Mental and Physical Health of Families Due to Stringent Immigration Laws
Mental and Physical Health of Families Due to Stringent Immigration Laws
The mental and physical health effects on families because of immigration laws being more strictly enforced is becoming more and more evident. Health issues like depression, anxiety, and obesity to name a few are evident, not only in the children, whom are more susceptible because they do not understand the immigration process, but also the parents. The effects of these laws can cause long term mental damage on children. Families are being torn apart every day because parents are being deported after spending most of their lives in the United States; although, they were illegal immigrants their children were born in the United States and their family has never been to Mexico or Latin America. This affects the entire family. Children fear going to school because they are afraid their parent will not be home when they arrive from school. Parents do not want to leave the house in fear of being detained by immigration officials or even being deported. When parents are deported and there is no one around to take charge of their children, they must be placed with foster families. After deportation the process sometimes takes months even years and the parents have no way to contact their children and vice versa. This type of situation has adverse effects on a child’s mental stability, leading to problems in school and social settings. The parents also suffer severe depression and anxiety because they have no idea where their children are and they have no way to communicate with them.
In some instances entire communities are affected by fear of being deported by immigration officials. In the article “Immigration policies on public health,” residents of a Hispanic community in Arizona were interviewed about the effects immigration laws have on their community:
Residents also reflected on how SB 1070---related fear was negatively affecting their health, in a repeat of the aftermath of
The mental and physical health effects on families because of immigration laws being more strictly enforced is becoming more and more evident. Health issues like depression, anxiety, and obesity to name a few are evident, not only in the children, whom are more susceptible because they do not understand the immigration process, but also the parents. The effects of these laws can cause long term mental damage on children. Families are being torn apart every day because parents are being deported after spending most of their lives in the United States; although, they were illegal immigrants their children were born in the United States and their family has never been to Mexico or Latin America. This affects the entire family. Children fear going to school because they are afraid their parent will not be home when they arrive from school. Parents do not want to leave the house in fear of being detained by immigration officials or even being deported. When parents are deported and there is no one around to take charge of their children, they must be placed with foster families. After deportation the process sometimes takes months even years and the parents have no way to contact their children and vice versa. This type of situation has adverse effects on a child’s mental stability, leading to problems in school and social settings. The parents also suffer severe depression and anxiety because they have no idea where their children are and they have no way to communicate with them.
In some instances entire communities are affected by fear of being deported by immigration officials. In the article “Immigration policies on public health,” residents of a Hispanic community in Arizona were interviewed about the effects immigration laws have on their community:
Residents also reflected on how SB 1070---related fear was negatively affecting their health, in a repeat of the aftermath of
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