There are still 5 weeks to go until the change of government in the United States, at noon on January 20, 2025. But the first consequences of the next government of Donald Trump are already being felt intensely in many places.
A wave of fear has been unleashed in millions of homes, especially among “mixed” families, those where undocumented people cohabit with people with legal status.
The statistics from the Pew Center are overwhelming:
- Approximately 5 million unauthorized adult immigrants (49%) live in families with minor children.
- In addition to the million unauthorized immigrants who are children, another 4.5 million people under 18 years of age were born in the United States to at least one unauthorized immigrant parent.
- The number of children born in the United States to at least one unauthorized immigrant parent has more than doubled since 2000.
- At least 9 million people live in “mixed-status” families that include at least one unauthorized adult and at least one U.S.-born child.
- This represents 54% of the 16.6 million people in families with at least one unauthorized immigrant.
- There are 400,000 unauthorized immigrant children in those families who have siblings born in the United States.
The concerns in those families have a clear explanation: the new threat of mass deportations. In 2018, Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy resulted in the separation of thousands of children from their parents at the border. Images of children in cages and the heartbreaking cries of little ones separated from their families shook the world.
The most profound impact was experienced by those minors who were psychologically and emotionally scarred by the experience.
What will happen to children born in the United States to undocumented parents starting January 20?
Could we be facing a new wave of separations, this time affecting not only migrant children, but also American citizens?
These children are at the center of a dilemma that combines civil rights, immigration policy, and humanity
An administration that seeks to massively deport undocumented immigrants could cause the separation of these families, leaving millions of American citizens in a situation of extreme vulnerability.
In some cases, the minors would be sent with their parents abroad, facing an uncertain future in countries they have never known. In others, they would be left in the United States child care system, facing even greater trauma. The psychological consequences of family separation are devastating.
Children separated from their parents experience high levels of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress. They lose their sense of stability, security, and trust, which can affect their emotional and academic development in the long term. Separation can create resentment toward the government institutions that allowed or promoted these policies.
Citizen children, although legally protected, will grow up with the burden of having been treated as a “problem” rather than as citizens with full rights.
Is it fair to punish children for their parents’ immigration status? Beyond legal questions, is it ethical to separate families and condemn children to a life of trauma and uncertainty?
Human rights advocates and pro-immigrant organizations have a critical role in raising their voices and demanding policies that respect family unity. The fate of millions of citizen children and their families is at stake. History will judge how we respond to this challenge. It is time to act with humanity, justice, and compassion, ensuring that no child in the United States has to pay the price of inhumane immigration policies.
