Term Paper on "Special Immigrant Juveniles"

Term Paper 25 pages (7805 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Special Immigrant Juveniles in the United States: Who They Are, What They Get and Why They Get It

At any rate, we think it not improper to say that deportation under the circumstances would be deplorable. Whether the relator came here in arms or at the age of ten, he is as much our product as though his mother had borne him on American soil. He knows no other language, no other people, no other habits, than ours; he will be as much a stranger in Poland as any one born of ancestors who immigrated in the seventeenth century. However heinous his crimes, deportation is to him exile, a dreadful punishment, abandoned by the common consent of all civilized peoples. -- United States ex rel. Klonis v. Davis, 13 F.2d, 630, 630 (2d Cir. 1926) (L. Hand, J.).

Introduction

The epigram above serves to highlight the unique status that has historically been enjoyed by immigrant juveniles in the United States. While the nation is experiencing some fundamental changes in its immigration policies that promise to have profound implications for people seeking to emigrate to the United States in the future following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, well before this time special consideration had already been assigned to certain categories of alien juveniles that remain in effect today. In the 1980s, the country witnessed the greatest increase in immigration rates since the beginning of that century; according to Dentler, immigrants arrive in the United States at a rate of over one million a year, mostly from Mexico, Central America, and Asia. In 1990, Congress created the special immigrant juvenile category, defined as undocumented children who have been adjudicated as dependents of the state as a result of abandonment, neglect, or abuse (Abel et al. At 873). While this category does not afford universal protections from other immigration law provisions or provide absolute guarantees of citizenship, the special immigrant juvenile category does carry with it a wide range of protections and benefits for those so designated. This paper provides a background and overview of juvenile immigrants in America, how the special immigrant juvenile designation came about, followed by an analysis of constraints to their representation. A summary of the research will be provided in the conclusion.

Review and Discussion

Background and Overview. Following the massive waves of large-scale immigration to the United States over the last 40 years, immigrants and their children total 55 million persons, or one out of every five Americans (Louie at 77). The incorporation of adult immigrants, as well as those juveniles who arrived here before attaining their maturity, has far-reaching implications for the United States today and in the future. One of these implications has been the emergence of new concentrations of ethnic groups in several states and metropolitan areas; another concerns the eventual outcomes for these immigrant groups. Historically, the vast majority of immigrants to the United States have fared very well, and have managed to assimilate themselves while maintaining a semblance of their native cultures in their new homeland. Things are different today, though, and the country is at war on a number of fronts that all involve foreigners to some extent or another. In this environment, immigration has assumed a new level of importance for the American public who is clamoring for reductions in the numbers of newcomers who are allowed into the country and for what purposes.

Today, perhaps the most visible agencies in the United States that are responsible for administering the programs for juvenile immigrants are the Homeland Security's Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS), which assumed most of the responsibilities for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) as part of that department's creation in 2003 (Immigration and Naturalization Service at 1) and the juvenile court system (Champion et al. At 34). These two governmental agencies have assumed a critical role in how and when juvenile immigrants are allowed into the United States, for what purposes and for what duration.

According to Champion et al., it is reasonably accurate to characterize the juvenile court as being the foundation of the juvenile justice system in the country because in some ways, after the court was established, the judicial "system" tended to develop around it. "The juvenile court did not spring suddenly full-blown onto the American justice scene," Champion et al. note, "In fact, it is possible to view the juvenile court as the culmination of several centuries of jurisprudential evolution" (at 35). In the early part of the 20th century, it was claimed that the "evil effects of immigration show themselves in an alarming increase of pauperism and crime" (Hourwich at 353). This attitude towards immigration in general during was focused on preventing newcomers to the country from taking good-paying jobs from those already here, and the picture that emerged from these early efforts at immigration control was largely one characterized by the need to control crime amid these impoverished and marginalized segments of society.

Wolcott points out that, "Since the latter half of the nineteenth century, the police have been the foremost public authorities who regulate juvenile crime and delinquency. More often than not, police tactics have been portrayed as crudely punitive, rather than sympathetic to children and youth" (p. 349). This author maintains that the creation of juvenile courts during this period in American history by well-meaning but misguided social reformers served to define much of the behavior that was characteristic of working-class immigrant youths, thereby framing the concept of delinquency around behaviors typically associated with special immigrant juveniles from the very beginning (Wolcott at 349).

In the United States, two events in particular served to fuel the creation of a separate juvenile court system in the first place. The first event was the Industrial Revolution of the mid-to-late 19th century that transformed the nation from its origins as a rural, agrarian economy to an economy increasingly based on manufacturing and heavy industry. At this time, the United States experienced an enormous influx of immigration from Europe (both eastern and western European countries) and from Asia as well (Id. At 350).

These newly arrived immigrants provided that labor, frequently at the lowest wages possible, that helped develop the industrial economy of the U.S. Furthermore, these early immigrants brought with them children who "often roamed the streets of the industrial cities. Concern over immigrant children committing crime and living dissolute lives led many progressive reformers to seek ways to aid these children" (Davis in Champion et al. At 35). This new atmosphere of concern for immigrant juveniles was part of what fueled the second major event that help fuel the creation of the juvenile court system in the U.S.

Progressive movement reformers were concerned about the quality of life in America's cities, and from these efforts evolved what has come to be known as the "child saving movement"; although there are various interpretations of the "child savers'" motives, there were numerous philanthropic societies and associations in American cities that were dedicated solely to improving the lives of lower-class immigrant children, particularly those who became involved with the adult criminal justice system (Champion et al.).

Because the care of dependent children was widely recognized as being a public responsibility, the number of orphanages in the United States increased from 624 in 1880 to 1,067 in 1910 (Morton at 65). While the median number of juveniles who were sheltered in 1910 was sixty, 109 orphanages cared for more than 200 children each, and twenty-four institutions were responsible for 400 or more. According to this author, "The largest child-care institution, the New York Catholic Protectory, housed 2,500 children. These large orphanages were almost always sectarian and were often committed to lengthy stays for their inmates, were viewed with increasing dismay by the emerging social work profession" (Id. At 66). Regardless of the religious affiliation of such institutions, the vast majority of the juveniles who came into their care were from low-income and ethnic minority families who were unable or unwilling to provide for them.

While some of these children only stayed in these facilities a short time, the vast majority were required to remain much longer, in some cases for years, until their families were able to care for them or the juveniles became able to support themselves. "Rejecting the nineteenth-century belief that institutions could save and reform inmates," Morton says, "child welfare workers now argued that dependent children should be raised in their own homes or foster homes, not orphanages" (at 66). These child welfare initiatives have all helped create an atmosphere in the United States that suggests juveniles in general and immigrant juveniles in particular represent a special case with unique needs that demand special attention from immigration and criminal justice authorities alike.

History and Evolution of Controlling Legislation for Special Immigrant Juveniles. The United States may pride itself on being the "melting pot of the world," but Prchal points out that this pride is somewhat misplaced. In reality, it would seem that as soon as people have reached… READ MORE

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