Mexican children returned: their agency as a response to the border immigration policies

Abstract

This article analyzes, from the structuralism theory, the nuances of agency of Mexican adolescent migrants as they undergo repatriation processes from the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is proposed that U.S. immigration policy with a deterrent and adult-centric emphasis has contributed to the generation of vulnerability contexts that permeate adolescents’ experiences during irregular border crossings. It is concluded that adolescents deploy differentiated levels of agency product of their reflexivity processes to cope with the failures and absences in the implementation of binational protocols and programs for the return of unaccompanied Mexican adolescents and that despite the policy that seeks to discourage irregular migration, adolescents manage to overcome their repatriation experiences, accumulate resources, generate strategies, and foresee scenarios to achieve a successful migration project.