Kate Swanson

Zero Tolerance in Latin America: Punitive Paradox in Urban Policy Mobilities

In Latin America, high levels of crime have prompted many politicians to embrace zero tolerance policing in order to quell public fears. While the overall impacts on urban crime are debatable, zero tolerance in the region has morphed into a powerful policy narrative that symbolizes strong leaders who crack down crime and disorder. Its impacts have been far-reaching; to date, it has been implemented in various guises in Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. Yet, the policy transfer of zero tolerance to Latin America has mutated into a much more punitive approach. In this paper, I develop a critical analysis of the punitive inequalities of zero tolerance policing in Latin American cities, and the consequences for marginalized and racialized youth. I also explore the emergence of a new, unexpected consequence of zero tolerance: the South-North migration of undocumented people.

‘For every border, there is also a bridge’: overturning borders in young Aboriginal peoples' lives

In this paper, I offer thoughts and insights on young people, border spaces and revolutions. Following Anzaldúa, I explore how different types of borders – the borderlands of the mind – have disrupted young peoples lives, particularly the lives of indigenous youth. While global in context, my emphasis is upon Canada where the magnitude of Aboriginal poverty is astounding given that the nation is often ranked as one of the best places to live in the world. Yet, despite a dismal outlook, I point toward optimistic futures as young people use their revolutionary imaginations to overturn internal borders and work for positive change. I suggest that youth are playfully reworking borders to build bridges between communities.

Child Migration and Transnationalized Violence in Central and North America

In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of unaccompanied migrant children attempting to enter the United States. In 2014, total numbers peaked at 68,000 apprehensions, mostly from Central America and Mexico. Since then, rising immigration enforcement strategies within Mexico have decreased the ability of unaccompanied migrant youth to reach the US border. However, underlying factors driving child migration have not changed. Children continue to flee high levels of violence, particularly from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, which are currently among the most violent nations in the world. Yet, violence does not end for youth once they leave the borders of their countries; as youth ride buses, trains, boats and trucks north, they continue to encounter it along every step of the way. Due to increasing militarization and punitive immigration policies in the United States, migrant children contend with further violence when they cross the US/Mexico border. In this paper, we examine how varied nuanced manifestations of violence shape migrant children’s lives and experiences. While youth may be able to escape immediate and corporeal violence, we explain how different forms of violence influence not only their decisions to leave, but also their journeys and encounters with Mexican and US immigration policies. We argue for a more spatially expansive understanding of violence that considers how state policies and practices extend far beyond national borders to negatively affect migrant children’s lives.Resumen:En los últimos años, ha habido un aumento dramático en el número de niños migrantes no acompañados que tratan de entrar en los Estados Unidos. En 2014, el número total alcanzó un máximo de 68,000 aprehensiones, en su mayoría de Centroamérica y México. Desde entonces, el aumento de las estrategias de control de inmigración en México han disminuido la capacidad de los jóvenes migrantes no acompañados de llegar a la frontera con Estados Unidos. Sin embargo, los factores subyacentes que impulsan la migración infantil no han cambiado. Los niños siguen huyendo de altos niveles de violencia, en particular de El Salvador, Honduras y Guatemala, que actualmente están entre los países más violentos del mundo. Sin embargo, la violencia no termina para los jóvenes una vez que salgan de la frontera de sus países; como los jóvenes toman autobuses, trenes, barcos y camiones al norte, ellos lo siguen encontrando a lo largo de cada paso del camino. Debido al aumento de la militarización y las políticas punitivas de inmigración en los Estados Unidos, los niños migrantes luchan contra más violencia cuando cruzan la frontera de Estados Unidos/México. En este trabajo, examinamos cómo matizados y variadas manifestaciones de violencia forman las vidas y experiencias de los niños migrantes. Mientras que la juventud puede ser capaz de escapar de la violencia inmediata y corporal, explicamos cómo las diferentes formas de violencia no sólo influyan su decisión de salir, sino también sus viajes y encuentros con las políticas de inmigración de México y EEUU. Argumentamos a favor de un entendimiento más amplio y espacial de la violencia que tiene en cuenta cómo las políticas y prácticas estatales se extienden mucho más allá de las fronteras nacionales para afectar negativamente la vida de los niños migrantes.

