The Aftermath of Deportation

Voices from the Aftermath of Deportation

A Conversation with Jill Anderson, Claudia Amaro, and Maggie Loredo

While the pros and cons of detention and deportation are debated widely in the United States media today, the realities of life in the aftermath of deportation are rarely mentioned. An estimated two million people have been deported or returned to Mexico under the Obama Administration, and many factors suggest that the number of detentions and deportations of people who have resided many years in the United States will only climb under the Trump Administration. Once in Mexico, bicultural youth and their families struggle with the individual, social, cultural, economic, legal, and political implications of being labeled and situated as “ni de aquí, ni de allá” (“neither here, nor there”). The struggle to be recognized as a person and a citizen with rights “de aquí y de allá” (“here and there”) is ongoing, dynamic, painful, and powerful.

In this conversation, Claudia Amaro and Maggie Loredo share their experiences in Mexico after having grown up in the United States, as well as their roles as activists in the constitutional and cultural void of “the deported” and “the undocumented.” Dr. Jill Anderson will talk about her research and on-going collaboration with deported and returning youth in Mexico. The conversation will contextualize United States anti-immigrant policies and discourse in terms of the transnational consequences and implications for youth and their families. After a brief introduction, each speaker will share her story for about 10 minutes and then Dr. Liliana Paredes will moderate a conversation with the audience.

This event is organized by Liliana Paredes, Professor of the Practice at Duke University, and has been made possible with the support of the Forum for Scholars and Publics, Romance Studies, the Paletz Award, Latino/a Studies in the Global South, the Duke Human Rights Center at the FHI, Kenan Institute for Ethics, Mi Gente, the Office of Service-Learning, and the Dean’s Leadership Award.