Unaccompanied Latino Minor Migrants and the Church: Historical and Theological Perspectives on Generational Trauma from Operation Pedro Pan to Central American UACs

Abstract

Unlike the coordinated effort and commitment between the State and the Catholic Church to effectively safeguard unaccompanied Cuban children escaping Communism in 1960, today’s unaccompanied Central American youth migrants face incarceration, deportation, and labor exploitation. Upon crossing the U.S. border, their bruised bodies are apprehended under federal custody within a culture of fear, suspicion, and disdain for their presence. Within an economy of exploitation and exclusion, institutions of power fail to protect the best interests of Latino migrant children seeking asylum. Polarized perspectives on whether Central American children deserve humanitarian relief or deportation for their unauthorized entry remain debatable in an era of governmental and private anti-immigrant sentiment. Propaganda fuels the public’s desire for stricter policies, as citizens view them as invaders. Caught between discriminatory immigration laws and their struggle for survival, unaccompanied Central American minors or “UACs” for (unaccompanied alien children), become vulnerable to discrimination and exploitation due to their fear of deportation. Rather than sounding political, this study invites readers to cross political boundaries and remain flexible in interpreting the story of unaccompanied Latino migrant children as a tragedy of an invisible population. By viewing Central American minor migrants as survivors rather than criminals, this study identifies the external and internal forces predisposing UACs to child trauma due to a lack of choice. Through case studies, readers reflect on factors predisposing UACs to child trauma and the re-victimization as a ripple effect of family separation, especially during children’s formative years and under federal custody. Moreover, this thesis explores how the shifting of American immigration policies undermines the best interest of young Latino migrants through punitive measures that legitimize the criminalization and maltreatment of minors. With this in view, the study proposes to compare today’s humanitarian crisis involving unaccompanied Central American minors with the evacuation of unaccompanied Cuban children during the 1960s. As an historical event, the Cuban minors’ exodus exemplifies the significant role of Catholic leaders in responding to a church-state crisis and their countercultural stance to rescue and protect Cuban minors from Communist indoctrination. Within the context of unaccompanied Cuban and Central American minors’ migration, the study focuses on the consequences of sacrificial love at the expense of family separation, role reversals, and family disintegration as factors contributing to child trauma. Meanwhile, one might inquire whether Catholic and Christian leadership could break the cycle of violence, isolation, and loneliness that predisposed young Latino students to child trauma, especially considering the current mental illness epidemic plaguing American classrooms.