Displaying 1 - 5 of 5
Abstract
The crisis of family separation caused by Trump Administration’s zero tolerance policy (ZTP) on the southern border has focused the nation’s attention and provoked public uproar due to the violation of basic rights and the expected negative impact on children and parents. There is decades’ worth of research documenting the damage of separating children from their parents in a wide diversity of circumstances and for a wide variety of reasons. There is also ample research evidence of the impact of any form of childhood trauma and consequent disruptions in development, cognitive…
Abstract
Shifts in U.S. immigration policy over the past two decades have resulted in increased deportations of unauthorized persons residing in the United States. Given the current political climate concerning unauthorized immigrants, social workers must understand the influence of parental deportation on youth/adolescent psychosocial and academic wellbeing. This study reviews relevant empirical literature on the impact of forced family separations on child and youth wellbeing from 2000 to the present. Overall, these studies showed that family separation due to immigration enforcement had…
After the United States Department of Justice announced the “Zero Tolerance Policy for Criminal Illegal Entry,” Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE — an arm of the Department of Homeland Security) separated approximately 2,000 children from their parents in April and May 2018 as they approached the U.S. border. Children and parents were placed in separate facilities as they were being processed and were not told when or how they would be reunited. This policy and its consequences have raised significant concerns among researchers, child welfare advocates, policy makers, and the public,…
The role of social work in international child protection: best practices in stakeholder cooperation
Abstract
The focus of this paper will be the intersection of law, policy implementation, and social work in child protection, specifically child protection involving children who are separated by an international border from their families. We will pay particular attention to international treaties, compacts, and conventions on the one hand, and the need to increase the capacity of social workers in the Americas to manage complex international child welfare cases in accordance with these laws and policies, on the other. The growing number of children…
Human Rights Watch conducted research throughout Mexico and Honduras in 2015 to examine how Mexico is applying national and international law in its treatment of Central American migrants, particularly children. Researchers interviewed migrant children and adults as well as representatives of UNHCR and other NGOs in the region. This report, based on Human Rights Watch’s research findings, highlights the discrepancies between Mexico’s law and the way it is enforced, including the obstacles in place which prevent migrants from securing asylum or refugee status. The report highlights these…