Year: 2018 | Month: December | Volume 6 | Issue 2
An Analysis of the Zero Tolerance Immigration Policy of the United States vis-à-vis UN Conventions
Shruti Shukla
DOI:10.30954/2454-9525.02.2018.4
Abstract:
The immigration issue was at the center-stage of Republican Candidate Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign in 2016 US elections. From 2017, the Trump administration began rewriting the US immigration policy to deter immigration. On 7 May 2018, the administration imposed “Zero Tolerance” policy to prosecute all illegal immigrants, including people applying for asylum which led to the separation of families. The bleak logic behind the family separation policy was that separation will act as a deterrent for future immigration. Inspite of massive deportations, detention and other harsh measures, USA failed to stem the flow of immigrants from the Central American countries-El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The policy was revoked on 21 June 2018 following an intense backlash from all sides for the violation of human rights and the rights of the children. The research paper seeks to answer the question: Is Zero Tolerance policy adopted by the Trump administration in consonance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the UN Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees? In the course of answering this question, the paper also addresses the debate around the identity of people entering the US as identifying them as refugees or immigrants will have different political implications in devising immigration policy. The paper also analyses the implications of the policy on the psychology and identity of the immigrant children.
Print This Article Email This Article to Your Friend
