APA Urges Members to Maintain Pressure on Administration Regarding Child Detentions

In an about-face, President Donald J. Trump signed anExecutive Order yesterday halting his administration ’s policy of separating migrant children from their parents who illegally cross the U.S. southern border. But Trump’s decision to continue his “zero tolerance” policy of border crossing will still place families into prison-like detention centers, perhaps long term.It remains unclear what will happen to the more than 2,300 migrant children who have been separated from their parents since mid-May. Images of young children confined in steel cages and sleeping en masse on thin pads on concrete floors with aluminum-foil-like blankets sparked condemnation around the world, including from Pope Francis and all four living former first ladies.APA led a coalition of mental health organizations in lobbying the administration to immediately halt its cruel policy of separating children from their parents at the U.S. border. “Children are dependent on their parents for safety and support. Any forced separation is highly stressful for children and can cause lifelong trauma, as well as an increased risk of other mental illnesses, such as depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder,” wrote APA and 17 mental health organizations, including the American Association of Child& Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Psychoanalytic Association, in aletter sent yesterday to the departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services.“This is not an ...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Altha Stewart anxiety APA letter depression Donald Trump executive order immigration migrant children posttraumatic stress disorder violence Source Type: research