What anthropologists can tell you about the US border immigration crisis

Holly Norton
How anthropologists are helping tell real stories of migrants trying to cross US borders

Wed 18 Jul 2018 05.45 EDT Last modified on Wed 18 Jul 2018 13.07 EDT

I am an anthropologist because I care about people. I am an archaeologist because I know our past is relevant to our present and future. Our borderlands are areas of enduring relevance to both fields of study.

You don’t have to be an anthropologist to be horrified by the Trump Administration’s policies around immigration and particularly the practice of separating children from their parents and adult care-givers at the US-Mexico border. But I do feel that my profession has an interesting perspective, and it is one that I would like to share.

Separating children from their parents is not new. “Unaccompanied minors” crossing the border made headlines in 2014. It is a phenomena not well understood by an American public who have had long standing arguments about people being “allowed in,” and appear to have given little thought about what happens when children arrive on our doorstep. The scramble to address the immigration wave in 2014 showed just how myopic both the public and the government was, failing to understand what was occurring in geographically related countries; and just how unprepared the wealthiest nation in the world was to handle refugees, particularly children.

Anthropologist Dr Susan Terrio says these immigrants have been overlooked because they don’t fit the mould of “good victims” being “questionable symbols of vulnerability”. Likewise, Dr Lauren Heidbrink talks about the ambiguous status of migrant children who challenge our ideals of a care-free childhood by failing to meet our societal standard of an innocent child. Both anthropologists delve into the world of detention centres and immigration court, trying to shed light on the tangled web that these youth find themselves in.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/jul/18/what-anthropologists-can-tell-you-about-the-us-border-immigration-crisis