Study: Kids of immigration raid arrestees face mental problems

Thousands of children whose parents are arrested in immigration raids face mental health issues including post-traumatic stress disorder, separation anxiety and depression, according to a new study to be released Wednesday by the Urban Institute.

A child is left without at least one parent for every two adults detained in workplace raids, the study said, and most of those children are citizens or legal immigrants.

“Those children were born in America, and we forgot about their rights during the raids, because they were left parentless,” said Steve Joel, superintendent of Grand Island Public Schools, which worked to get parents to keep their children in school following a December raid at the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant.”*

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