Chapter 4: Civic Integration of Displaced Youth: Immigrant Organizations and Police Athletic Leagues as Examples of Methods for Nonprofit Analyses

Global migration has increased by more than 80% in recent years, and there are now over 36 million migrant children (UNICEF, 2021). In Precarious Protections, Chiara Galli (2023) reports that nearly one million unaccompanied children attempted to cross the US–Mexican border within the last decade, and there has been an exponential increase in asylum-seeking applications among youth. Identifying problems with “adult-centric” theories in immigration law, Galli draws upon the scholarship of former president of the American Sociological Association, Cecilia Menjívar and fellow sociologist, Leisy Abrego (2012) to underscore the importance of attention to “legal violence” in the form of laws separating families, increasing exploitative vulnerabilities, and ultimately lessening the well-being of displaced children and youth. Indeed, she states: “Of all the agencies that unaccompanied minors navigate, the US–Mexico border, with its cage-like holding facilities, is the institutional space where the force of exclusion is the strongest” (Galli, 2023, p. 75). Within this context, Galli calls for greater attention to the importance of “legal brokers” who connect immigrants with legal services and humanitarian aid, especially identifying the beyond-binary of pro-bono and full-price services to “low-bono” as that which is offered by attorneys and nonprofit staff or volunteers, often with social justice motivations and through subsidized, reduced-cost fees made possible from philanthropic contributions and/or government grants.