The Clinical Case for Keeping Families Together

In April, the Trump administration announced that anyone caught crossing into the United States illegally at the southwestern border would be referred for criminal prosecution. When adults are detained, their children are separated from them and sent into government custody or foster care. Since then, over 2,000 children have been separated from their parents in this way.

What happens to the children when they are stripped from their parents? For the past 10 years, we have been investigating the lives and mental-health needs of unaccompanied immigrant children living in New York City while they await deportation hearings. Our research has focused on youth who arrive in the United States as unaccompanied minors, but many of its lessons apply to those purposefully separated from their parents as well, and give some idea of the harms now being deliberately inflicted on these children. In particular, our findings demonstrate unequivocally the importance of family in their lives: Separation from parents does not just cause discomfort and distress; it places tremendous psychological stress on children, compounds the harm caused by other migration adversities, and denies them vital emotional support at