In Trump's Immigration Crackdown, The Kids Are Not All Right

From infants to 17-year-olds, children are dealing with stress-induced physical and mental health issues as a result of mass detention and deportation.

As the Trump administration’s violent immigration crackdown continues, people across the country are dealing with more than just the Department of Homeland Security’s mass detention and deportation efforts — they’re also experiencing high levels of stress and trauma resulting from such efforts.

Like most traumatic events — such as occupation and state-sanctioned violence — the harm has disproportionately fallen on children.

“Children experience policy and the environment that we create for them through the lens of safety, essential for their development,” said Dr. Lisa Fortuna, a clinical psychologist whose work focuses on immigrant and refugee mental health.

“When children feel that their parents, homes, schools or communities are unsafe, their brains and their bodies respond with fear,” she continued. “And when that fear becomes chronic, it can shape emotional development, learning and health for many years to come. For a lifetime, potentially.”

Fortuna was one of several experts and community members who spoke before a group of senators on Tuesday about the impact that President Donald Trump’s federal immigration enforcement has had on children in the United States. From infants to 17-year-olds, the youth are experiencing symptoms of severe stress as a result of being detained or watching their friends and family get taken away.