Migration in Mainstream Media

Synopsis:

This 2019 New York Times article reveals the high number of reports of sexual abuse which have been alleged against officers and minors in U.S. detention centers. According to this article, children have reported being raped, kissed, fondled, and watched as they showered by officers and other minors within the facility. Over 4500 allegations were received between 2014 and 2018 according to the Office of Refugee Resettlement. The article connects these occurrences with the rise of Trumpism in the United States, an extreme form of neoliberalism which views refugee settlement as a threat to national and economic security. During his presidency, Trump has issued a family separations policy at the southern border between the U.S. and Mexico, separating almost 3000 families at the border, including those seeking refuge on humanitarian grounds.

Rationale:

This report exemplifies how increased xenophobia and racial profiling has heightened the binary which separates the “citizen” and the “non-citizen”. This pervasive view positions refugee families as “others” to the state and tightens bordering practices, leading to the high number of families being separated at the border. The report illustrates that children without parental supervision have higher chances of being targeted by sexual abusers, who often are also the officers separating the families themselves. This is important to consider in transnational feminist discourse, because it shows how refugee issues, age, race, and sexuality are all factors which position these children to be targeted by the state for abuse. Finally, this report is an example of how mainstream media often leaves out detailed information considering gender and race politics, focusing on the violence as individualized and framing it as accidental. A transnational, anti-racist viewpoint would assert that the violence faced by these children is a deliberate state practice to further marginalize and push away the perceived threat of migration.

URL/Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/27/us/immigrant-children-sexual-abuse.html

Keywords: child abuse, border security, sexual abuse, law, neoliberalism

Author: jbb28