WBEZ reporter Odette Yousef interviewed Lauren Heidbrink, Ph.D. on her book, titled Migrant Youth, Transnational Families and the State: Care and Contested Interests, and her recent field study work in the Departments of San Marcos and Quezaltenango in western Guatemala. Dr. Heidbrink is an anthropologist, Co-Director of the NLU Public Policy program, and teaches in the Social and Behavioral Sciences department.

Full story and interview available here.

With an unprecedented increase of Central American migrant children to the U.S., there is an urgent need to examine the realities of children beyond their initial apprehension by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. While the issue has recently garnered widespread attention, the following insights remain absent from the national conversation:

• Detailed accounts of conditions within Office of Refugee Resettlement facilities,
• Discussion of the long-term impacts of migration and detention on children, and
• Experiences of children and their families following deportation.

In her book, Migrant Youth, Transnational Families and the State: Care and Contested Interests, NLU Assistant Professor Lauren Heidbrink, Ph.D. takes a timely look at how young migrants navigate the legal and emotional terrain beyond apprehension while examining essential areas surrounding this issue. Over a three-year period, she observed operations in 12 facilities, interviewed over 100 migrant youth from 19 countries both in detention and following release, and interviewed over 350 stakeholders in the U.S., El Salvador, and Guatemala.

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