1) The document discusses the case of Javier Garcia Jr., a 12-year-old boy whose parents were deported to Mexico under U.S. immigration laws, leaving him without parents in the U.S. 2) It examines the psychological and developmental impacts that parental deportation and family separation can have on children like Javier, including depression, anxiety, and difficulties in school. 3) Cognitive behavioral therapy is presented as an effective way to help children like Javier process their emotions and adapt to the changes in their family situation caused by a parent's deportation.

1. Immigration Policy and Family Separation: Case
Study of Javier Garcia, Jr. (12 yrs. old)
Presentation developed by: Ann Ginn, Anne Owen, and Helen Ekholt
October 4, 2014
Our Lady of the Lake University
Photo courtesy of:
fair immigration.org

2. Unauthorized Status in the US
• Unauthorized Status in US common
• 1986 -1988: Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA)
modified to Immigration Reform and Control Act (1)
• Restricted pathways green card, citizenship (1)
• Early 1990: Many settled in US, bought homes, started families
(1)
• Immigrants maintained unauthorized status for decades (1)

3. Immigration Reform and Control
Act (IRCA)
• Passed to control and deter illegal immigration (1)
• Legalization of undocumented who had been
continuously unlawfully present since 1982,
legalization of certain agricultural workers (2)
• Forced sanctions on employers who hired
undocumented workers (2)
• Increased enforcement along U.S. borders (2)

4. Immigration Reform and Control
Act: Tragedy By the Numbers
• 2008: US deported 90,000 children without parents (3)
• 2010: estimated that 4.5 million US children have unauthorized
parents (1)
• For every 3 adults deported = one abandoned child (2)
• July 1, 2010 - September 21, 2012 : 23 percent of all deportations were
issued for parents with US citizen children (4)
• 2012: nearly 45,000 parents are believed to have been removed from
the US (5)
• New York City alone: from 2005 to 2010, 87% of processed cases with
citizen children resulted in deportation (6)

5. Senate Bill 1070
• Initiated by Arizona lawmakers in 2010 (1)
• Given permission to make warrantless arrests if there is probable
cause or suspicion that the person is not a citizen (2)
• Required citizens and non-citizens to carry I.D., Alien registration
card, or work permits (2)
• If not could face jail time, detention, fines, penalties and deportation
(2).
• House Bill 2162 was added to safeguard against racial profiling.
• Officers are not allowed to consider the race, color, or national origin
when following through with the law (2).

6. Javier Garcia, Jr.
• Born: United States of America
• Young man: 12 years old
• Excellent student, liked by teachers
• Bilingual and has many friends
• Developmentally: Identity versus Role
confusion (1)

7. School Social Worker
• Teacher referred: late, sleeping, grades
• Learns that Javier Jr. is parentless
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement
involved
• Parents will be deported to Mexico
• Javier Jr. now living with Aunt

8. If video does not appear, please follow link to: Arpaio's First Victims of 2009
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUbsfUy1jNU

9. Javier Jr. at Risk
• Deviant or anti-social behavior (1)
• School drop-out (1)
• Rebellion against adult authority (1)
• Drug and alcohol abuse (1)
• Teen fatherhood: relationship instability (1)
• Loneliness which translates into future
generations in crisis (1)

10. Protective Factors: Javier Jr.
• Familism: living with US citizen Aunt,
extended family
• Good Student/ peer support network
• Bilingual ability
• Opened-up to trust
• Connection with school personnel
• Due to his age: high resiliency is likely

11. As Social Workers, we want to
know if Cognitive Behavioral
Therapy will reduce the
symptoms of depression and
anxiety in Latino youth like
Javier Jr.?

12. Primary Challenges to Child Development
Resulting from Parental Deportation
• Short Term Disruption to the Family
Unit
• Weakened Economic Security
• Social Distress
• Emotional Distress

13. Primary Challenges: Studies by the
Urban Institute & Center for American Progress
• Increased Housing Insecurity
• Crowded Living Quarters
• Food Shortages
• Non-traditional Household
• Economic Disparities

14. Secondary Challenges to Child Development
Resulting from Parental Deportation
• Long Term Disruption to the Family Unit
• Low Socioeconomic Status
• Reduction in Family Mobility
• Poor Educational Outcomes
• Mistrust of Law Enforcement
• Social Stigma
• Chronic Mental Health Impairments

