United States

Statement of Donald Kerwin, Executive Director of the Center for Migration Studies, on the US Border and Border Wall

Last evening, President Trump addressed the nation from the Oval Office, asserting that there exists a crisis on our southern border which necessitates the construction of a border wall. Despite the president’s claims that a crisis exists on the border,...

Porous Borders: Multiracial Migrations and the Law in the US-Mexico Borderlands

Emmanuel Frimpong Boamah of University at Buffalo, State University of New York reviews Porous Borders: Multiracial Migrations and the Law in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands by Julian Lim. Julian Lim presents a fresh study of the multiracial intersections of the U.S.-Mexico...

The Experiences of Ghanaian Live-In Caregivers in the United States

Cati Coe of Rutgers University reviews The Experiences of Ghanaian Live-In Caregivers in the United States by Martha Donkor. Martha Donkor examines the migration of the women to the US and their decisions to care for upper middle class white...

Immigration Authorities Systematically Deny Medical Care for Migrants Who Speak Indigenous Languages

The death of seven year-old Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin in December of 2018 while in US Border Patrol custody has led to outrage, frustration, and a host of unanswered questions. This study — which consists of more than 1,100 post-deportation surveys with unauthorized Mexican migrants — suggests that the denial of medical attention to migrants in US custody is a widespread and systemic problem, and one that appears to affect indigenous language speakers disproportionately.

Communities in Crisis: Interior Removals and Their Human Consequences

This paper examines the characteristics of deportees from the United States and the effects of deportation on deportees, their families, and their communities. It analyzes the findings from 133 interviews with deportees at a migrant shelter in Sonora, Mexico and interviews with family members of deportees and others affected by deportation in three Catholic parishes in the United States. These findings include: 1) the deportees had established long and deep ties in the United States, including strong economic and family ties, 2) deportation severed these ties and impoverished and divided affected families, 3) most deportees planned to return to the United States, and 4) the US deportation system treated deportees as criminals and the Trump administration sought to instill fear in immigrant communities. The paper concludes with policy recommendations to mitigate the ill effects of the administration’s policies and promote the integrity of families and communities, including: using detention as a “last resort”; reducing funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); and limiting collaboration between police and ICE and Customs and Border Protection.