Doctoral Dissertation Research: Limited Relief: Rights and Culture in the Legal Contact Zones of Unaccompanied Child Migration

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Every year, lawyers in the United States are called upon to address the legal claims, as well as care and custody needs, of approximately 8,000 Unaccompanied Alien Children (UACs). The current research project investigates the degree to which construction of legal identity, narrowed to fit within limited legal frames related to both immigration and guardianship, acts to constrain future life possibilities among these legal minors. It focuses on the case of Chinese migrants to the US. It considers the relationship of these individual children to their legal identity, as framed by their lawyers, as well as their ability to negotiate the rights-claiming required by these immigration hearings. The research utilizes observation of legal proceedings, interviews with Chinese legal minors of this category detained in Chicago and New York by US immigration, and discourse analysis of compiled documents related to these practices. The results of this research could contribute to the development of more prepared immigration policies and legal practices on behalf of minors detained under the current law.