Constructing Learning Disability via Dialogue the Intersection Between Practice and Theory Between the Clinic and Academia (original) (raw)

into organized crime. During the period 2007 to 2013, hundreds of thousands of Mexicans migrated to the United States as a consequence of the absence of physical security in that nation due to protracted drug related conflicts and a proliferation of organized crime (Passe & Cohn 2019; Budiman, 2020). More recently, the migration of individuals from the Northern Triangle countries of Central America, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras has increased significantly as governments in those three countries have been increasingly unable to provide for public safety and security as a result of the emergence of gang violence, drug trafficking, and organized crime (O'Connor, Batalova & Bolter, 2019). Since the sanctuary movement of the early 1980s, when American churches and social justice organizations provided safety to Central Americans who were fleeing ethnic genocide and the civil wars of right-wing dictatorships, the United States has seen the in migration of hundreds of thousands of Central American migrants. Many of those migrants, both authorized and unauthorized, have transited through El Paso/Ciudad Juárez port of entry (McDaniel, 2017). Recent presidential administrations of both political parties have aggressively interdicted migration from Mexico and Central America. Current federal policies seek to deter, detain, and deport migrants from Central America and Mexico through aggressive border enforcement, including zero-tolerance, family separation, parental deportation, prolonged incarceration and detention (Slack, 2019). Agencies throughout the US-Mexico border that serve the migrant population by offering legal assistance, social services, advocacy, sanctuary, and shelter have been significantly affected by the increases of migrants who have fled to the US-Mexico border under adverse circumstances. These migrants have been exposed to significant adversity and trauma in their countries of origin and enroute to the border. In addition, migrants also experience hardship upon arrival to the border region where many are apprehended, detained, or arrested, even when making legal petitions for asylum under United States law (Keller, Joscelyne, Granski & Rosenfeld, 2017; Lusk & Terrazas, 2015). Attorneys, paralegals, mental health professionals, clergy, paraprofessionals, and volunteers who work with migrants and refugees repeatedly encounter migrants who recount stories of extreme adversity, trauma, and hardship. Because agencies that serve migrants tend to be significantly underfunded and understaffed, comparatively small numbers of professionals and volunteers serve large caseloads of individuals who seek legal advice, advocacy, shelter, and