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Introduction

U.S. domestic public policies target youth in the United States in systematic andinstitutional ways that hinder the realization of human rights. Racist and discriminatory U.S. institutions and organizations, such as the police, prisons, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) or Border Patrol, target youth in the United States, specifically youth of color and immigrant youth, via public policies. This position paper discusses the criminalization of youth in the United States, ranging from domestic militarization proliferating through the neighborhoods of people of color and immigrants1; to public policies targeting and impacting youth; to the massive expansion of the prison industrial complex seeking to incarcerate record numbers of peoples. All of these issues are inter-related and linked: as domestic militarization provokes the rationale for youth-specific public policies and the massive funding towards the prison industrial complex.

Youth do not experience the repercussions of the State in the same capacity. Male and female youth of color are impacted by public policies differently because of their racial and gender identities. For example, male youth of color are the racial profile for the police and prison systems and female youth of color with children on welfare receive punitive measures if preferring to complete their education for a high school degree rather than seeking employment. In these situations, youth experience the impact of the State differently due to the realities of race and gender. The topics discussed in this position paper do not reflect the myriad of issues that prevent youth in the United States from enjoying the full range of human rights. This paper highlights certain aspects of youth criminalization, which constructs an “enemy” of the State that is young, racialized, gendered, and poor. The paper concludes with recommendations leading to the advancement of human rights for youth in the United States.

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Footnotes
1 For the purposes of this paper, “people of color” and “youth of color” is defined as the following: people residing in the United States who self-identify as being, for example, of African, Caribbean, Chicana/Latina, Asian, Pacific Islander, Arab, and Indigenous descent. Anglos, whites, or European-Americans are not considered “people of color.” Thus, in the United States, “people of color” are considered individuals who are non-white, non-Anglo, and of non-European origin. Immigrants residing in the United States typically do not self-identify as “people of color,” but rather identify as being from their country of origin. However, U.S.-born children of immigrants from the South may identify as “people of color.” In the context of this paper, immigrants are discussed separately from U.S. people of color.

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