Forgotten Children Summary

582 Words3 Pages

Children of undocumented immigrant do not enjoy the benefits of citizenship because of political reason. In the book Forgotten Children by Luis H. Zayas, PhD, is a mental health clinician and researcher, he exams children to present how immigration policy unsettles their rights and harms their mental health leaving lasting psychological trauma. He mentions that many children who are citizens of the United States prefer to stay silent. The children fear their parents might get deported for their illegal status. Virginia is 6-year-old, she is one of the children Zayas examined, he mentions that “Virginia had been silent for many, many months in order to preserve a family secret and keep away the big, complex world that made her feel fragile and …show more content…

Undocumneted parents have a hard time deciding whether to make their children orphans or exiles. The massive deportations in the United States have left lots of American children orphans. Zayas highlights that “in the worst of all possible cases, parental deportation may cause the child to fall into the child welfare system” (Zayas 189). Consequently, immigration policy harms the rights of the children by separating them from their parents and being placed in a system they do not belong. According to the Child Welfare Information Gateway the “Child welfare system typically receive and investigate reports of possible child abuse and neglect; provide services to families that need assistance in the protection and care of their children; arrange for children to live with kin or with foster families when they are not safe at home; and arrange for reunification, adoption, or other permanent family connections for children leaving foster care” (Child Welfare Information Gateway). Many children’s stories are overlooked by the politician in debates about immigration policy, leading children who are happy and safe at home fall into a system that does not apply to them. In a result of children to suffer from severe mental health issues like anxiety and depression caused by being separated from their parents. Therefore, the politicians should pay more attention to immigration policy to prevent American citizens from falling into the child welfare system because no one has the right

Open Document