Using a combination of oral life history interviews, field observation, and conversations with undocumented Mexican immigrant parents raising children born in the United States in South Central Los Angeles, California, this in-depth consideration of the state of emergency they face as a result of the U.S. government's implementation of the Criminal Alien Program (CAP) and Secure Communities Program (SCP) reveals their uniquely local and transnational confrontation of an increasingly insecure family situation that stretches across the U.S.-Mexico border and throughout U.S. inner cities, like South Central Los Angeles. The visibly public alienation these children, most recently identified as citizen kids endure makes evident that tragically they are most vulnerable to the indignities born out of these programs. The convergence of minor offenses committed by their parents, the illegality of their immigration status, and these children's U.S. citizenship status have paved the way for an incalculable loss that is most palpable when pausing to observe their multifaceted alienation. The relationship between these children's citizenship status, family relationships, day to day interactions, and these program's implementation reveals an underestimated yet infinitely tragic state of emergency.
Some Children Left Behind