Immigration Law and Its Impact on the Family: What Group Therapists Need to Know

ABSTRACT

This article provides an overview of structural limitations and challenges imposed by U.S. immigration law and enforcement policies and how they specifically impact families. Our analysis draws from numerous years of experience practicing immigration law and analysis of social and legal factors that impact immigrant individuals and families. We provide historical context for the Trump administration policies that have generated so much debate, reviewing how U.S. immigration creates barriers to family unity and stress on immigrant individuals and families, and explaining how the current administration has exacerbated these problems. We aim to help group psychotherapists gain greater awareness of their immigrant patients’ experiences through an analysis of immigration law and the use of case studies.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ The coauthors are members of the Neighbors Link Community Law Practice, in Westchester County, New York, where we provide immigration legal services to hundreds of individuals seeking status in the United States. We assist in various immigration processes from deportation defense to naturalization. On a daily basis, we work with individuals navigating the intersection of immigration, criminal and family law, as well as negotiating the social factors that impact an individual’s and family’s emotional stability.