From Persecution to Prison - Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of ...

VIII. AGE DETERMINATIONS BYDENTAL EXAMINATIONS FOR YOUNGASYLUM SEEKERSWhen asylum seekers report being under 18 years of age, the INS oftenutilizes dental examinations and X-rays as a means of determining theirage. This practice reportedly continues under DHS despite the frequentacknowledgement by medical experts that such exams are not an accuratemethod of determining age and the growing consensus that the exams areethically questionable. (See Appendix A) 151The reason typically offered for conducting these examinations is thatyoung unaccompanied asylum seekers face a very different path throughthe US immigration system. Adults are subject to immediate deportationunder the expedited removal provisions of immigration law (see ChapterXI) or mandatory detention in jails whereas minors are sent through ajuvenile system where detention is not mandatory and they have access toeducational programs and a better chance of release to family members oran outside agency.Study FindingsUpon arrival in the US, three asylum seekers, interviewed for this study,reported that they were under 18 years of age, and the INS conducted dentalexaminations on them. Subsequently, they were considered to be lyingabout their age and kept in detention.One young girl, who claimed to be 15 years old, reported the following:At the airport, they asked me where I was going? I said to my motherwho was in Canada. They asked me who the passport belonged to and Isaid I didn’t know. They asked me how old I was. I told them I was 15.A woman in uniform said I was lying. They told me ‘We’re going to seeif you’re 15.’ Then they brought me to the dentist.The INS detained her in an adult detention center for six months. Subsequently,the INS released her and she was reunited with her mother inCanada who corroborated her daughter’s age. Canadian authoritiesaccepted the girl’s age as what the girl and her mother said it was.Another asylum seeker, claiming to be 16 years old, also was taken toan INS dentist for age testing.151Nalton F. Ferraro, Public Comment on Proposed Rule at 64 FR 39759 (INS No. 1906-98), sent to Director, Policy Directives and Instructions Branch, Immigration and NaturalizationService, March 12, 2002, copy on file with PHR (Ferraro, INS Public Comment).AGE DETERMINATIONS/DENTAL EXAMINATIONS 129