Learning in Transit: Crossing Borders, Waiting, and Waiting to Cross

Recent U.S. policy changes have contributed to longer waiting periods for migrant families in Mexican border cities. This study centers on four Honduran families enrolled in the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) policy, also referred to as ‘Remain in Mexico,’ while undergoing prolonged waiting peri...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Michelle J. Bellino, Maxie Gluckman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-02-01
Series:Social Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/13/2/121
_version_ 1797296972932055040
author Michelle J. Bellino
Maxie Gluckman
author_facet Michelle J. Bellino
Maxie Gluckman
author_sort Michelle J. Bellino
collection DOAJ
description Recent U.S. policy changes have contributed to longer waiting periods for migrant families in Mexican border cities. This study centers on four Honduran families enrolled in the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) policy, also referred to as ‘Remain in Mexico,’ while undergoing prolonged waiting periods in the Mexican border town of Monterrey, Nuevo Léon. Centering on young people’s voices, we ask what they learn during this prolonged period of transit. Through ethnographic and digital participatory storytelling interviews, we illustrate how children learned about the politics of border crossing through fraught interactions with im/migration officials, prolonged periods of immobility, and evolving understandings of legality. Building on theories of ‘border thinking’ and ‘politicized funds of knowledge,’ we highlight ways that young people employed their evolving understandings of national borders and the legal contours of their transborder asylum process, while protecting themselves and their families from danger and discrimination. We argue that transit is not simply time that young people are forced to endure; rather, the experience of forced transit is constitutive of young people’s learning about state power and their evolving understanding of borders, rights, and belonging.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T22:14:29Z
format Article
id doaj.art-eff85eba6631464eaa76773e29e3f2ca
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2076-0760
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-07T22:14:29Z
publishDate 2024-02-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Social Sciences
spelling doaj.art-eff85eba6631464eaa76773e29e3f2ca2024-02-23T15:34:39ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602024-02-0113212110.3390/socsci13020121Learning in Transit: Crossing Borders, Waiting, and Waiting to CrossMichelle J. Bellino0Maxie Gluckman1Marsal Family School of Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USAInternational Research & Exchanges Board, Washington, DC 20005, USARecent U.S. policy changes have contributed to longer waiting periods for migrant families in Mexican border cities. This study centers on four Honduran families enrolled in the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) policy, also referred to as ‘Remain in Mexico,’ while undergoing prolonged waiting periods in the Mexican border town of Monterrey, Nuevo Léon. Centering on young people’s voices, we ask what they learn during this prolonged period of transit. Through ethnographic and digital participatory storytelling interviews, we illustrate how children learned about the politics of border crossing through fraught interactions with im/migration officials, prolonged periods of immobility, and evolving understandings of legality. Building on theories of ‘border thinking’ and ‘politicized funds of knowledge,’ we highlight ways that young people employed their evolving understandings of national borders and the legal contours of their transborder asylum process, while protecting themselves and their families from danger and discrimination. We argue that transit is not simply time that young people are forced to endure; rather, the experience of forced transit is constitutive of young people’s learning about state power and their evolving understanding of borders, rights, and belonging.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/13/2/121im/migrationimmigrant and refugee educationtransit migrationCentral Americayouthtransborder
spellingShingle Michelle J. Bellino
Maxie Gluckman
Learning in Transit: Crossing Borders, Waiting, and Waiting to Cross
Social Sciences
im/migration
immigrant and refugee education
transit migration
Central America
youth
transborder
title Learning in Transit: Crossing Borders, Waiting, and Waiting to Cross
title_full Learning in Transit: Crossing Borders, Waiting, and Waiting to Cross
title_fullStr Learning in Transit: Crossing Borders, Waiting, and Waiting to Cross
title_full_unstemmed Learning in Transit: Crossing Borders, Waiting, and Waiting to Cross
title_short Learning in Transit: Crossing Borders, Waiting, and Waiting to Cross
title_sort learning in transit crossing borders waiting and waiting to cross
topic im/migration
immigrant and refugee education
transit migration
Central America
youth
transborder
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/13/2/121
work_keys_str_mv AT michellejbellino learningintransitcrossingborderswaitingandwaitingtocross
AT maxiegluckman learningintransitcrossingborderswaitingandwaitingtocross