In February I had the honor of being part of The National Child Health Policy Conference organized by AcademyHealth. The lunch time plenary was titled: The Many Faces of Immigration's Impact on Child and Family Health. Listening to the excellent panelists, Mara Youdelman, Heather Koball, Matthew Lopas, and Alicia Wilson, I became aware of the many ways that the immigration experience can mirror other adverse childhood experiences and have similar effects on children and families. More recently I read Standing Up for DAPA and DACA+ and the Future of Our Nation's Children by Wendy Cervantes who blogs for MomsRising.org. She writes poignantly about how immigration practices have traumatized families she has worked with and urges us to support polices that would provide relief for these families
I remember a little girl named Bertha, who prays every night that her mom will be there when she wakes up in the morning. In Georgia, I remember a toddler who clings with concern to his mom every time she tells the story of when immigration officials arrested her husband and deported him because he failed to use his turn signal. I remember the faces of so many kids who struggle to understand why their loving, hardworking parents must worry about creating an emergency plan in case one day they don’t show up to pick up their kids from school. They tell me it’s even worse than creating a fire emergency plan. [read Wendy's full blog here]
As my fledgling knowledge about immigration and its impact on families grows, it is clear to me, that as members of a community devoted to preventing and healing ACEs and trauma and building resilience, immigration policies and practices that can hurt children and families must be on our radar and our agenda for change.
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