Living Under the Shadows: Experiences of Latino Immigrant Families at Risk for Deportation

• Published date: 01 April 2021
• Author: Allison D. Rayburn,Lenore M. McWey,Melinda A. Gonzales‐Backen
• Date: 01 April 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12534

A D. R University of Central Missouri

L M. MW  M A. G-B Florida State University

Living Under the Shadows: Experiences of Latino

Immigrant Families at Risk for Deportation

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine

the experiences of Latino youth and their parents

who are at risk for detainment or deportation to

gain an in-depth understanding of the impact of

the risk for parental deportation on psychosocial

well-being.

Background: Children born in the United

States to foreign-born parents comprise

approximately 27% of the U.S. population.

Approximately 5.7 million U.S.-born children

live with parents without legal residency doc-

umentation, and nearly 500,000 children had

at least one parent detained or deported over a

2-year period. There is a high risk for negative

child and family outcomes associated with

parental deportation.

Method: A constructivist grounded theory

design was used to complete semistructured

interviews with families (N=16) at risk for

parental deportation. A quantitative trauma

assessment was used to triangulate qualitative

ndings.

Results: Results indicated four core themes: (a)

parents and youth experience emotional dis-

tress associated with the risk of deportation, (b)

parents and youth experience injustices associ-

ated with the threat of deportation, (c) children

experience their freedoms as conditional, and

(d) children suffer.

University of Central Missouri—Human Services, 825 NW

Donovan Road Unit 6302, Lee’s Summit, MO 64086 (ray-

burn@ucmo.edu).

Key Words: deportation, families, immigration, trauma,

well-being.

Conclusions: Concepts from ambiguous loss

and developmental trauma may aid our under-

standing of family emotional distress associated

with the risk for deportation and improve family

services aimed to promote family well-being.

Implications: Family scholar-advocate and

scholar-activist approaches, in which we use

our positions of privilege to educate others

about the needs of underserved families, may be

helpful for families at-risk for deportation.

Approximately 27% of the U.S. population

comprises families with U.S.-born children and

foreign-born parents (Zong et al., 2018), and

an estimated 5.7 million U.S.-born children

live with parents who do not have legal resi-

dency documentation (Warren & Kerin, 2017).

Recent statistics suggest that nearly 500,000

children experienced at least one parent who

was detained or deported (or both) over a 2-year

period (American Immigration Council, 2018).

Moreover, the current U.S. political climate

and increased allocations of government fund-

ing to agencies responsible for deportations

may lead to higher rates of parental removal

(Huber, 2016; Warren & Kerin, 2017) and

fears about deportation among the Latino

community (Roche et al., 2018). The nega-

tive consequences of deportation for children

and families are of growing concern (Bouza

et al., 2018; Rojas-Flores et al., 2017). To help

in such instances, it is important to gain an

understanding of families’ experiences. As

such, the aim of this study was to gain an

in-depth understanding of the impact of the risk

Family Relations 70 (April 2021): 359–373 359

DOI:10.1111/fare.12534