Despite the rise in anti-immigrant policies and sentiment, the United States experiences an influx of immigration every year. The consequences of US immigration policies and their enforcement lead to declining health outcomes for immigrant populations and create socioeconomic disadvantages for these communities. Specifically, the practice of detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) costs more than alternatives and more severely places immigrants of all ages in traumatizing living conditions. This research will aim to answer: what are the economic and human welfare costs and benefits of defunding immigration detention and redistributing funds for migrants’ well-being? The first part of the study will examine Alternative to Detention (ATD) case studies from various countries. The second part will be comprised of a social cost-benefit analysis of ATDs. In addition, interviews with stakeholders such as advocates, newly arrived migrants, second and third generation migrants, and government officials will be conducted. Based on the results, the study aims to put forward policy recommendations that take steps toward the abolition of the punitive immigration system currently used in the US.

Asylum seekers in Costa Rica have been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic which has only further complicated existing immigration circumstances. This study analyzed semi-structured interviews with asylum seekers from various Latin American countries living in Costa Rica to address how the pandemic has affected asylum seekers’ situations and prospects. Research suggests how the pandemic has impacted asylum applicants waiting in Costa Rica, making things worse for those trying to enter the country and obtain legal documents to work, due to the extensive wait times and the temporary shutdown of the immigration system. We find that asylum seekers face long delays for their cases that were exacerbated by the pandemic, which, in turn, generated severe economic and social uncertainty for asylum seekers and their families. Nicaraguan refugees, in particular, faced not only bureaucratic delays in the immigration system, but also widespread xenophobia and discrimination in society and the labor market. While the pandemic has had major impacts on refugee receiving countries around the world, this project gives insight into the response of Costa Rica and how their decisions affect thousands of asylum seekers.

Some scholars have begun to address the unjust treatment and inhumane conditions experienced by unaccompanied minors as they navigate the U.S. immigration system. Increasing attention has focused on the minors’ capacity for resilience, yet, there is still much work needed to understand the resilience strategies unaccompanied minors use to adjust to life in the United States against such extreme adversity. Through semi-structured interviews and testimonios, the current study hopes to highlight how unaccompanied minors use resilience strategies to adjust to life in the United States while navigating an immigration system lacking procedural safeguards and concern for their wellbeing. I ask: What resilience strategies do unaccompanied adolescents use to adapt to life in the United States and cope with the trauma inflicted by the U.S. immigration system? This project provides an overview of the experiences of unaccompanied minors arriving in the United States and discusses the mistreatment they experience through U.S. immigration agencies, policies, and procedures involved in the immigration process (ie., human rights abuses, inhumane conditions, and due process violations). I argue that U.S. immigration policy claims to support vulnerable unaccompanied minors but continues to accentuate their trauma, focus on the threat they may pose, and inflict further harm. This study calls for the improvement of policies and procedures, as well as comprehensive immigration reform addressing the needs of unaccompanied minors in order to protect their wellbeing.