Family SeparationFamily Separation’s Psychological Trauma in Parents, Children Persists After Reunification: Medical Study

Published 26 November 2021

New analysis finds long-lasting psychological harm sustained by survivors of the “zero tolerance” policy. The study finds that forcibly separating parents and children, especially when compounded with pre-migration traumas, produced signs and symptoms of trauma that met the diagnostic criteria for at least one mental health condition such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), or generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

A new study analyzing the mental health impacts of family separation finds that children and parents seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border experience severe psychological trauma even years after reunification. The Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) study provides the first-ever qualitative analysis of the mental health effects of the forced family separation policy and shows further evidence of the “zero tolerance” policy’s detrimental effects on the mental health of impacted families.

The study, “The Psychological Effects of Forced Family Separation on Asylum-Seeking Children and Parents at the US-Mexico Border: A Qualitative Analysis of Medico-Legal Documents,” published in the PLOS ONE medical journal, finds that forcibly separating parents and children, especially when compounded with pre-migration traumas, produced signs and symptoms of trauma that met the diagnostic criteria for at least one mental health condition such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), or generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The symptoms commensurate with these disorders were present at the time of the family separation as well as the time of the examination post-reunification. 

Clinician experts from PHR’s U.S. Asylum Program analyzed 31 medico-legal affidavits of children or parents who faced forced family separation while seeking asylum in the United States between July 26, 2018 and December 14, 2019. 

“This analysis shows the trauma and agony endured by parents and children who were forcefully separated from one another, and the compounding toll that trauma takes on both mental and physical health, lingers with these individuals for weeks, months and years after they’ve been reunited,” said Dr. Ranit Mishori, PHR’s senior medical advisor and co-author of the study. “The forced family separation policy violated human rights, and resulted in severe and long-lasting psychological harm among children and parents who have already faced life-threatening risks in their home countries that have forced them to seek safety in the United States. As the Biden administration seeks to remedy this atrocious  policy, these long-standing impacts must be considered.”

All parents studied arrived at the U.S. border having already been exposed to significant trauma due to experiencing targeted acts of violence in their home countries. Many were victims of gang-based violence including death threats, physical assault, murder of relatives, extortion, sexual assault, and/or robbery. In each affidavit analyzed for this study, parents feared for their child’s life and safety if they stayed within their home country. In almost all cases, their children also had experienced severe harm before fleeing. Gang