Unauthorized Status and Youth Development in the United States: Consensus Statement of the Society for Research on Adolescence

Abstract

In the United States, 5.3 million children and adolescents are growing up either with unauthorized status or with at least one parent who has that status. Until recently, little in the way of research has informed federal, state, and local policy debates related to unauthorized status (e.g., border enforcement, deportation, and a pathway to citizenship) although these issues have important implications for youth development. This statement is a brief summary of the research evidence on multiple domains of development that may be affected by the child or parent's unauthorized status. We also describe the contextual and psychological mechanisms that may link this status to developmental outcomes. We summarize a range of policies and practices that could reduce the developmental harm to children, youth, and their families stemming from this status. Finally, we conclude with recommendations for policy, practice, and research that are based on the evidence reviewed.

Ethnic–racial identity content and the development of depressive symptoms among Latino adolescents

“…Latino youth are growing up and developing their identities amid an environment of social exclusion and stigmatization where immigrants of their ethnic group are commonly denigrated through negative media portrayals and calls for mass deportations (Yoshikawa, Suárez-Orozco, & Gonzales, 2017. While these damaging experiences more severely impact undocumented immigrants and their children, they affect the Latino community as a whole exposing it to high levels of stress and fear, with the attendant deleterious mental health outcomes (Roche, Vaquera, White, & Rivera, 2018).…”

Impact of trauma exposure and acculturative stress on internalizing symptoms for recently arrived migrant‐origin youth: Results from a community‐based partnership

“…Additionally, the school itself exists within a context that influences, and is influenced by, other systemic components such as family, neighborhood, mental health service agencies and civic institutions (Bronfenbrenner, ). Given the robust trauma histories demonstrated in this study and the subsequent effect on cultural and psychological adjustment, migrant youth may benefit from a continuum of services (Yoshikawa, Suárez‐Orozco, & Gonzales, ) reflected in a community partnership approach that integrates educational, social, and health factors (Yoshikawa, ), with the goal of enhancing cohesiveness between systems to bolster psychological well‐being (Casas, ).…”

“…Given the robust trauma histories demonstrated in this study and the subsequent effect on cultural and psychological adjustment, migrant youth may benefit from a continuum of services (Yoshikawa, Suárez-Orozco, & Gonzales, 2017) reflected in a community partnership approach that integrates educational, social, and health factors (Yoshikawa, 2006), with the goal of enhancing cohesiveness between systems to bolster psychological well-being (Casas, 2010).…”

Flipping Our Scripts about Undocumented Immigration

“…The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) federal policy attempted to remedy this situation by providing a temporary reprieve from deportation for a subset of undocumented young adults brought as children-"undocumented youth between the ages of 15 and 31 who arrived before age 16, had continuously resided in the United States since June of 2007, had a graduate equivalency diploma or a high school diploma or were enrolled in school, and had not been convicted of felonies or serious misdemeanors" (Yoshikawa et al 2016, p. 7)-and offering them "temporary Social Security numbers and two-year work permits" (Gonzales et al 2015, p. 337). Through DACA's protections (won in part through immigrants' own advocacy), the nation could more fully benefit from young people's labor and energy, and not waste this "valuable national resource" (Pérez 2009, p. xxxvii).…”