15. Clinical Interventions with Hispanic Children
Who Have Experienced Loss of a Parent Resulting from
Deportation
• Evidence Based Practice
• Empirically Supported Treatment
• Culturally Modified Treatment
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Cultural Competence

16. Theoretical Tenants and Goals of
CBT
• Constructing a personal understanding of difficulties
from a biological, social and psychological perspective
• To reduce stress/distress
• To increase coping
• To improve quality of daily life
• To increase understanding and find an explanation of
“symptoms’ which makes sense to the client and is
helpful to them
• People are not distressed by events. What distresses
them is the meaning that they construct around the
event
• Normalizing: psychotic experiences are on a
‘continuum’ with ordinary experiences

17. Reasons Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
is Effective with Hispanics aged 6- 12
• Didactic orientation that provides structure to treatment and
education about the therapeutic process
• A classroom format that reduces the stigma of psychotherapy
• A match with client expectations of receiving a directive and
active intervention from the Social Worker
• An orientation focused on the present and on problem solving
• Concrete solutions and techniques to be used when facing
problems

18. Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
with Hispanic aged 6- 12
• TF-CBT integrates several established treatment approaches.
TF-CBT combines elements drawn from:
• Cognitive therapy which aims to change behavior by addressing
a person’s thoughts or perceptions, particularly those thinking
patterns that create distorted or unhelpful views
• Behavioral therapy which focuses on modifying habitual
responses (e.g., anger, fear) to identified situations or stimuli
• Family therapy which examines patterns of interactions among
family members to identify and alleviate problems

19. Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Treatment Description with Hispanics aged 6- 12
• Average length/number of sessions: 12-to-16 weeks of treatment (once a week;
60-to-90 minute sessions).
• Note: Over 80% of traumatized children will show significant improvement
with this plan
• The goal of TF-CBT: Help address the bio-psychosocial needs of children with
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or other problems related to traumatic
life experiences, and their parents or primary caregivers. Children and parents
are provided knowledge and skills related to processing the trauma; managing
distressing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors; and enhancing safety, parenting
skills, and family communication

20. Javier Jr. and CBT Process
Situation Javier is separated from his father and mother
Thoughts Why did this happen? Are my parents bad
people? Why did this happen to me? How did
I cause this? Is this my fault? Will I ever see
them again? How will I survive? When will I
see my family again?
Emotional Feelings Sad because he misses his mother, anxious
around authority figures, depressed because
there is nothing he can do to fix the problem,
feels like he doesn’t belong here, betrayed,
preoccupation with fear, guilt, anger, separation
anxiety when leaving adults who are taking care
of him (1)
Physical Headaches, belly aches, low energy, feel sick
Actions May withdraw from friends and family,
regression in the way he cares of himself,
Worry about himself and his parents (1)

21. Mental Health Impairments Exhibited by Hispanic
Children Whose Parent Was Deported
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Difficulty Concentrating
• ADHD
• PTSD

22. Effect on the Children Left Behind
• Lower cognitive skills in early childhood, lower levels of general positive
development in middle childhood, higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms
during adolescence and fewer years of schooling. (1)
• Double and triple trauma for children, who may witness the forcible removal of the
parent, suddenly lose their caregiver, and or abruptly lose their familiar home
environment. (2)
• Parent child separation can harm children's learning and emotional development
due to disruption in attachment, interruptions in schooling and economic hardship
stemming from loss of parental income. (3)
• Research on the effects of arrest or removal suggests subsequent increases in
children's behavioral problems, anxiety and depressive symptoms. (3)
• From the cumulative risk perspective, adverse effects from a single event, such as a
parent's deportation, are more likely to result in negative outcomes. (4)
• From the attachment theory perspective, a child's sense of security is rooted in
relationships with familiar caregivers; this secure base is a necessary foundation for
developing social, cognitive and emotional regulation skills that are fundamental
throughout life. (2)
• Physical separation between a parent and child, particularly when unexpected as in
the case of deportation, disrupts this essential secure base, risking internalizing
symptoms of depression and anxiety, externalizing behaviors of withdrawal,
aggression and social and cognitive difficulties. Adverse experiences such as those
noted above that upset a child, parent and household can result in biological,
neurological, and psychological changes. (4)

