Immigration Policy and Family Separation: Case

Study of Javier Garcia, Jr. (12 yrs. old)

Presentation developed by: Ann Ginn, Anne Owen, and Helen Ekholt

October 4, 2014

Our Lady of the Lake University

Photo courtesy of:

fair immigration.org

Unauthorized Status in the US

• Unauthorized Status in US common

• 1986 -1988: Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA)

modified to Immigration Reform and Control Act (1)

• Restricted pathways green card, citizenship (1)

• Early 1990: Many settled in US, bought homes, started families

(1)

• Immigrants maintained unauthorized status for decades (1)

Immigration Reform and Control

Act (IRCA)

• Passed to control and deter illegal immigration (1)

• Legalization of undocumented who had been continuously unlawfully present since 1982, legalization of certain agricultural workers (2)

• Forced sanctions on employers who hired undocumented workers (2)

• Increased enforcement along U.S. borders (2)

Immigration Reform and Control

Act: Tragedy By the Numbers• 2008: US deported 90,000 children without parents (3)

• 2010: estimated that 4.5 million US children have unauthorized

parents (1)

• For every 3 adults deported = one abandoned child (2)

• July 1, 2010 - September 21, 2012 : 23 percent of all deportations were

issued for parents with US citizen children (4)

• 2012: nearly 45,000 parents are believed to have been removed from

the US (5)

• New York City alone: from 2005 to 2010, 87% of processed cases with

citizen children resulted in deportation (6)

Senate Bill 1070

• Initiated by Arizona lawmakers in 2010 (1)

• Given permission to make warrantless arrests if there is probable cause or suspicion that the person is not a citizen (2)

• Required citizens and non-citizens to carry I.D., Alien registration card, or work permits (2)

• If not could face jail time, detention, fines, penalties and deportation (2).

• House Bill 2162 was added to safeguard against racial profiling.

• Officers are not allowed to consider the race, color, or national origin when following through with the law (2).

Javier Garcia, Jr.

• Born: United States of America

• Young man: 12 years old

• Excellent student, liked by teachers

• Bilingual and has many friends

• Developmentally: Identity versus Role confusion (1)

School Social Worker

• Teacher referred: late, sleeping, grades

• Learns that Javier Jr. is parentless

• Immigration and Customs Enforcement involved

• Parents will be deported to Mexico

• Javier Jr. now living with Aunt

If video does not appear, please follow link to: Arpaio's First Victims of 2009

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUbsfUy1jNU

Javier Jr. at Risk

• Deviant or anti-social behavior (1)

• School drop-out (1)

• Rebellion against adult authority (1)

• Drug and alcohol abuse (1)

• Teen fatherhood: relationship instability (1)

• Loneliness which translates into future

generations in crisis (1)

Protective Factors: Javier Jr.

• Familism: living with US citizen Aunt,

extended family

• Good Student/ peer support network

• Bilingual ability

• Opened-up to trust

• Connection with school personnel

• Due to his age: high resiliency is likely

As Social Workers, we want to

know if Cognitive Behavioral

Therapy will reduce the

symptoms of depression and

anxiety in Latino youth like

Javier Jr.?

Primary Challenges to Child Development

Resulting from Parental Deportation

• Short Term Disruption to the Family

Unit

• Weakened Economic Security

• Social Distress

• Emotional Distress

Primary Challenges: Studies by the

Urban Institute & Center for American Progress

• Increased Housing Insecurity

• Crowded Living Quarters

• Food Shortages

• Non-traditional Household

• Economic Disparities

Secondary Challenges to Child Development

Resulting from Parental Deportation

• Long Term Disruption to the Family Unit

• Low Socioeconomic Status

• Reduction in Family Mobility

• Poor Educational Outcomes

• Mistrust of Law Enforcement

• Social Stigma

• Chronic Mental Health Impairments

Clinical Interventions with Hispanic Children

Who Have Experienced Loss of a Parent Resulting from

Deportation

• Evidence Based Practice

• Empirically Supported Treatment

• Culturally Modified Treatment

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

• Cultural Competence

Theoretical Tenants and Goals of

CBT• Constructing a personal understanding of difficulties

from a biological, social and psychological perspective

• To reduce stress/distress

• To increase coping

• To improve quality of daily life

• To increase understanding and find an explanation of “symptoms’ which makes sense to the client and is helpful to them

