Worry, Behavior Change, and Daily Adversity: How US Latino/a Parents Experience Contemporary Immigration Actions and News

Abstract

The current study examines residency status differences in US Latino/a parents’ perceptions of how recent immigration actions and news have shaped their lives. Focus group data were collected during the fall of 2017 from 50 Central American parents of adolescents. Focus groups were homogenous with respect to one of four residency statuses: undocumented, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), permanent resident, and citizen. Three themes characterized parents’ perceptions: (a) worry and concern, (b) behavior change, and (c) daily life adversities. Within each theme, parents’ experiences included those that were universal across all residency status groups as well as those specific to residency status. Regardless of residency status, parents felt that President Trump’s rhetoric had led to heightened levels of fear among Latino/as, described reducing travel or plans to travel, and reported increases in discrimination against Latino/as. Other experiences of immigration actions and news varied depending upon parents’ residency status.

Inherently Political? Associations of Parent Ethnic–Racial Socialization and Sociopolitical Discussions with Latinx Youths’ Emergent Civic Engagement

“…The current findings come at a critical juncture in time, providing insight to ways we can support the positive ERI development and build the civic capacity of Latinx youth. The current contentious sociopolitical climate is impacting the messages parents transmit to their adolescents and reflect the pervasive influence of structural and institutional forces at the family level (Ayón et al, 2018; Roche et al, 2020). The present findings suggest it may be critical to expand our current ERS conceptualization to include parental sociopolitical discussions to better understand the critical role parents’ ERS practices play within Latinx youth’s sociopolitical development.…”

“…In addition to cultural socialization and preparation for bias, the current national rhetoric towards immigrants, increased ethnic–racial profiling, surveillance, and criminalization of Latinxs (Wallace & Zepeda‐Millán, 2020) may promote sociopolitical discussions at home. In focus groups with Latinx parents of various documentation statuses, Roche and colleagues (2020) found that parents universally felt terrorized by anti‐immigrant policies they learned about in the news and by xenophobic encounters in daily life. Worried about the implications of Latinx profiling, parents modified their own behavior (e.g., reduced travel) and sometimes asked their adolescent children to do the same (e.g., drive more cautiously).…”

“…Indeed, empirical work examining the civic engagement of Latinx immigrant young adults finds that the political and civic actions of Latinx individuals are often motivated by a desire to challenge anti‐Latinx and anti‐immigrant rhetoric as well as provide social services to their community (e.g., tutoring, helping those in need; Perez et al, 2010; Seif et al, 2014). While this work is in reference to the experience of Latinx immigrant and undocumented young adults, the targeting of all Latinx means that all of those racialized by others as Latinx are also at risk for discrimination (Roche et al, 2020; Seif et al, 2014). Additionally, the caging of children at the border serves to show that even at a young age Latinx youth are targeted.…”

“Tenemos que ser la voz”: Exploring resilience among Latina/o immigrant families in the context of restrictive immigration policies and practices

“…Whereas research on the impact of restrictive federal laws in immigrant well-being is still in its infancy, considerable research has documented negative associations between restrictive state and local policies and physical and psychosocial outcomes among Latina/o immigrant families (e.g., Ayón, 2018;Philbin et al, 2018). Most prominently, studies have found that these policies contribute to a state of fear and emotional distress among Latina/o children and parents (e.g., Roche et al, 2020;Rubio-Hernandez & Ayón, 2016). Rhodes et al (2015) found these policies are perceived by Latina/o communities as "exacerbating anti-immigrant sentiments and promoting racial profiling and discrimination" (p. 332).…”

Toward a Strengths-Based Model of Latinx Child Development

“…This has created challenges for Latinx parents in supporting the healthy development of their children in an environment characterized by antagonism toward Latinx individuals. Focus group data collected in fall 2017 with Central American parents of adolescents in Washington, DC indicated that parents viewed president Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric as a cause of increased fear and discrimination (Roche et al, 2020a). Likewise, longitudinal survey data collected in 2018-2019 in suburban Atlanta identified that one in four Latinx middle school students experienced the detention or deportation of a family member over a six-month period, and this experience was associated with a significant increase in youth externalizing problems, alcohol use, and suicidal ideation (Roche et al, 2020b).…”