23. Children who remain in the US
• Many are absorbed into the community, especially if they are in a longer standing
ethnic enclave community, where traditional cultures and care of community as a
whole are practiced. There is no way to know the number of children who are
counted among this group. (1)
• Extended families, networks of friends, church and religious affiliated people are
usually the keys to success for these children. (1)
• Children who have no remaining family and are not absorbed into communities, or
who do not accompany their parents back to their home countries end up in the foster
care system. (2)
• The cost of foster care in this country, per child is an approximate $26,000 a year. (2)
• In 2012 it was estimated that there were 5,100 children of deported parents in the
foster care system of just 22 states- 1,500 of them in Southern California alone. (3)
• That is over 132.6 MILLION dollars annually in foster care charges alone, not even
discussing detainment costs, processing deportees, or any of the other related costs in
deporting parents with unauthorized status. (3)
• States are terminating parental rights of detainees for lack of contact, when
detainment facilities are denying communication opportunities. (4)
• Immigrant parents are losing their US born children solely based upon their
immigration status. (4)

24. Policy before Parenting
• Immigration policy: Bans re-entry once caught for 5
years to a lifetime (1)
• Absence of much needed remittances: for family in
US and in Latin Countries (1)
• Adversely increases the likelihood of return, placing
the parent at risk of greater penalties (1)
• Child may suffer from Complicated Grief like
symptoms

25. Complicated Grief
• Lack of research specific to children separated from parents (1)
• Complicated grief: obsessional preoccupation with the deceased,
crying, persistent yearning, and searching for the lost person, inability
to trust others, numbness, detachment, feeling that life is empty (1) (2)
(4)
• Difficulty grieving because of constant reminders of the loss (2)
• Higher risk factors for mental health issues connected to traumatic
circumstances (1) (2)
• Reactions such as depression, anxiety states, and PTSD often overlap
(1)
• DSM-V solely focuses on anxiety and depression: overlooks the
patterned response of the adolescent, very distressing (2)(3)

26. CBT, Complicated Grief, Javier Jr.
“The purpose of grief is
to mold the network of
bonds with the
representation of the
deceased with the result
that the pain, and the
pining are woven into the
fabric of life, and the
memories are a force for
continuing bonds with
him or her.” (1)
Situation Parents deported
Thoughts I will do my best I can
to make them proud.
Emotional
Feelings
Sadness, pride,
determination,
willingness
Physical More focused, alert,
helpful.
Actions Works with his aunt
to discover ways that
he can stay connected
with his parents.

27. Transnational Parenting
• Struggle to keep in touch (1)
• Mother focus on social and emotional needs,
often blamed for abandoning the family (2)
• Fathers focus on discipline (2)
• Creative modes of communication (1)
• Must happen frequently and right away to be
effective (1)
• Adolescents at the greatest risk due to
developmental needs (1)

28. Family Unity Waiver
• Proposal under Obama to help families stay together (1)
• Allows for the application process to begin before person is
deported (1)
• Application allows families re-enter without penalty (1)
• Relatives need to travel to the U.S embassies in their countries of
origin to pick up their visas (1)
• The waiver process can take months, or sometimes years to win
and families face a tough separation during this time (1)
• The new rule change would allow eligible spouses and children
of United States citizens to remain in the United States while the
federal government reviews their application for waivers to the
3- and 10-year bars (1)

29. Aftermath
• The aftermath of deportation impacts entire communities-instills fear
of family separation and distrust of anyone assumed to be associated
with the government, including local police, school personnel, health
professionals and social services professionals. It can confuse and lead
to misunderstandings about the true roles of said professionals. (1)
• Children are kept at home and /or out of school during removal
proceedings and often afterwards, in fear of losing more family
members and distrust of the system after deportation. Programs
available to them as US citizens are unused due to fear and distrust. (1)
• Re-shape the experiences of children and their relationships with their
deported parent. (1)
• Advocates agree regardless of whether a deported mother or father-the
impact on kids is the same. (2)
• Any deportation of a parent is a horrible thing and the reasons behind
the deportation are immaterial for the child.(2)

30. Social Work Interventions & Recommendations:
How you can get involved?
• Local Level: Community Based Organizations
• State Level: Judicial Advocacy
• Federal Level: Policy

31. If video does not appear, please follow link to: Esteban’s Story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Brt_VrOaNo

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