Bogus "Race Science" X-Rays Send Migrant Kids to Adult Jails

Maurizio Guerrero, Prism, Oct. 2, 2024

"Hundreds of unaccompanied migrant children are incorrectly placed each year in adult immigration detention centers in the U.S. due to the illegal use of dental X-rays to determine their age, according to immigration lawyers and rights groups. Widely discredited by the scientific community, these age determinations severely affect a minor’s chances of obtaining immigration relief and remaining in the country. Despite its impacts and scope, little is known about the practice of using dental X-rays to determine age. Federal agencies have refused to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests that seek to learn under what circumstances and how often dental and bone X-rays determine the age of unaccompanied minors. Civil rights organizations filed a complaint in a federal court in New York on Sept. 5 to obtain that information. “The practice is illegal,” said Laura Belous, the legal director at the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project, one of the plaintiffs along with the Center for Constitutional Rights and an affected individual. To make an age determination, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) requires multiple forms of evidence, including documentation and statements. However, advocates claim that bone and dental X-rays or radiographs have been the sole basis to determine a minor’s age despite only producing estimates of plus or minus three years."