‘Remain in Mexico’ policy traumatizes children
The Trump administration is knowingly putting vulnerable children in harm’s way. Disturbing reports from the border are revealing the human consequences of the administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, which forces children and families seeking asylum in the United States to wait for their court hearings in Mexican border towns — some of the most dangerous places on earth.
Horrific stories of the dangers children face in these towns have surfaced. A recent New York Times story described a 3-year-old boy who witnessed his father being beaten by kidnappers. Another 3-year-old was forced to watch as multiple attackers repeatedly raped his mother. Since January, according to a Dec. 5 Human Rights First report, there have been at least 636 documented cases of violent attacks, including kidnapping and rape, against migrants sent back to Mexico by the U.S. government.
As psychiatrists, we know this kind of trauma carries profound consequences for these children and we cannot stand idly by while the Trump administration forces the most vulnerable among us into unthinkable situations. The children whom the Trump administration is sending back to unspeakable violence in Mexican border towns are at risk for serious traumatic reactions and dysfunction that could impact them for the rest of their lives.
Decades of research have catalogued the neurobiological and psychological consequences of trauma on children’s brains. It is estimated that 1.8 million synapses are formed on average per second in infants and toddlers. This stage of life is a critical time of development for children, during which the foundation for emotional and behavioral regulation and learning is built.
Exposing these children to brutal attacks on family members, while they are living in stressful and traumatizing environments, makes them prone to regress to earlier developmental stages and potentially lose bladder control, stop speaking, cry uncontrollably and even lose touch with reality. And the consequences of such trauma will continue into adulthood when they will be more likely to become angry, anxious, aggressive and dysfunctional adults.
But there is hope for these children if the Trump administration changes course. We know that the key to healing traumatized children is a safe and stable living environment and the support of a caring parent or adult. Ending the “Remain in Mexico” policy and allowing children and families seeking asylum to wait in the United States for their court hearings would prevent any more harm as a result of U.S. government policy and offer these children a chance at healing. If we remember our humanity, we may be able to undo some of the damage done.
As physicians and human beings, we are compelled to speak up and demand that our government stops forcing children and families into danger that will haunt them, and us, for the rest of their lives.
Most of these families are facing dire circumstances in their home countries and no parent risks a journey this dangerous unless they are running from a situation even more dangerous.
As these children and parents arrive at our doorstep seeking asylum, as is their legal right, it is wrong for this administration to knowingly place them in dangerous environments when safe alternatives exist and their presence in the United States has no negative impact on our society. It is our duty to protect them.