WASHINGTON – Forced separation of immigrant families trying to enter the United States must cease, and parents and children who have been separated must have access to trauma-informed mental health care, a psychologist told a congressional panel today.
“Unwanted and unexpected separation from parents may have severe consequences in a child’s developmental processes and psychosocial functioning,” Cristina Muñiz, PhD, said in remarks prepared for delivery to the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations. “The intense fear, sense of helplessness and vulnerability for the child associated with forced separation from their parent can lead to a state of hyperarousal, attention deficits, depressive symptoms and interference in their ability to communicate and relate to others.”
Muñiz is director of mental health for Terra Firma Immigrant Youth Clinic in New York City, where she is responsible for the design, coordination and management of mental health services for recently arrived immigrant youth, a position that allows her to observe firsthand the effects of family separation. She testified on behalf of the American Psychological Association, which has previously spoken out against separating immigrant families.
“Overall, it has been my observation that children who endured separation at the border are more likely to develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress and depression, which are reflected in their negative perceptions of the world as unsafe and uncontrollable and their self-perceptions as helpless and endangered,” she said. “These perceptions affect how children navigate the world, how they communicate with others, how they learn and how they develop relationships with peers and other adults in their life.”
Muñiz provided several real-world examples, including that of a 2-year-old boy who was separated from his mother while he was sleeping and kept from her for two months. Even after mother and son were reunited, the boy demonstrated signs of separation anxiety and hypervigilance, she said. In another case, a 16-year-old girl from Honduras who had been separated from her mother was referred to the Terra Firma program after displaying symptoms of depression.
“The experience of total lack of control and terror during the separation had left her with severe helplessness, which she described as feeling like others would always have control over what happens to her, and hopelessness, which she described as feeling like her life would never get better.”
Research shows that the longer the separation, the greater the reported symptoms of anxiety and depression are for children, said Muñiz. Long-term separation also can result in ongoing difficulty trusting adults and institutions, as well as lower levels of educational achievement, according to a report by the APA Presidential Task Force on Immigration.
“Over the past five years directing the mental health services at Terra Firma, I have observed the impact of recent immigration policies on children and families, both positive and negative. I have seen an increase in anxiety in children and families due to the potential separation, detention and deportation,” she said. “I would urge this committee to consider the serious mental health impact of parent-children separation on both children and parents and put an end to the practice of family separation and help to ensure that immigrant children and their parents receive needed mental health care.”
APA also sent a letter in June 2018 to President Trump expressing the association’s strong opposition to the administration’s policy of separating immigrant parents and children who were detained while crossing the border. The administration has since rescinded the policy but many families remain separated and the policy of separating families continues, according to media reports.
The American Psychological Association, in Washington, D.C., is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States. APA's membership includes nearly 115,700 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance the creation, communication and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve people's lives.
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