A report from the Urban Institute also found that that children whose parents were deported or detained experienced increased rates of crying, loss of appetite, clingy behavior, sleeplessness, fear and anxiety. Research shows this kind of fear can be profoundly detrimental for children. The study "The Children Left Behind: The Impact of Parental Deportation on Mental Health" notes the crucial role of parent-child relationships in social skills, emotion regulation and self-concept development. Another study, "The Burden of Deportation on Children in Mexican Immigrant Families," based on interviews with 91 parents and 110 children in 80 households, found that the threat of deportation caused fears of separation among children.
Catherine Wooddell, MSW, a behavioral health therapist, who has conducted individual and family psychotherapy with immigrant women, children, men and families, has seen the emotional damage of deportations firsthand. "The activities involved in daily living, which the US-born often take for granted, can be profoundly anxiety-provoking for someone who is undocumented or whose family includes undocumented members. Immigrant families are facing constant discriminatory treatment, and for families with members vulnerable to the threat of deportation, each act of discrimination can trigger that fear." Wooddell added"The neuropsychological effects of trauma can be passed from one generation to the next, carrying symptoms of anxiety and depression through multiple generations, affecting how and if the next generations will be able to cope with more routine stressors.”
Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, M.D., Ph.D., director of University of California Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities and professor of Clinical Internal Medicine, agrees that the issue of mental distress among families affected by deportation has been understudied and underreported. "The magnitude of the problem is mind-boggling when we consider there are 2 million parents deported to Mexico leaving behind 400,000 US-born children." Aguilar-Gaxiola says that research consistently shows that childhood adversities are the single most powerful predictor of health conditions and early-onset mental illness, such as anxiety, depression and psychological stress. "Children affected directly because parents were deported to Mexico or were detained in the US have significantly high somatic problems," he said. He believes that unless deportations cease, they will continue affecting generations of children.
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Catherine Wooddell, MSW, a behavioral health therapist, who has conducted individual and family psychotherapy with immigrant women, children, men and families, has seen the emotional damage of deportations firsthand. "The activities involved in daily living, which the US-born often take for granted, can be profoundly anxiety-provoking for someone who is undocumented or whose family includes undocumented members. Immigrant families are facing constant discriminatory treatment, and for families with members vulnerable to the threat of deportation, each act of discrimination can trigger that fear." Wooddell added"The neuropsychological effects of trauma can be passed from one generation to the next, carrying symptoms of anxiety and depression through multiple generations, affecting how and if the next generations will be able to cope with more routine stressors.”
Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, M.D., Ph.D., director of University of California Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities and professor of Clinical Internal Medicine, agrees that the issue of mental distress among families affected by deportation has been understudied and underreported. "The magnitude of the problem is mind-boggling when we consider there are 2 million parents deported to Mexico leaving behind 400,000 US-born children." Aguilar-Gaxiola says that research consistently shows that childhood adversities are the single most powerful predictor of health conditions and early-onset mental illness, such as anxiety, depression and psychological stress. "Children affected directly because parents were deported to Mexico or were detained in the US have significantly high somatic problems," he said. He believes that unless deportations cease, they will continue affecting generations of children.
From here
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