Mi Jornada, Dejando La Casa: Depictions of Resilience from Drawings By Latino Children Crossing the U.S.-Mexican Border

Background and Purpose: Thousands of children and families from Central America are forced to flee their country of origin due to organized crime, poverty, widespread violence, search for better education, and family reunification. They endure a hazardous journey and often face life-threatening circumstances during their border crossing. Continually, they face ostracism when arriving at the U.S. Border seeking asylum and refuge, initially to be incarcerated in an ICE detention center for up to 30 days. There is a paucity of research documenting this experience and children's overall journey. This study aims to explore the Latino children's experience of crossing international borders towards the U.S. based on the images' content and examines how they built resilience during their journey. This investigation examined the following research questions: (1) What do the children's drawings reveal about their life before migrating? (2) How are children's migration journeys depicted in their drawings? (3) What are the resilience depictions in the children's drawings?

Methods: This study sought to fill this gap by employing qualitative methodology utilizing an arts-based approach by analyzing 63 drawings gifted to the Arte de Lágrimas: Refugee Artwork Project. These drawings were made by children from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador between the ages of 7 and 17 who had crossed the U.S. Border in 2014-2016, 2019, and 2021. Participatory visual research methodologies (PVRM) focusing on the visual sites of production and the image itself, along with the drawing descriptors, guided the overall analysis. A content analysis was performed, followed by a thematic analysis utilizing a concept mapping approach to identify themes. This approach proved helpful in thinking visually about how complex phenomena interconnect with one another to make meaning out of messy thoughts by providing an increased understanding of their experience drawn from children's perspectives.

Findings: Identified themes related to memories of homeland revealed connections to nature, including special bonds with animals and natural phenomena. A level of gloom was expressed by depicting memories of family members left behind. The sense of community depicted by family members and neighbors' gatherings indicates the source of resilience before migrating. Themes of border crossings were linked to dangerous experiences, encounters with immigration authorities, and survival skills to endure the journey. Themes of religiosity and spirituality conveyed images as strategies relied on to counter the journey's hardships.

Conclusion and Implications: Findings suggested that children's drawings can be a powerful data source for amplifying and giving voices to displaced children's lived experiences by telling their stories. Examining the drawings of Latino minors crossing the U.S. Southern border demonstrated voices of courage, hope, and faith. These findings have important implications for developing policies that promote resilience and provide protection acts in situations of crisis. More attention is needed to explore the children's experiences during the migration and the role of faith in understanding how children make meaning of their surroundings and build resilience and self-identity through their experiences. Finally, a multidimensional social work approach should combine psycho-social-spiritual resources as strategies to safeguard their overall well-being and post-traumatic recovery.