I’m ‘LOCKED’ Up, {they} won’t let {us} OUT: The issue on Immigration, Detention Centers, and the bylaw of ‘one nation, under ALL’

According to the LA Times, there are two core elements of Trump’s administration’s policies and actions governing immigrants:

1. There is a strong desire to limit new residents from abroad
2. There is a blind disregard for whatever cruelty might be inflicted in service of that goal

The overall message being broadcasted to families primarily in Central America is: DON’T EVEN BOTHER.

Some examples of the actions of the policies administered by the Trump administration are as followed:

• A plan to end a program that deferred deportation for migrants suffering from debilitating illness
• Pulling children away from their migrant parents for the ‘crime’ of seeking asylum
• Opening of federal family detention centers to hold arriving families until their fate gets decided on in immigration court. There is a backlog of 1+ million cases, with some cases pending on average for 705 days
• ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy: Trump administration has sent at least 35,000 people with a legal right to seek asylum in the United States to wait in a completely separate country while their applications are being processed
• ‘Public charge’ rule: The denying of green cards to immigrants living legally in the United States if they use or are deemed likely by the government to use certain safety net programs for more than 12 months within a 36-month period
  • This has led to countless migrants to drop out of programs they are entitled to participate in for fear of jeopardizing their legal status

The most striking aspect of the immigration issue that really doesn’t get told is the relation to mental health.

Psychologists warn that incarcerating children even for short periods of time, with or without their parents, can lead to mental health issues. A report by the Inspector General of Department of Human and Health Services concluded that the government has failed to address mental health issues faced by minors who arrived unaccompanied after fleeing violence, or who were forcibly separated from their parents at the border.

This is the most excruciating effect aside from children being separated from their parents. If the treatment of the mental health system is partially broken, and we do not effectively combat mental health with our citizens, let alone asylees, how do make sure we maintain the well-being of our migrants? Both infants, children, and adults?

What are your thoughts on the immigration issue? Do you feel there is a solution?

Would love to hear your thoughts!!