x
Breaking News
More () »

American Psychological Association opposes separation of migrant children from parents

Doctors say it could cause behavioral, medical and psychological problems for these children.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Chair of the Department of Psychological Sciences at Northern Arizona University said the trauma experienced by children separated from their parents at the southern border would stack up to behavioral, medical and psychological problems for years to come.

Dr. Ann Futterman Collier is also a clinical psychologist and associate professor. She said the actions at the U.S.-Mexico border would lead to long-term damage.

“There are these very, very long-term, severe outcomes that will happen throughout the rest of their lives,” Futterman Collier said.

Futterman Collier has experience working with immigrant communities and she’s not the only one worried.

In this letter to Trump, dated June 14, 2018, the American Psychological Association (APA) president expressed “deep concern” for and “strong opposition” to the administration’s policy separating children from their parents at the southern border.

More than 2,300 minors have been forcibly separated from their guardian since the practice went into effect in April.

Parents, Futterman Collier explained, are usually a child’s only source of consolation to cope with the stresses these migrants faced in their home countries and in their migration.

“Their caregiver is one of the main buffers they have to help them cope with stress and it provides them with the most soothing,” Futterman Collier said, adding, “children that are separated from their parents will have both the trauma of moving, the trauma of whatever they experienced there, the trauma of coming here, but then severe trauma, biologically, from not having their caregiver there because that will cause them inconsolable amount of grief.”

The clinical psychologist said Tuesday, decades of evidence show this toxic stress can leave children with a lifetime of health problems.

“Increases in obesity and heart disease and diabetes in people that have been traumatized. Psychologically, it leads to post-traumatic stress. It can impede development in the children, they then fall further behind which leads to problems down the line as well,” Futterman Collier explained.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has also spoken out against the separation of migrant children from their parents.

Before You Leave, Check This Out