Promoting Migrant Justice: A Call to Action for Behavioral Health Professionals

Today, on International Migrants Day, we commemorate the adoption of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families by the United Nations General Assembly in 1990. In doing so, we recognize the many contributions that migrants make around the world in spite of facing hardships and challenges that are further heightened with the rise of nationalism, populism, and xenophobia. We must center human rights in our immigration policies and practices to promote behavioral health and create the contexts in which we can all collectively thrive. 

Over 281 million people, or 3.6% of the world’s population, live outside their country of origin. The decision to leave one’s home and pursue life elsewhere is complex, spurred by economic and educational opportunities, the possibility to rejoin family, and the desire to pursue a better quality of life that aligns with one’s own preferences, while also brought about by poverty, war, persecution, political instability, and climate change. Indeed, we have the highest levels of displacement on record today – more than 117 million people are forcibly displaced, about 40% outside of their countries. As such, ‘migrant’ is an incredibly broad term, made up not only of economic immigrants, but also ‘refugees’ and ‘asylum seekers’ (people seeking refuge from persecution), and ‘DACA recipients’ (young people brought to the United States at a young age), among many others. The United States is home to over 46 million migrants, or nearly 14% of our population. As a psychologist who specializes in mental health care for migrant populations and as a researcher who studies the interactions of migrants with their new communities, I know well the impacts that newcomers have on their communities and the impacts their communities have on them.

Migrants make incredible contributions to societies around the globe. Newcomers bring with them diverse perspectives, new ideas, specialized skills, and cultural repertories that enhance the communities that receive them. They contribute economically, filling essential roles in a variety of industries that have labor shortages. Migrants are overrepresented as researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs, promoting key developments in science and technology and creating new jobs. In fact, almost half of Fortune 500 companies were started by migrants or their children. In many communities, migrants offer critical population growth to offset aging demographics with declining birthrates and outmigration. They revitalize communities, support local businesses, and sustain funding for vital public services (social security, education, healthcare, and infrastructure) by contributing billions of dollars in taxes. More than one in every four children in the United States is born to a migrant parent.

Despite their positive impacts, migrants are often the scapegoat for societal woes – in spite of the fact that they are actually less likely to commit crimes than non-migrants. In the United States, we again elected a president who built his platform once more on demonizing, problematizing, and blaming migrants for perceived problems. His last administration:

• separated migrant children from their families;
• forced asylum seekers to wait in dangerous and unsanitary conditions in border towns while their cases were being processed;
• used COVID-19 as a justification for expelling migrants at the border without the opportunity to seek asylum;
• reduced refugee admissions to historic lows and narrowed the eligibility criteria for asylum;
• instituted a travel ban that disproportionately impacted migrants from Muslim-majority countries;
• expanded detention in for-profit, privately-run facilities with poor conditions (including at least one in which women were reportedly sterilized without their consent); and,
• attempted to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for Dreamers.

In his upcoming term, the president-elect has indicated that he intends to:

• heighten immigration surveillance;
• bolster partnerships with local law enforcement for federal immigration enforcement;
• strip work authorizations from people with precarious immigration statuses;
• suspend the refugee program entirely;
• and pursue mass immigration raids and deportations, among other draconian policies. 

While damaging rhetoric and actions continues to escalate, they are certainly not new. In fact, I was drawn to my career as a psychologist focused on migration because 18 years ago, I was volunteering as an English teacher for migrants in Greeley, Colorado and children came home on school buses to their homes without their parents. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had held the largest workplace raid in the nation’s history, arresting around 1,300 people for suspected immigration violations. It was a cold day just before the school break for the winter holidays – and children were left parent-less, collateral damage in the name of national security.

Decades of research have shown us that harmful sociopolitical climates have devastating psychosocial consequences for migrants, families, and communities at-large, undermining public health. Immigration surveillance, raids, detention, deportation, and family separation have been linked to higher rates of anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress, and developmental delays. Simply living in a state of precarity – such as with a temporary protected status or no legal status at all – makes a person more vulnerable to mental health conditions. And anti-immigrant sentiment negatively impacts communities at-large, heightening fear and mistrust of public institutions, with migrants less likely to report crimes to law enforcement and less willing to access critical resources. Children are especially vulnerable to traumatic effects of immigration raids; research shows that they feel abandoned and isolated, and experience fear and shame regardless of their own immigration status, which negatively impacts identity, behavioral health, and overall wellbeing. These compounded effects ripple through families and communities, undermining trust and stability.

