Immigration Policy, Practices, and Procedures: The Impact on the Mental Health of Mexican and Central American Youth and Families

Currently, 15 million Mexican and Central American individuals live in the United States, with this number projected to rise in the next few decades (Lesser & Batalova, 2017; Zong & Batalova, 2017). Research has begun to investigate the impact of the nation's immigration practices and policies on immigrant Latino/a families and youth. Current immigration policies can create vulnerabilities, including fear and mistrust, discrimination, limited access to services, parent-child separation, and poverty. These experiences increase risk for poor mental health outcomes and may exacerbate prior exposure to traumas in the home country (e.g., violence) and during migration (e.g., extortion). This paper reviews current immigration policies for arriving Mexican and Central American immigrants and links to mental health among documented and undocumented immigrant families and youth. A discussion of positive policies and resources that may mitigate the damaging impact of immigration-related stress is included. Finally, social justice implications for clinicians and researchers are discussed, with culturally sensitive interventions, advocacy, and dissemination of research and policy as primary recommendations.