, and scholarly literature, my research scrutinizes U.S. immigration policy surrounding CMs and the ethics behind policy making. This thesis examines the CM experience through three stakeholders' eyes: CMs, policy organizations, and provider organizations. Their viewpoint develops an understanding of the unethical practices of current policy while examining the everyday work that stakeholders do to aid in the CM experience. Through theoretical conceptions of cosmopolitanism and ethics, this thesis develops a framework on ethics, creating a standard for ethical policy making founded on a mutual understanding that stakeholders must be involved in policy making for CMs. This thesis calls attention to the inherent unethical nature of and sheer lack of policy for CMs and the ethical reasoning behind why the U.S. must approach this crisis in an informed and ethical way.

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