• People are not distressed by events. What distresses them is the meaning that they construct around the event

• Normalizing: psychotic experiences are on a ‘continuum’ with ordinary experiences

Reasons Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

is Effective with Hispanics aged 6- 12

• Didactic orientation that provides structure to treatment and

education about the therapeutic process

• A classroom format that reduces the stigma of psychotherapy

• A match with client expectations of receiving a directive and

active intervention from the Social Worker

• An orientation focused on the present and on problem solving

• Concrete solutions and techniques to be used when facing

problems

Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

with Hispanic aged 6- 12

• TF-CBT integrates several established treatment approaches.

TF-CBT combines elements drawn from:

• Cognitive therapy which aims to change behavior by addressing

a person’s thoughts or perceptions, particularly those thinking

patterns that create distorted or unhelpful views

• Behavioral therapy which focuses on modifying habitual

responses (e.g., anger, fear) to identified situations or stimuli

• Family therapy which examines patterns of interactions among

family members to identify and alleviate problems

Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Treatment Description with Hispanics aged 6- 12

• Average length/number of sessions: 12-to-16 weeks of treatment (once a week;

60-to-90 minute sessions).

• Note: Over 80% of traumatized children will show significant improvement

with this plan

• The goal of TF-CBT: Help address the bio-psychosocial needs of children with

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or other problems related to traumatic

life experiences, and their parents or primary caregivers. Children and parents

are provided knowledge and skills related to processing the trauma; managing

distressing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors; and enhancing safety, parenting

skills, and family communication

Javier Jr. and CBT ProcessSituation Javier is separated from his father and mother

Thoughts Why did this happen? Are my parents bad

people? Why did this happen to me? How did

I cause this? Is this my fault? Will I ever see

them again? How will I survive? When will I

see my family again?

Emotional Feelings Sad because he misses his mother, anxious

around authority figures, depressed because

there is nothing he can do to fix the problem,

feels like he doesn’t belong here, betrayed,

preoccupation with fear, guilt, anger, separation

anxiety when leaving adults who are taking care

of him (1)

Physical Headaches, belly aches, low energy, feel sick

Actions May withdraw from friends and family,

regression in the way he cares of himself,

Worry about himself and his parents (1)

Mental Health Impairments Exhibited by Hispanic

Children Whose Parent Was Deported

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Difficulty Concentrating

• ADHD

• PTSD

Effect on the Children Left Behind• Lower cognitive skills in early childhood, lower levels of general positive

development in middle childhood, higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms during adolescence and fewer years of schooling. (1)

• Double and triple trauma for children, who may witness the forcible removal of the parent, suddenly lose their caregiver, and or abruptly lose their familiar home environment. (2)

• Parent child separation can harm children's learning and emotional development due to disruption in attachment, interruptions in schooling and economic hardship stemming from loss of parental income. (3)

• Research on the effects of arrest or removal suggests subsequent increases in children's behavioral problems, anxiety and depressive symptoms. (3)

• From the cumulative risk perspective, adverse effects from a single event, such as a parent's deportation, are more likely to result in negative outcomes. (4)

• From the attachment theory perspective, a child's sense of security is rooted in relationships with familiar caregivers; this secure base is a necessary foundation for developing social, cognitive and emotional regulation skills that are fundamental throughout life. (2)

• Physical separation between a parent and child, particularly when unexpected as in the case of deportation, disrupts this essential secure base, risking internalizing symptoms of depression and anxiety, externalizing behaviors of withdrawal, aggression and social and cognitive difficulties. Adverse experiences such as those noted above that upset a child, parent and household can result in biological, neurological, and psychological changes. (4)

Children who remain in the US

• Many are absorbed into the community, especially if they are in a longer standing

ethnic enclave community, where traditional cultures and care of community as a

whole are practiced. There is no way to know the number of children who are

counted among this group. (1)

