Therapy Session
pxhere

There are many available statistics on Latino immigrant mental health and most of these studies are showing a significant increase in numbers.

Numerous factors may contribute to these mental illnesses. One of the most alarming factors that affect the mental health of Latino immigrants is the current implementation of strict immigration laws in the United States.

According to research conducted in the United States, immigration arrests are negatively influencing the mental health of citizens with Latino heritage in the country.

The research team from the national health polls had observed citizens with Latino origins. The research was conducted from 2014 to the year 2018. One of the results of the study had shown that one-third of the total number of participants had stated that they had spent a day experiencing poor mental well-being from the past month. The study also revealed that 11 percent of the participants in the study had regular mental distress.

According to the notes of the research team in the American Journal of Public Health, during the entire duration of the research, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, had already arrested 440,601 undocumented immigrants in the country.

The total number of arrests of illegal immigrants had moved up at a rapid pace since the passing of multiple anti-immigration executive orders during the entirety of the year 2017. These executive orders had allowed the creation of a border wall with the country Mexico and enforced non-entry of refugees from Muslim-dominated countries. This also has resulted in a multitude of modifications in the ICE policies involving immigration arrests and deportation.

Despite the differences in the rates of arrests for the different states in the country, each had increased a point in every state after the implementation of the modified immigration laws. This move is theorized to have caused the worsened mental health of the Latino population in the US.

According to the research team members Emilie Bruzelius and Aaron Baum, the implementation of the modified immigration laws are continuously becoming a controversy in the country. They said that the mental health and the consequences of the acts being executed by the current administration regarding the immigration laws such as immigration arrests and deportation should be a matter of public debate and should be taken as a serious matter.

According to the research team, since the year 2008, ICE had already arrested more than 2 million undocumented immigrants. There is some research conducted that concluded that the anxiety felt by these immigrants can greatly affect their mental well-being. This is very true among minority groups who are being targeted by the government for arrest and deportation.

According to the team of researchers, in the present immigration laws of the country, it is highly probable that arrests for illegal immigration may lead to poor mental well-being. This fear is commonly felt by undocumented immigrants, their family members, and their neighbors. Those minority groups that are being targeted by the government will likely experience discrimination. This experience will contribute to the worsening of these people's mental well-being.