What Challenges and Opportunities Do Psychologists, Policymakers, and Other Immigration Policy Stakeholders Face in Light of Current U.S. Immigration Policies?

 

This webinar has been organized by several divisions of the American Psychological Association (APA)— Developmental Psychology (APA Division 7), the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (APA Division 9), the Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology (APA Division 24), and the Society for Community Research and Action (APA Division 27)—in partnership with Fordham Law School’s Feerick Center for Social Justice and the APA Immigration Working Group. This webinar is part of a larger collaborative project that was made possible through an APA Public Interest Leadership Conference (PILC) Health Equity Dissemination Award.

 

Presenters

Wendy Cervantes, M.A.

Senior Policy Analyst

Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)

Presentation: Policy Implications for Immigrant Children and Families: Challenges and Opportunities

 

Luis H. Zayas, Ph.D.

Dean and Robert Lee Sutherland Chair in Mental Health and Social Policy The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work

Presentation: Using Clinical Evaluations to Advocate for Immigrant and Refugee Children

 

About the webinar: Wendy Cervantes will open the webinar, providing an overview of the children impacted by U.S. immigration policies—including citizen children living in mixed-status families, undocumented children, and unaccompanied children. Cervantes will cover the pressing immigration policy issues impacting these children, including a brief historical overview and recent policy proposals such as the Trump administration’s immigration executive orders. She will also discuss challenges and opportunities and speak to how researchers and practitioners can help inform the policy discussion. The presentation by Dr. Luis H. Zayas will follow, focusing on how mental health evaluations can be used to advocate for two groups of children: (a) citizen-children whose parents are in deportation proceedings and are fighting to cancel their removal, and (b) refugee children held in family detention centers with their mothers. Zayas will describe briefly the conditions of each set of children and discuss the unique and overlapping features of clinical evaluations conducted with both groups. Zayas will discuss the content and purpose of the evaluation report and the professional’s testimony in immigration court and use of the report in asylum hearings. He will also discuss ways in which psychologists can be advocates in the media, class-action lawsuits, immigration court, and legislative bodies.

 

Register here:     https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6832751566446760961

About the Presenters

Wendy Cervantes is a Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy where she leads the organization’s cross-sector policy agenda aimed at supporting low-income immigrants and their families. Previously, Ms. Cervantes was the Vice President of Immigration and Child Rights at First Focus. She also served as Director of Programs at La Plaza, Indianapolis and managed the immigrant and refugee families portfolio at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Ms. Cervantes holds an M.A. in Latin American Studies and Political Science from the University of New Mexico and a B.A. in Communications from the University of Southern California.

Luis H. Zayas, Ph.D., is Dean of the School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin, where he holds the Robert Lee Sutherland Chair in Mental Health and Social Policy. He is also a Professor of Psychiatry in the Dell Medical School of The University of Texas at Austin. Zayas is a licensed psychologist and licensed clinical social worker in Texas. His book, Forgotten Citizens: Children, Deportation, and the Making of American Exiles and Orphans (Oxford, 2015), describes the plight of U.S.-born children who live under the shadow of their undocumented immigrant parents’ deportability or actual deportation. He continues to advocate for justice for immigrant and refugee children in the United States.

Thank you to Serena Dávila, JD, of the APA Immigration Working Group, for helping to make this webinar possible. Serena is a Senior Legislative and Federal Affairs Officer in APA’s Public Interest Directorate.

Jean Hill, Ph.D.

Executive Director

Society for Community Research and Action

Division 27 of the American Psychological Association

jeanhill@scra27.org

From the American Immigration Council:

“I wanted to be sure to share key updated resources from the American Immigration Council. Last week, we published the fact sheet U.S. Citizen Children Impacted by Immigration Enforcement, which provides an overview of children in the United States who would be adversely affected by the detention or deportation of a family member, as well as how immigration enforcement can impact a child’s development, short-and long-term health, and socioeconomic stability. You can also read more on Immigration Impact, our daily blog.

 

In addition, we recently updated and published the following fact sheets:

• A Primer on Expedited Removal
• Immigration Detainers: An Overview
• The High Costs and Diminishing Returns of a Border Wall
• The Cost of Immigration Enforcement and Border Security

I hope these resources will be helpful in our collective work. Feel free to use and share them with your networks, on social media, etc.

This toolkit helps guide cities through the process of creating sanctuary policies. It is directed especially towards elected officials, but should be helpful for advocates and organizers too. There is also a model bill in the appendix that includes a wide range of provisions related not only to immigration enforcement but also racial justice more broadly. Please share widely.

From Detention Watch Network:

Project South and Penn State Law’s Center for Immigrants’ Rights (on its behalf) released a report titled “Imprisoned Justice: Inside Two Georgia Immigrant Detention Centers.” The report is a product of a one year study and in partnership with several organizations and projects (Alterna, GLAHR, Georgia Detention Watch, and a special student project of Mercer Law School), law students, advocates, attorneys, and current and formerly detained immigrants at the Stewart Detention Center and the Irwin County Detention Center.  Thank you to those on this email who gave their time and expertise to this project. Below you can find the Project South press release.

 

Link to Report: http://projectsouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Imprisoned_Justice_Report.pdf

 

Story by Penn State Law’s Center for Immigrants’ Rights Clinic:

https://pennstatelaw.psu.edu/news/immigration-clinic-students-craft-report-georgia-immigration-detention-centers

 

Finally, you can access the library of reports prepared or co-authored by the Penn State Law’s Center for Immigrants’ Rights here: https://pennstatelaw.psu.edu/practice-skills/clinics/center-immigrants%E2%80%99-rights-clinic/center-publications

 

Many thanks,

Azadeh & Shoba

Good news! California Psychological Association Reactivates Immigration Task Force!

As we know, the experience of millions of immigrants – those documented and those undocumented – is a major mental health issue in California. Therefore, it is my pleasure to announce, as part of my Presidential initiative on serving and protecting vulnerable children, adults and families, the revival of CPA’s Immigration Task Force (ITF). The ITF will be chaired by Dr. German Cadenas, currently a post-doc at UC Berkeley. Dr. Cadenas has extensive experience in the area of immigration psychology, and will announce the members of his team. The charge of this task force involves assembling resources for psychologists working with immigrant persons and families, and making recommendations for psychologists working with this population.

Douglas C. Haldeman, PhD President, California Psychological Association