In the summer of 2010, I was assigned to work with a youth who became known to the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services (The Division) as a substantiated victim of child abuse (physical). Within the Division, the youth was assigned a case manager to handle legal aspects of the case and link him to services. I was specifically assigned to the youth to develop a therapeutic relationship and assist with his new adjustment, after being removed from his biological father and placed in foster care.
While working with the youth, he shared his story of how he came to the U.S. The youth, a 14 year-old a native of Honduras, reported that his father was already living in the U.S. and paid someone in Honduras to, “get him here”. The youth reported that it took him a month to get to the U.S. which included several days of being on a train and another several days of walking. The youth reported that he was eventually caught crossing the border in Texas and was sent to a dentition center in Florida.
Information remains unclear, however; the child was release to his father with legal issues pending with the Department of Homeland Security. The Division became involved with the Youth when he was disciplined by his father, who used a machete, which somehow nipped the Youth’s ear. The father has now fled the U.S. leaving the child in care and custody of the State with no intentions of reunification. This paper discusses how unaccompanied minors become involved with the legal/civil systems within the U.S. and challenges they face as a result.
It is important that we define, ‘unaccompanied minors’ to avoid confusion with minors domestically traveling alone. “Minors are typically defined as children and adolescents under the age of...
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... a legal and a psychological perspective. International Journal of Law & Psychiatry, 31(4), 319-330.
Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, . (n.d.). Unaccompanied minors. Retrieved from http://www.fiacfla.org/reports/rep.pdf
Gordan, Christine . (2005). Are unaccompanied alien children really getting a fair trial?. Denver Journal of International Law and Policy , 33(4), 641-673.
National Conference of State Legislatures, Initials. (2005, August 11). Unaccompanied immigrant and refugee minors. Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=13128
Nugent, Christopher. (2005). Protecting unaccompanied immigrant and refugee children in the united states. Retrieved from http://www.americanbar.org/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/irr_hr_winter05_immigrant.html
Roberts , Albert . (2009). Social workers' desk reference . New York, NY: Oxford University Press
While sitting at juvenile court, I never got a night’s sleep without waking to wonder if at least one decision I made that day had been the best for a child. It struck me that it might be possible to recruit and train volunteers to investigate a child’s case so they could provide a voice for the child in those proceedings, proceedings which could affect their whole lives.” -Judge David W. Soukup, Founder of CASA
Department of Homeland Security . "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Process (Through Fiscal Year 2014, 1st Qtr)." 2014.
The quagmire of placing juveniles in adult facilities is the risk factors juveniles may experience while incarcerated. Being that juveniles are young and smaller to the adult offenders, they may be seen as a prey or easy target for rape, assault, mental issues which eventually leads to suicide. We must keep in mind that juveniles are youth meaning they are still a child, not an adult and should not be exposed to adult incarceration environment. Although it is cost saving to place juveniles and adults under one facility, it is unethical because they are not built and yet mentally ready and prepared to experience adult facilities. Alternative strategies are available to assist juvenile detainees such as healthcare, education, recreation, and work experience. The Juvenile Court Act of 1899 gave leniency to youth under the age of 16. Placing youth detainees with adult offenders will result in the reduction of rehabilitation services for youth, while increasing the rate of being a victim as a potential prey o...
The goal of Juvenile Courts and the Child Welfare Agencies is to protect and make decision in the best interest of children. The ASFA law was signed by President Bill Clinton. On November 19, 1997 after it was approved by the United States Congress earlier in the month. The law was the most significant piece of legislation dealing with child welfare in twenty years. States decided to interpret the law as requiring biological families to be kept together no matter what, but the law shifted emphasis towards children health and safety concerns and away from a policy of reuniting children with their birth parents without regards to their prior abuse. ASFA lead sponsor, Republican Senator John H. Chafee of Rhode Island said, “We will not continue the current system of always putting the needs and rights of biological parents first … It’s time we recognize that some families simply cannot and should not be kept together.” This phil...
Ngai, Mae M., and Jon Gjerde. "Refugee Act of 1980." Major Problems in American Immigration History: Documents and Essays. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2013. 525-526. Print.
In 2005 the Migration Amendment Act was introduced which relates to the notion that children must only be put in detention centres as a matter of last resort to ensure the safety of children as there had been many concerns from the Members of parliament. This new policy had given the opportunity for many children and their families to be released into community detention centres whereby there is higher security to ensure their protection. However, in Australia there had still been a substantial amount of children that had still been held in detention centres and often for lengthy periods. Although the Australian Government had attempted to comply with the new policy by gradually allowing children and their families to be released into the community
Immigrants' Rights. American Civil Liberties Union Freedom Network. Online. America Online. Internet. 10 Mar. 1998. Available ftp://iaehv.nl/users/hverbak/alert.htm
...it: Greenhaven Press, 2013. At Issue. Rpt. from "The Future of Immigrant Children." The Future of Children (Spring 2011).Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
Legal procedures and laws that relate to juvenile offenders go back thousands of years when children disobeyed their parents, and sons would curse their fathers. The Roman civil law and canon law 2,000 years ago distinguished juveniles and adults based upon the idea of “age of responsibility”. The Moslem law also believed in leniency in punishing youthful offenders and children under the age of 17 be exempt from the death penalty. Roman law children under the age of 7 were classified as infants and were not held criminally responsible. If the youth were approaching the age of puberty and knew the difference between right and wrong, at that time, they would they be held accountable for the crimes they committed. In the 15-Century, England created a petition to those in need of aid or intervention, generally for women and children who were in need of assistance because of divorce, death of a spouse, or abandonment. The king could exercise the right of parens patriae, which became a basis for the juvenile court in America and was a doctrine that gave the courts authority over juveniles that were in need of guidance and protection, and would allow the state to act in loco parentis (in place of the parents) and to provide guidance and make decisions concerning the best interest of the child. Another pivotal point in the development of the juvenile justice system in America was what became known as the “child-saving movement”. T...
Since the beginning of time, people have been adopting. Whether or not the adoption process is for everybody is a debatable topic. Adoption occurs all over the world and is the cause for an impact on not only the children being adopted, but also an impact on those who adopt. Whether it’s nationally on internationally adoption is everywhere and will continue to grow in popularity as the years go on.
Downs-Whitelaw, S., Moore, E., &McFadden, E. J. (2009). Child welfare and family services: Policies and practice, USA: Parson Education Inc.
They key fact in the article is that federal law allows any alien resident in the United States to seek asylum and that the courts must make a decision after hearing arguments even if it is the arguments of a child Elian’s age. An example of a 1985 case where a 12-year-old Soviet child sought asylum against his parents’ wishes is presented. But the child was considered on the “lower end” of maturity in deciding his rights separate from his parents.
Immigrants in the United States”. The International Migration Review. 1 Mar 2012 Web 07 Nov 2013.
...legal, including minors. Foreign juveniles, particularly asylum-seeking persons, have been delayed in immigration detainment facilities between 2 to 12 months (Line & Poon, 2013).
Voight, Kevin. “international adoption: saving orphans or child trafficking”. Cnn news. 18 September 2013. Web. 24 march 2014. www.cnn.com/2013/09/16/world/international-adoption-saving-orphans-trafficking/.