Immigration Article of the Day: Denouncing Medical Practices That Imperil Unaccompanied Youth by Sarah J. Diaz & Lauren Heidbrink

Denouncing Medical Practices That Imperil Unaccompanied Youth by Sarah J. Diaz & Lauren Heidbrink

Abstract

Unaccompanied children detained in the US are subject to questionable medical practices to verify their age. Utilizing molar dental radiographs and wrist x-rays to determine their age is scientifically and ethically problematic. Age redetermination is deeply consequential for unaccompanied children, as it may result in transfer to adult detention; ineligibility for child-specific legal relief; removal of custodial protections; and imminent deportation. The medical and public health communities have an opportunity to end the perversion of medical evidence in children's immigration cases by uniformly denouncing this practice. Unaccompanied children Uee violence, persecution and poverty from around the globe and seek safety in the United States. The vast majority are teenagers, often arriving with few possessions-a small backpack, phone numbers written on slips of paper sewn into the seams of their clothes. Few have identity documents or birth certiPcates; some arrive empty handed. Within 72 hours of apprehension, US Customs and Border Protection must transfer unaccompanied minors to the care and custody of the O]ce of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). At any point in federal custody, unaccompanied children can be subject to controversial medical exams to redetermine their age. Age redetermination leads to their immediate transfer to adult detention and a loss of the few legal protections afforded to minors.

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