Denormalizing Harm to Migrant Children in the U.S. Immigration System: A Comparative Perspective

The United States ("U.S.") has a rich history of being one of the first nations to recognize the rights and humanity of children. While U.S. judicial systems for children remain imperfect,' we can all recognize that children and youth hold a special place in American legal systems. Children are not treated merely as adults in miniature but are instead recognized as developing bodies and minds-vulnerable and in need of protection, yet entitled to and deserving of the right to be heard and have their best interests considered. Recognition that children are not merely miniature adults permeates every U.S. legal setting except for one: the immigration system. The U.S. immigration system remains an outlier-a complex, dysfunctional system with extraordinary stakes and few protections specially tailored to the rights and needs of children. The normalization of the failure to treat migrant children as children first has led to a legal experience for migrant children that can be adequately described as encountering sustained systemic violence. Through the juxtaposition of other domestic child-serving systems' practices with the experience of the migrant child, we hope to illuminate the extent to which migrant children experience harm and to denormalize that violence within the U.S. immigration system.