Immigration policy, practices, and procedures: The impact on the mental health of Mexican and Central American youth and families.

Abstract

Currently, 15 million Mexican and Central American individuals live in the United States, with this number projected to rise in the next few decades (Lesser & Batalova, 2017; Zong & Batalova, 2017). Research has begun to investigate the impact of the nation's immigration practices and policies on immigrant Latino/a families and youth. Current immigration policies can create vulnerabilities, including fear and mistrust, discrimination, limited access to services, parent-child separation, and poverty. These experiences increase risk for poor mental health outcomes and may exacerbate prior exposure to traumas in the home country (e.g., violence) and during migration (e.g., extortion). This paper reviews current immigration policies for arriving Mexican and Central American immigrants and links to mental health among documented and undocumented immigrant families and youth. A discussion of positive policies and resources that may mitigate the damaging impact of immigration-related stress is included. Finally, social justice implications for clinicians and researchers are discussed, with culturally sensitive interventions, advocacy, and dissemination of research and policy as primary recommendations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Immigration Enforcement Policies and the Mental Health of US Citizens: Findings from a Comparative Analysis

“…Certainly, knowing someone who has been detained or deported may also affect non‐Latinx communities in the US, but with the majority of detentions and deportations targeting Latinx individuals (Ryo & Peacock, 2018), Latinx communities are more likely to experience loss of family or social ties (Hatzenbuehler et al, 2017). Heightened detention and deportation threat against Latinx migrants has had negative mental health and physical health consequences on those who are legally vulnerable (Garcini et al, 2016, 2017; Garcini, Renzaho, Molina, & Ayala, 2018; Schwartz et al, 2014; Torres, DeCarlo Santiago, Kaufka Walts, & Richards, 2018; Vargas, Juárez, Sanchez, & Livaudais, 2018). Recently, research has begun to document the harm of detentions and deportations on those who are not legally vulnerable, such as US‐citizen Latinxs, although much of this research has focused on children (Allen, Cisneros, & Tellez, 2015; Gulbas et al, 2016; Rojas‐Flores, Clements, Hwang Koo, & London, 2017; Zayas, Aguilar‐Gaxiola, Yoon, & Rey, 2015).…”

Depression in High School: Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Identity as a Moderator of Sexual Assault

“…Somewhat relatedly, among only the girls in the sample, identifying as Hispanic was associated with greater odds of reporting depression. Again, considering the sociocultural composition of the geographic region from where the sample was collected, Hispanic students may be feeling heightened stress and discrimination because of the sociopolitical climate related to Hispanic immigrants 44,45 . In general, there appears to be a pattern of minority students who are at particular risk for discrimination evidencing greater rates of reporting depression.…”

Management of mental health conditions in refugee youth: An overview for the psychiatric‐mental health nurse practitioner

“…Other countries, which produce vast numbers of refugees include Iraq, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, highlighting the heterogeneity and diversity of the refugee population, despite shared risk factors. Alternatively, gang violence and organized crime drive many refugees from Central American locales (Keller, Joscelyne, Granski, & Rosenfeld, 2017;Torres, Santiago, Walts, & Richards, 2018). For example, civil war in both Syria and South Sudan, or militarization of Afghanistan has precipitated a refugee crisis in the sub-Saharan and Middle Eastern regions, respectively (Mlambo, Mpanza, & Mlambo, 2019).…”

“…For example, civil war in both Syria and South Sudan, or militarization of Afghanistan has precipitated a refugee crisis in the sub-Saharan and Middle Eastern regions, respectively (Mlambo, Mpanza, & Mlambo, 2019). Alternatively, gang violence and organized crime drive many refugees from Central American locales (Keller, Joscelyne, Granski, & Rosenfeld, 2017;Torres, Santiago, Walts, & Richards, 2018). Despite originating from diverse geoethnic or cultural backgrounds, refugees share a constellation of factors that confer increased risk towards the development of psychiatric illness.…”