As behavioral health professionals, it is thus incumbent on us to address these societal problems and build on individual and community strengths to support well-being. What can each of us do to promote migrant justice?

First, seek continued education and training. Bolster your understanding of the impact of sociopolitical climate on migrants’ behavioral health. The Global Alliance’s Migrants and Displaced Persons Task Force [https://www.bhjustice.org/task-forces/migrants-and-displaced-persons] is one way to start.

Check in with your migrant friends, students, colleagues, neighbors, and clients to see how you can best support them. Center the experiences, knowledge, skills, strengths, and desires of those who are directly impacted by harmful policies and narratives to determine your next steps.

Offer low-bono and pro-bono behavioral health services to migrants with precarious immigration statuses. While we work towards systems reform, mental health services are needed for current harms. A variety of directories connect behavioral health professionals with migrant clients, such as Immigrants Rising’s Mental Health Connector [https://immigrantsrising.org/mental-health-connector] and United We Dream’s UndocuHealth Mental Health Directory [https://unitedwedream.org/our-work/undocuhealth-wellness/mental-health-directory].

Conduct forensic physical and mental health evaluations that are needed for evidence in immigration cases. In the United States, migrants are twice as likely to be granted asylum if they have a forensic evaluation as evidence in their cases. Physicians for Human Rights offers trainings and an asylum network that helps attorneys and migrants locate trained professions [https://phr.org/get-involved/participate/health-professionals].

Understand migrants’ legal rights and ensure this information is available for all. All people in the United States have certain rights under the Constitution and U.S. laws. iAmerica [https://iamerica.org/know-your-rights], the National Immigration Law Center [https://www.nilc.org/resources/everyone-has-certain-basic-rights], and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center [https://www.ilrc.org] provide educational materials and resources for a variety of situations.

Support migrant families to create an action plan should a family member face detention. The Immigrant Family Mental Health Advocacy Program

[https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1Tn93fhJod0uhh4JMSciR5zhb5CmAVBlh] offers tools to support families to prepare.

Create an emergency fund for people with precarious immigration statuses. Many migrants do not have access to social safety net programs or can be penalized for accessing such programs when they apply for an adjustment of their immigration status later (for example, the public charge rule [https://keepyourbenefits.org/en/na] in the United States) and thus can benefit from private emergency funds.

Support organizations working towards migrant justice. Diverse local, national, and transnational organizations are already doing critical work to further migrant justice; follow their lead, build on their strengths, and contribute as you are able – through your time, money, and other resources. 

Facilitate welcoming in your communities. Work within your settings to ensure their policies and practices are welcoming and inclusive for newcomers, places where migrants can belong and thrive. Consider Welcoming America [https://welcomingamerica.org] and New Life Centers [https://newlifecenters.org] as examples.

Use your privilege to resist harmful policies. Refuse to comply with harmful policies and narratives. A number of states and local entities seek to limit immigration officers’ access to critical community resources, such as schools, medical facilities, and places of worship. Rapid Response teams organize to come together during immigration raids to document them, connect those impacted to resources, and provide accompaniment.

Challenge misinformation. Use your unique positionality to continually disrupt harmful myths about immigration and migrants. You are likely to be most persuasive with your family, friends, and neighbors – those people you interact with on a daily basis who respect you and trust what you have to say.  

Speak out! Call for just immigration reform from a human rights framework. Express concern about harmful immigration policies. Capitalize on your own strengths, whether that is meeting with elected legislators [https://www.apaservices.org/advocacy/get-involved/guide], writing an op-ed or letter to the editor [https://www.communitypsychology.com/writing-an-op-ed], attending or organizing a rally, or something else.

Remember that we are all in this together. The well-being of one community member impacts us all. Celebrate community diversity, foster intergenerational and intercultural relationships across ‘newcomers’ and ‘old-timers’ within your community, and honor everyone’s unique strengths and contributions to the community.

Finally, resist the complacency that can stem from overwhelm and hopelessness. Focus on what you can control, take time for restoration and joy, build community, and work collectively. Promoting migrant justice is the work of a lifetime, so be sure to maintain your stamina. Remember “silence in the face of injustice is complicity with the oppressor” – Ginetta Sagan.