Somatic Descriptions of the Processes Affecting Unaccompanied Immigrant Children in Farmville, Virginia – Leigh-Anna Nielsen
Abstract
“It is this constant flow of immigrants that helped to make America what it is… being an American is not a matter of blood or birth. It’s a matter of faith. ‘E Pluribus Unum’. Out of many, one. That is what has drawn the persecuted and impoverished to our shores. That’s what has led people to endure untold hardships to reach this place called America” – Barack Obama
In my thesis, I analyze the ethics and negative effects of placing unaccompanied immigrant children from Mexico and Central America into the American foster care system. The placement of these children into the foster care system should be understood as one of the many facets of the larger-scale issue of immigrant detention and family separation at our country’s borders and beyond. In doing this, I illustrate how these acts are systemically unethical in terms of child rights transnationally, so I can contribute to a better understanding of this facet of the ongoing crisis. The primary questions driving my research include, but are not limited to: how does the transition of detained immigrant children in Virginia into foster care impact their and their families’ lives? What are the consequences of the state’s actions on these children and their families?
The region and detention facility that I will be focusing on is the Farmville Detention Facility and community located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. I focus on Farmville not only because of the horrendous abuse allegations that have come up in the media but also because the people who are being detained there have all come from different facilities and are on different immigration trajectories. The Town of Farmville also has a history rife with the refusal to integrate public schools post-Jim Crow, and the people of the town today seem blind to the institutions of violence that are occurring right in their backyards.
Looking back and thinking about what has driven me to dig into Farmville, I have begun to recognize that my personal history has given rise to some beliefs that have guided this research. Over the years, I have learned that America too often ignores and neglects the foster children who are naturalized citizens. Knowing what I have learned about the Farmville detention facility and processing my own experiences within the foster care system, I knew I could not stay silent about what was occurring here.
The research methods utilized in this paper consist of traditional research conducted in libraries and archives, site visits to the Farmville detention facility and the local community, interviews with advocates, locals, and social workers in the region, and oral histories obtained by consented interviewing methods and looking into the archive.
All of this considered, I would also like to add that this is simply one part of a two-part project, as I will not only achieve my claim through written text; I will also convey the transitions of immigrant children out of Farmville by choreographing and performing their journeys. This creative, choreographic aspect of my work will come after the primary writing is complete and will be showcased as a performance open to the public.