In Mexican child protection circles the term ‘circuit children’ has been used to designate people under the age of 18 who cross the US-Mexico border irregularly and cyclically for the purpose of smuggling drugs or irregular migrants. Young people of the border region have historically been involved in these markets. Yet their activities have become more visible in recent years in the context of increased border militarisation, and immigration and crime controls implemented by both the US and Mexican governments. Depicted in official and media discourses as forced recruits of local organised crime gangs, circuit children have increasingly been at the centre of initiatives that seek to identify and treat them as victims of trafficking. These efforts often rely on portrayals that frame them as gullible and defenceless, and their families and communities as inherently dysfunctional, dangerous and crime-prone. The structural and geopolitical conditions related to the children’s participation in smuggling, however, remain unchallenged. Most troublingly, trafficking discourses tend to silence the perspectives of circuit children themselves. This paper, based on interviews and participant observation, shows how circuit children, rather than seeing themselves as victims, articulate legitimate, important claims concerning their engagement in illicit markets, reflective of the ways they navigate the complex economic, socio-political and migratory contexts of the US-Mexico border.

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“巡回儿童”：在美墨边境从事偷运移民便利的儿童的经验和观点

在墨西哥的儿童保护圈中，“巡回儿童”一词被用来指18岁以下的人，他们不定期和周期性地越过美墨边境，以走私毒品或非法移民。边境地区的年轻人历来涉足这些市场。然而，近年来，在边界军事化程度提高以及美国和墨西哥政府实施的移民和犯罪控制的背景下，他们的活动变得更加明显。在官方和媒体上被描述为当地有组织犯罪团伙的被迫招募者，巡回儿童越来越多地成为旨在识别和对待他们为贩运受害者的倡议的中心。这些努力通常取决于将其描述为易受骗和无防御的描述，以及他们的家庭和社区固有的功能失调，危险和容易犯罪。但是，与儿童参与走私有关的结构和地缘政治条件仍然没有受到挑战。最令人不安的是，贩运人口言论往往使巡回儿童本人的观点沉默。本文基于访谈和参与者观察，显示了巡回儿童如何而不是将自己视为受害者，而是阐明了有关其参与非法市场的合法重要主张，反映了他们在复杂的经济，社会政治和移民环境中的应对方式。美墨边境。最令人不安的是，贩运人口言论往往使巡回儿童本人的观点沉默。本文基于访谈和参与者观察，显示了巡回儿童如何而不是将自己视为受害者，而是阐明了有关其参与非法市场的合法重要主张，反映了他们在复杂的经济，社会政治和移民环境中的应对方式。美墨边境。最令人不安的是，贩运人口言论往往使巡回儿童本人的观点沉默。本文基于访谈和参与者的观察，展示了巡回儿童如何而不是将自己视为受害者，而是阐明了关于他们参与非法市场的合法重要主张，反映了他们在复杂的经济，社会政治和移民环境中的应对方式。美墨边境。