Dane Rabe

Ethno Journal 3

Define - the following terms:

The American Dream – The book cites the definition of the American Dream of historian James
Truslow Adams. “It the the dream of a land in which life should be better richer and fuller for
every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement.” He states that the
dream applies not only to those born here, but to immigrants as well. The American dream is a
tool that is utilized by politicians to create an ideological platform for the morality of their
campaigns. The actual American Dream is less utopic than it is portrayed by politicians. For many
children that cross the border, their idea of the American dream dies when they are placed into a
detention center.
Undocumented – Undocumented is defined as a “foreign born person who does not have or cannot
produce necessary immigration or migration paperwork that legally authorizes their residency
(permanent or temporary) in a nation-state.” This refers to the many immigrants that come to the
US and are often stuck in legal limbo trying to obtain proper residency status. They are
444444444undocumented simply because they are placed in a disadvantaged position of not
having the legal documents needed to complete the process, although they may be the upstanding
people in search of the American Dream.
Unaccompanied minor- An unaccompanied minor is a child under the age of 18 that has no legal
guardian. This results from them being separated from them due to some extenuating
circumstances.
Immigration – Immigration is to move from one country to another with the intention of staying
for a long time period.
Describe - examples of two youth from the book that are undocumented and unaccompanied.
Corina was one of the youths in the book that was undocumented and unaccompanied.
She lived with an abusive father in Guatemala, so her mother paid for her to travel to the US with
a coyote. The coyote abandoned her midway through the journey, so she found another group of
immigrants and traveled with them and another coyote. They were ambushed and one of them
was shot. They sped away and narrowly escaped. Eventually, the tires popped on their vehicle,
so they continued through the California desert on foot. She finally arrived in San Diego and was
placed under long term foster care. The lawyer that covered her case retired, so she fell into legal
limbo. She was sent to Michigan and lived with several foster families until finally her residency
status was approved. She now plans on attending college and pursuing a career in dentistry.
Angel was another undocumented/unaccompanied youth that the book chronicled. He
lived with an abusive brother in Mexico, so he arranged for a coyote to bring him to the US for
$2500 paid in installments. He arrived to the US and was immediately deported back to Mexico.
The next week he crossed the border again with another group of eighteen immigrants and made
it across undetected. He was severely dehydrated from the trip and the coyotes refused to give
him water until he paid an additional 300$. He then worked on several “plantations” across many
different US states. Eventually, the police caught up to one of the operations and he was arrested.
They noticed he was being exploited for labor, so they transferred him into foster care and gave
him a green card. He recently graduated from high school in the US and hopes to work as a
mechanic.
Dane Rabe

Analyze - three of the following questions: (1 point each, 3 points total)

1. What are some of the complexities of this border region as an ethnographic setting as
compared to other research contexts we have examined thus far in class?
One of the complexities of the border region is that compared to the children in
Zambia that we studied previously, the current setting is directly related to US politics. We
all have a deeper connection to this material because it takes place in the southern border
of the country in which we live. We constantly hear media coverage relating to legislation
and immigration policy and bring a lot of background knowledge and biases when
pondering this material.
Another complexity of the border region is that the topic of immigration is a very
hard problem to create an effective solution for. There is a concern for security of the
country as well the humanitarian ethos of trying to help marginalized communities. How
do we come up with an effective way for immigrants to earn citizenship while maintaining
the security of the country?
2. What do the youth experiences while crossing the U.S./Mexico border reveal about U.S.
international relations in relation to U.S. domestic immigration policies?
The youth experiences of immigrants reveal that US immigration policy needs
reworked specifically in relation to the treatment of undocumented children. The policies
generally are very harsh against the undocumented youth, they are detained in sub-par
facilities for long amounts of time, all because there is no distinction between children and
adults in US immigration policy. They do not have a path to obtaining US citizenship or
even a way to work because of the layers of bureaucracy.
5. Finally, if you could wave your magic wand, what might be some changes (if any) in public
policy that you think could improve our present immigration system?

If I could change anything about the public policy relating to our current immigration
system, I would propose the we create more of a distinction between undocumented children and
adults. The children that come to the US to escape an abusive home life should be given a chance
to build a new life. We should create a specific foster care program for these children. If under a
certain, the children will not be subject to immigration court hearings, detention, or deportation,
rather they will be placed with a foster family and given classes on English, and things related to
thriving within US society (work, finances, law, etc.). I believe that children are all inherently
good and I think that our policies should reflect that.