IMMIGRATION AND ITS IMPACT ON HISPANIC FAMILIES

The topic of immigration can sometimes become a polarizing subject, even though migration has been a part of the human experience since our species realized that we have the capacity to deal with unsuitable living environments by searching alternative opportunities elsewhere. This carries opportunities, but also risks and hardships for those that choose to take this journey.

Being an immigrant myself and choosing to live in the border region between the USA and Mexico, along with my professional role specializing in clinical work with children and families, gives me a unique view and interest in this complex topic.

I was fortunate to come to this country at the age of 6 on a permanent legal status, along with my immediate family, maternal grandparents, and their teenage children. I was immediately thrown into first grade, with the panic of thinking that they were “speaking in tongues” that is English. My mother had to work for the first time, but we were fortunate that our grandmother was there after school. We quickly joined a church group that provided a sense of belonging and a subculture which nurtured our new life. I realize now that we were poor but having a close and committed family along with our community support, strengthened and buffered the stressors of transitioning to a new culture. Now I realize that the adults were doing the heavy lifting.

 I will be discussing some general information about Immigration, mostly focusing on a significant segment of the Hispanic population that migrates, the hardships and tribulations that they face in their countries of origin, the risks, and dangers of their journey to the United States, and the stressful integration once they have arrived. Plus, some interventions that could promote better adaptation in their new home.

I would like to emphasize that although most people face significant stressors at a given time during their life span, for most immigrants, this level of stress can be not only significant but can persist for many years.

Let me begin with some basic statistics.  Approximately 244 million people worldwide, that is about 3.3% of the world’s population have crossed a border to live in another country.  Many immigrants leave their country of origin due to forced displacements, hostile or unlivable situations and most are seeking better and safer living opportunities. Approximately 28 million of these are children, and of these, about 100,000 are separated from their parents during the process of immigration.

Studies have shown that all immigrants are at higher risk for developing mental health disorders due to the hardships they encounter including, Major Depressive Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, and somatic disorders.  These problems can affect the entire range of immigrants, from skilled workers that arrive on plane with work visas to those fleeing the horrors of war, natural disasters, hunger, and severe violence.

A large part of the Hispanic population coming from certain regions of Mexico and Central America, have recently been affected by the rise of drug wars and gang violence. Many were already facing poverty and lacked basic education. Some of these individuals make the difficult decision to leave their families and communities behind and seek a safe environment and better living conditions. I should emphasize that to a certain degree this resounds with many of the previous immigrant groups going all the way back to the pilgrims.

The journey to their destination in United States is often dangerous, and full of obstacles with many risks that include potentially facing death.

Those that reach their destination in United States quickly recognized that they are frequently not welcomed and may face deportation.  Their most important task is to find a job, secure food and shelter while keeping a low profile, staying under the radar, and maintaining a high level of vigilance to improve their chances of not being detained and deported. These conditions greatly increase the amount of stress they have already been facing.

Immigrants face significant losses including: their families, communities, language, and culture while at the same time facing the stress of adapting to a new culture.

Eventually, most will establish relationships and will start new families.  A significant number will also deal with the challenges of being a single-parent home.  Despite their heavy work schedules, many of these parents are resourceful and resilient and do their best to provide their children with the love and support that they need. Preparing their children for school and other activities can become major challenges for these families.

Many Immigrants live in communities that lack basic infrastructure, good schools, parks, and recreational activities for youth.  Most of the children will eventually learn English and continue to practice and use this acquired language with their friends, at school, during TV and digital media time becoming their primary language and form of communicating with others.  Many Hispanic children will likely lose their Spanish language, while most of the adult parent’s struggle learning the English language. This often leads to a major loss in communication and support between children and parents and their extended families.

Adolescence can be a difficult time with all its expectations, but for those from immigrant Hispanic families, this developmental stage can bring added challenges. Many recognize that they have lost their family language and culture while at the same time may feel excluded from their new adopted culture. This can lead to a sense of loss, alienation, and feelings of hopelessness which in turn can lead to school dropout, drug use and risk for other mental health conditions.

Communities will benefit from being prepared to assist these new members of society.  This can include educators, community leaders, legislators, health professionals and others. Let’s review some helpful strategies.

INDIVIDUAL/FAMILY INTERVENTIONS

1.  Despite the limitations noted above, most immigrant parents are committed to helping their children to succeed, efforts to support them must always be done in a respectful and collaborative manner.
2. Recognize that all children are resilient and have the capacity to recover from trauma and stress with the right support.
3. Using a collaborative approach with parents when providing guidance, will ensure that they feel empowered and supported to use their own assets and skills in raising their children.
4. Promote parental involvement at school with adequate translation. This will improve the opportunities for successful participation and will strengthen partnerships in their child’s education.
5. Promote the values of optimism and curiosity that will enhance the process of lifetime learning.
6. Promote love of reading in children, this can be done by reading to them or with them or encourage the method of oral story telling “Cuentos” often used by Hispanic parents.  This can improve language development and academic functioning.
7. Instill pride in children in conserving the parent’s language and culture of origin, while they also learn the new language and culture, this will improve personality development, providing a more complete view of their identity and their own contributions.
8. Support parent’s efforts to learn English. This will not only serve them in their own adaptation, but also help them connect with their children throughout this process.
9. Parents can provide structure and schedules for their children’s activities, limiting digital media and television time, while promoting participation in family and social interactive activities and play. This can improve the child’s frustration tolerance, task persistence, emotional regulation, and creative thinking.  and help prepare children to deal better with school and societal expectations.
10. Promote effective parenting training and nonphysical discipline approaches.  Parents tend to resort to physical discipline to expedite compliance, but coercive discipline tends to promote oppositional behaviors and aggression in children.
11. Encourage implementation of regular exercise, good nutrition, and sleep hygiene. This is more effective when structured and modeled by parents and will be more likely adopted by the children.

COMMUNITY INTERVENTIONS

1. Develop school policies to reduce school bullying. This will enhance the child’s sense of safety, security, and confidence in the school setting.
2. Improve neighborhood safety and infrastructure, including addition of parks and recreational activities that allow families more interactive participation and a feeling of belonging to the community.
3. Address neighborhood’s levels of contamination and environmental toxins, example; lead and asbestos.  Frequently immigrant children, because of poverty and lack of resources are faced with living in houses and environments where there is more risk of contamination and may impact the child’s cognitive and physical development.
4. Improve access to affordable daycares that can provide a safe supervised environment for children, while parents work. This can also enhance social development and prepare them for school.
5. Improve access to healthcare for all children, preventing and treating illnesses that may have a negative impact on the child which if not addressed, will pass the cost to the entire population.
6. Pediatricians and primary care providers can be trained to recognize overwhelming stress in children and families and provide early interventions to address mild to moderate psychiatric disorders or refer them to a specialist.
7. Mental health providers should monitor and screen for these stressors and potential psychiatric disorders affecting new immigrants and be prepared to address them. Including: counseling, parental skills, teach effective behavioral technics for aggression and emotional regulation and other relaxation methods to deal with stress.