Preventing Family Separations and Detention in the U.S. Immigration System
Family separations and family detention have been used as part of immigration enforcement in the United States. These practices and policies are severely detrimental to child health and wellbeing and can cause lasting harm. This brief reviews the state of the research on the developmental, psychological, and physical toll of family separation and family detention on children and their caregivers. Grounded in this science, we provide a set of recommendations for the Biden administration and Congress to consider in establishing policies and procedures around family separation aimed at preventing the vast majority of separations and mitigating the negative effects of the limited number of separations that are deemed necessary to protect child safety.
This brief builds on a 2021 report published by the Children’s Equity Project that reviewed federal and state regulations pertaining to the shelters that house unaccompanied children, including those who have been separated from their families by immigration authorities, under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Suggested citation:
Edyburn, K., Meek, S.E. (March, 2023). Preventing Family Separations and Detention in the U.S. Immigration System. The Children’s Equity Project at Arizona State University. Retrieved from: https://cep.asu.edu/resources/preventing-family-separations-detention