" Unaccompanied immigrant children who entered the United States, especially during the 2014 increase, were subject first and foremost to the coercive force of the state. The strategy developed to approach a humanitarian problem emphasized detention and quick repatriation, instead of humane treatment and a fair assessment of claims. In my paper, I have tried to argue that this was a result of racial projects existing in the United States that essentialize American Latinos and Latin American immigrants as criminals. While immigration procedures which lack juries limit the ability of advocates to reduce the impact of these negative racial projects, making government officials tasked with processing unaccompanied immigrant children more aware of race in the context of immigration may help these actors to behave in less biased ways. "