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Item Acompañando niños migrantes “no acompañados” : a feminist geopolitical perspective on Central American unaccompanied minors in U.S. long term foster care (LTFC)(2022-05-09) Ramos, Esther Sarai; Torres, Rebecca Maria; Gilman, DeniseMost unaccompanied migrant children from Central America who make it across the US-Mexico border and into Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) custody remain in short-term shelters while awaiting reunification. While many children go on to join family members, those with limited options, are placed in long term foster care (LTFC) while they await their legal cases to be adjudicated. This group is largely invisible in research on unaccompanied migrant children because of the restricted and opaque nature of long-term foster care. This thesis analyzes, through a geopolitical feminist framework, their particular struggles as they navigate between the immigration and foster care systems. Based on over six months of participant observation/accompaniment of foster care children with an NGO, a review of case files, interviews with key informants, and courtroom ethnography, this study aims to identify the challenges and daily struggles faced by Central American unaccompanied children in the U.S. federally funded long term foster care and immigration system. Through a conceptual lens integrating feminist geopolitics, children’s geographies, accompaniment theory/activist/engaged research, and testimonio, this research centers the perspectives of children and their advocates as they navigate the vagaries of pursuing asylum and special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS). Specifically, it analyzes how unaccompanied children employ agentic strategies to negotiate long term foster care and the evolving changes in immigration law/policy. Finally, it provides recommendations for how activists and legal representatives can better support and advocate for the needs of children in long term foster care, who are simultaneously navigating the child welfare system and the process to obtain legal status. This paper contributes to the limited literature on the experiences of unaccompanied migrant children in foster care and offers preliminary insights into the policy and advocacy needs to better support this vulnerable population.