Why DACA is Important for Immigrant Children

There are millions of people suffering from a particular condition that places mental disorders above the leading causes of illness. The difficulties that immigrant children face can easily fall into these cracks. In numerous cases, the trauma of being separated from their families could be one in a long line of stressful experiences for a child. Forcible separation places these children at elevated risk for mental health disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorders, anxiety, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and conduct problems.

It is distressing for children to be forced to be separated from their parents without being given any information. They live an everyday fear that they could be separated from their families any day.

DACA is an American Policy that allows young immigrants to receive permission to work and go to school in the U.S. It has been said that the Trump administration will end it. If Congress agrees to keep DACA, children will be safe. If not, what will happen? Immigrant children are all at risk. There has been accusations of workers at shelters sexually abusing children. There have been an argument that because of the growing population of immigrant children, it causes more conflict in the U.S. The Hispanic community is beyond stressed on the difficulties they are facing. This is not a problem that is not going to be resolved overnight but rather it is a problem that is going to need help from various disciplines. I believe that Immigrant children have a hard time because migration is a complex process with obstacles and opportunities, which impacts the child’s development. These children may not be born in the country or may be from an immigrant family, but any child should be given a chance.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services began accepting applications for Deferred Actions for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in August 2012. In November 2014, President Barack Obama announced his intentions to expand DACA to cover additional illegal immigrants. President Obama’s intention on this program was to make the nation’s immigrations policy fair, more efficient, and more just and specially for certain young people sometimes called “Dreamers”. Recently in 2017, the Trump Administration announced that DACA, which protected about 800,000 immigrant who were brought to the U.S. Illegally as children, will end. Trump suggested he will leave it to the Congress to take action on the program. If the Congress decides to keep DACA then the young immigrants will be safe, if not, they will be sent back. Which that would be unfair since DACA was created just a few years ago. As Barack Obama once said, “It makes no sense to expel talented young people, who, for all intents and purposes, are Americans… to expel these young people who want to staff our labs, or start new businesses, or defend our country simply because of the actions of their parents”. With keeping the young immigrants safe, they could become something more prominent than ever expected.

Americans have been debating immigration for centuries. Dreamers have a great opportunity on the line, and protecting these dreamers are all now up to the Congress. The trauma in these children being separated are prone to post-traumatic stress disorder and much more. There have been cases where a government official declared that workers at the shelter have been accused of sexually abusing three children. It is said that there are allegations of much more abuse at other dozens of facilities housing immigrant children, that have had other concerns such as health and safety violations. The distressing part is that there have been more accusations of these problems but there is still staff employed at the shelters. There needs to be a change in who is working in these shelters, there needs to be more trust in the staff working. Mainly because those are the people in charge, they should be the most trustworthy to be around. Undocumented children already suffered more than enough being separated and are going into a place where they are not safe and they are scared.

How will a child deal with this problem? Their education may also be jeopardized by having to move locations due to laws that are taken place now in society. What more could happen to these children after already going through something so traumatic that will cause them to be more scared for their lives? There are people like Casey Quinlan. Casey Quinlan is a policy reporter at ThinkProgress covering essentially economic policy and civil rights issues. After already experiencing what it’s like being separated from their families, she declared that these children can’t get a break on the trauma they’ve faced. Agreeing that children should not be held upon this. It is said that federal authorities continue to blame the broken immigration system for this growing population of detained children. The overpopulation of the children being taken results in the horrible conditions these children might face in the housing at the regular federal shelter. According to the New York Times, the population last summer went from 2,400 children in May of 2017 to 12,800 in September of 2018, which is the highest amount recorded of children ever being detained. Lawsuits have accused the administration of other movements that have expanded children’s stays, as well as holding them purposely until they are 18 and eligible for adult detention. The cause of this is agreements of the Trump Administration in it’s aggressive efforts to tightened immigration. The overpopulation of the children being taken results in the horrible conditions these children might face in the housing at the regular federal shelter. Taking an inside look into the federal shelters, one can only imagine the chaos that can be happening in them. Some punch walls, some take off running, others cut themselves and attempt suicide, they end up in hospitals often. Remember that these are children. It is told that the American public needs answers and explanations of why this happened in the first place.

There has been a lot of stress on the Hispanic community over the past year or so due to what is going on. Many Latino immigrants arrive to the U.S. with no community ties, no possessions, no or little money, and no prospects for employment. Researchers have proposed that the difficulties connected with undocumented status may escalate immigration-related challenges such as cultural differences, language difficulties, and separation of family, which could turn into result in increased levels of acculturative stress among immigrants. That can already be challenging enough. Bringing their children in order to get the best education they can have as well as jobs and opportunities, then later be sent back to their country just to see their children end up in an unsafe place can be their worst nightmare. If the child was taken back to their country would he or she have the same opportunity there than here? The child may not make it to college because they don’t have financial support from their families. They don’t see themselves as criminals, but rather as people that are willing to work hard to provide for their families with a better existence. There has been migrant parents who strike in detention centers to win back their children. Which later then are denied by ICE. Through this research it can’t be denied that illegal immigration is a problem that needs attention and approach to better understand it. Children of Immigrants have a though time because the migration process impacts their emotional well being. Because of what has happened recently in society to children of immigrant parents, it is easy to say that they are experiencing mental illnesses. Forcibly separating children from their parents at the border strips children of their strongest sheild against when they need it the most.

An American Policy that allows young immigrants to attend school and receive a job, DACA, it has been said that the Trump Administration will get rid of it. Immigrant children are exposed to danger and harm. Recently, there has been children taken to detention shelters where they stay because they have been separated from their families. These children are experiencing sexual assault from workers at the shelters, self-harm, diseases, depression and more. There is more conflict in the U.S. because of the growing population of immigrant children which has lead to an issue in the country. The latino community is remarkably stressed on their situation they are currently facing.

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