HIV Risk Behaviors and Correlates of Inconsistent Condom Use Among Substance Using Migrants at the Mexico/Guatemala Border

This study assessed correlates of inconsistent condom use with casual partners and the prevalence of sexual risk behaviors and STIs in the Mexico/Guatemala border region using a sample of 392 migrants (303 men, 85 women) who reported current substance use or problem drinking. We ran separate univariate logistic regression models for men and women, and multivariate logistic regression models for men only. Prevalence of syphilis was 1.2% among women and 2.3% among men; HIV prevalence was 2.4% among women and 1.3% among men. Inconsistent condom use with casual partners was higher in women with greater education and lower among women who sold sex. In men, less access to free condoms, drug use with sexual partners, and drug use before sex were independently associated with inconsistent condom use with casual partners. Sexual and substance use risk behaviors were common, and HIV/STI prevention efforts should target both genders and expand beyond most-at risk populations.ResumenEn este estudio se evaluó la correlación del uso inconsistente de los preservativos con parejas ocasionales y la prevalencia de comportamientos sexuales de alto riesgo e ITS en la frontera entre México y Guatemala. Se utilizó una muestra de 392 migrantes (303 hombres, 85 mujeres), quienes reportaron consumir sustancias ilícitas o reportaron tener problemas con el consumo de alcohol. Realizamos modelos de regresión logística univariados para hombres y mujeres, de forma independiente, y modelos de regresión logística multivariantes sólo para los hombres. La prevalencia de sífilis fue de 1,2% entre las mujeres y 2,3% entre los hombres; la prevalencia de VIH fue de 2,4% entre las mujeres y de 1,3% entre los hombres. El uso inconsistente de condones con parejas ocasionales fue mayor en las mujeres con más educación y menor entre las mujeres que venden sexo. En los hombres, menos acceso a preservativos gratuitos, el uso de drogas con las parejas sexuales, y el uso de drogas antes de tener relaciones sexuales se asociaron independientemente con el uso inconsistente de condones con parejas ocasionales. Los comportamientos sexuales de riesgo y el uso de sustancias ilícitas son comunes entre esta población, son necesarios esfuerzos de prevención del VIH y las ITS que se dirijan a ambos sexos y que se expandan a otras poblaciones en riesgo.

From New York to Ecuador and Back Again: Transnational Journeys of Policies and People

In this article, I explore the surprising and unexpected turns that have developed since zero tolerance policing was exported from New York to Ecuador at the turn of the new millennium. Drawing from fifteen years of ethnographic research with young indigenous Ecuadorians, I demonstrate how the impacts of displacement can extend far beyond the local scale. Street work has long been a key survival strategy for the indigenous Kisapincha. Yet, as growing poverty forced rising numbers onto the streets, cities in Ecuador responded by importing punitive neoliberal urban policies to cleanse and sanitize the streets. Deprived of critical income, many Kisapincha turned to transnational migration to seek better opportunities in the United States. Since then, young Kisapincha men and women have endured brutal 9,000-km journeys through South America, Central America, and Mexico to work in garment sweatshops and as day laborers in the United States. This research reveals how existing inequalities are reproduced and exacerbated in the drive to gentrify and modernize cities. I argue that zero tolerance policing in Ecuador pushed many former street vendors to migrate to New York City. These transnational displacements and scalar disruptions have led to profound injustices and intergenerational trauma for the Kisapincha. To untangle the hidden geographies of urban change, I suggest that scholars adopt ethnographic and longitudinal approaches to expose the long-term and unforeseen ramifications of policy mobilities over time and space. Key Words: Ecuador, indigenous, migration, policy mobilities, zero tolerance.