• Extended families, networks of friends, church and religious affiliated people are

usually the keys to success for these children. (1)

• Children who have no remaining family and are not absorbed into communities, or

who do not accompany their parents back to their home countries end up in the foster

care system. (2)

• The cost of foster care in this country, per child is an approximate $26,000 a year. (2)

• In 2012 it was estimated that there were 5,100 children of deported parents in the

foster care system of just 22 states- 1,500 of them in Southern California alone. (3)

• That is over 132.6 MILLION dollars annually in foster care charges alone, not even

discussing detainment costs, processing deportees, or any of the other related costs in

deporting parents with unauthorized status. (3)

• States are terminating parental rights of detainees for lack of contact, when

detainment facilities are denying communication opportunities. (4)

• Immigrant parents are losing their US born children solely based upon their

immigration status. (4)

Policy before Parenting

• Immigration policy: Bans re-entry once caught for 5 years to a lifetime (1)

• Absence of much needed remittances: for family in US and in Latin Countries (1)

• Adversely increases the likelihood of return, placing the parent at risk of greater penalties (1)

• Child may suffer from Complicated Grief like symptoms

Complicated Grief• Lack of research specific to children separated from parents (1)

• Complicated grief: obsessional preoccupation with the deceased,

crying, persistent yearning, and searching for the lost person, inability

to trust others, numbness, detachment, feeling that life is empty (1) (2)

(4)

• Difficulty grieving because of constant reminders of the loss (2)

• Higher risk factors for mental health issues connected to traumatic

circumstances (1) (2)

• Reactions such as depression, anxiety states, and PTSD often overlap

(1)

• DSM-V solely focuses on anxiety and depression: overlooks the

patterned response of the adolescent, very distressing (2)(3)

CBT, Complicated Grief, Javier Jr.

“The purpose of grief is to mold the network of bonds with the representation of the deceased with the result that the pain, and the pining are woven into the fabric of life, and the memories are a force for continuing bonds with him or her.” (1)

SituationParents deported

ThoughtsI will do my best I can

to make them proud.

Emotional

Feelings

Sadness, pride,

determination,

willingness

PhysicalMore focused, alert,

helpful.

ActionsWorks with his aunt

to discover ways that

he can stay connected

with his parents.

Transnational Parenting

• Struggle to keep in touch (1)

• Mother focus on social and emotional needs, often blamed for abandoning the family (2)

• Fathers focus on discipline (2)

• Creative modes of communication (1)

• Must happen frequently and right away to be effective (1)

• Adolescents at the greatest risk due to developmental needs (1)

Family Unity Waiver• Proposal under Obama to help families stay together (1)

• Allows for the application process to begin before person is deported (1)

• Application allows families re-enter without penalty (1)

• Relatives need to travel to the U.S embassies in their countries of origin to pick up their visas (1)

• The waiver process can take months, or sometimes years to win and families face a tough separation during this time (1)

• The new rule change would allow eligible spouses and children of United States citizens to remain in the United States while the federal government reviews their application for waivers to the 3- and 10-year bars (1)

Aftermath

• The aftermath of deportation impacts entire communities-instills fear

of family separation and distrust of anyone assumed to be associated

with the government, including local police, school personnel, health

professionals and social services professionals. It can confuse and lead

to misunderstandings about the true roles of said professionals. (1)

• Children are kept at home and /or out of school during removal

proceedings and often afterwards, in fear of losing more family

members and distrust of the system after deportation. Programs

available to them as US citizens are unused due to fear and distrust. (1)

• Re-shape the experiences of children and their relationships with their

deported parent. (1)

• Advocates agree regardless of whether a deported mother or father-the

impact on kids is the same. (2)

• Any deportation of a parent is a horrible thing and the reasons behind

the deportation are immaterial for the child.(2)

Social Work Interventions & Recommendations:

How you can get involved?

• Local Level: Community Based Organizations

• State Level: Judicial Advocacy

• Federal Level: Policy

If video does not appear, please follow link to: Esteban’s Story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Brt_VrOaNo

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