The psychosocial impact of detention and deportation on U.S. migrant children and families

Mixed status families - a family in which individuals have different immigration statuses but at least one member is unauthorized - are increasingly common in the U.S. Millions of U.S. citizen children have parents at risk of deportation. A parent's detention or deportation can precipitate a family crisis, particularly since detention tends to be abrupt and does not allow time for preparations. Detainees may be transferred to facilities far from their homes, limiting the ability of children to visit their parents. These factors can have serious impacts on a child's psychosocial well-being, including increased likelihood of delinquent behavior, academic decline, and mental health problems as well as future substance abuse and unemployment. A forced separation from parents may disrupt a child's sense of security and ability to form secure attachments, and may also interrupt neural pathways that promote learning. Children may experience confusion over whether their detained or deported parent is a "criminal", and often receive ambiguous messages about what happened, which prompts confusion and negative psychosocial impacts. Emotional and behavioral changes after a parent's detention or deportation may persist in the long-term, as children struggle to adjust to the "ambiguous loss" of their parent. (The Immigrant Integration Lab, Boston College)

View online