Our Immigration and Human Rights Work Group in Action: Psychoanalysts Evaluating Asylum Seekers, Trauma and Family Devastation

ABSTRACT

This paper presents the story of a family of four refugees from Central America seeking asylum in the United States, and of the experience of a group of psychoanalysts, members of the New York University Postdoctoral Program Immigration and Human Rights Work Group, who evaluated each member of the family and wrote affidavits in support of their applications for asylum. The work described provides an example of how clinicians can apply their skills and understandings outside the consulting room to address the dire needs of refugees who have fled from their homes. We discuss the process of refugees seeking asylum and the role of a psychological evaluation in the asylum process. We elaborate on the content and process of the evaluations of each member of the family with a focus on the trauma suffered and its sequelae on two school-aged children, their adolescent aunt, and their courageous and protective mother. We also address the analysts’ experience of doing psychological evaluations and writing affidavits for asylum seekers who have experienced trauma.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Gonzalez family for their willingness, openness and courage in sharing their most intimate stories with us.

Disclosure statement

No financial interest has arisen from the NYU POST DOC IHR WORK GROUP. All asylum affidavits are done pro bono.

Notes

1. Specific details have been changed to protect the confidentiality of this family.

2. In addition to the authors, the Immigration and Human Rights Work Group has other active members working on asylum evaluations, including Drs. Joe Giardino, Maria Lechich, and Spyros Orfanos who have also been in the study group since its beginning.

3. Risk factors in the child’s experience of trauma depend on his or her ability to comprehend what is happening, previous trauma, previous coping ability, the capacity for a good-enough attachment, the presence or absence of a reliable, familiar caregiver and the caregiver’s reactions and attitudes following the events.  Having a protective caregiver who can assure safety and support is a key mediating factor in how the child adapts.   

4. A diabolical provision of the Asylum process requires that each member of a family be considered individually by the courts, leading to the possibility that, for instance, a parent could be granted asylum while her children are not.

5. An asylum applicant cannot remain in the United States if her plea for shelter is denied. A description of the asylum process is at: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/timing-the-affirmative-asylum-application-process.html. Once an asylee has an attorney, who collects evidence such as the reports we write, her chances of obtaining asylum increase exponentially. An NPR report on this is available at: https://www.npr.org/2018/02/25/588646667/without-a-lawyer-asylum-seekers-struggle-with-confusing-legal-processes.