‘Sentí que Alguien Murió’ (‘I felt someone died’): Ambiguous loss in the face of parental deportation

Abstract

Over 16 million people in the United States belong to a mixed-status family in which at least one member of their household is undocumented. The current study will explore adult reflections on childhood experiences of parental deportation in order to elucidate their meaning of the loss and if their experiences resemble an ambiguous loss. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was utilized to analyse in-depth retrospective meaning-making narratives of adult children who lost a parent to deportation. Findings indicate that the children of detained or deported parents experienced difficulty not knowing what was happening, believed their parents would return, and noted family practices that they found to be helpful or unhelpful in processing their loss.

Things That Could Have Helped Me Cope: Adults Reflect on What They Needed as Children After the Deportation of a Parent

“…Boss (1999) describes two forms of ambiguous loss: (a) a loss occurring when a person is physically present but psychologically absent, and (b) a loss occurring when a person is physically absent but psychologically present. Parental deportation may be associated with both forms of ambiguous loss (Lovato, 2019;Taschman & Muruthi, 2020;Taschman et al, 2022). For example, a parent may be physically present but emotionally unavailable due to deportation-related stress (worrying about getting deported or experiencing the deportation of a partner or relative); or a parent may be physically absent but psychologically present after a deportation experience (no longer living in the same country, but parenting through technologies such as phone and video calls).…”

“…The literature indicates that experiencing the ambiguous loss of parental deportation during childhood is associated with trauma symptoms, extreme stress, behavioral changes, academic challenges, educational disruptions and feeling afraid of additional family separation and loss (Lovato, 2019;Rodríguez-Cruz, 2023). For many children, these difficulties may be exacerbated by the stress of uncertainty about what was happening to their deported parent and to their family system following deportation experiences (Taschman et al, 2022). The mental health consequences of parental deportation may be particularly challenging during important moments and milestones during childhood and adolescence, such as dealing with body changes during puberty, experiencing a first romantic relationship, or graduating from high school (Rodríguez-Cruz, 2023).…”

“…Following parental deportation, children and their parents have little information about bureaucratic immigration and customs enforcement processes and receive unclear information about whether their parents will return to the United States. As a result, many children experience the trauma of parental deportation in an environment of liminality and uncertainty about the future (Grace et al, 2018; Taschman et al, 2022). Although mental health needs are clear, children often face challenges communicating their mental health needs to mental health professionals because of, but not limited to, uncertainty about what happened to their family, fear, and/or apprehension toward service providers; lack of access to mental health services, and overall inadequate treatment and support.…”