Standing and Responding in Solidarity with Disenfranchised Immigrant Families in the United States: An Ongoing Call for Action.
JMFT Editor Steve Harris, PhD, announced in the 2020 Annual Report (published in October 2021) that JMFT’s “Article of the Year” goes to Standing and Responding in Solidarity with Disenfranchised Immigrant Families in the United States: An Ongoing Call for Action, written by authors Elizabeth Wieling, Andrea N. Trejo, Jo Ellen Patterson, Kaethe Weingarten, Celia Falicov, Ana V. Hernández, Laurie Cook Heffron, Monica Faulkner, and José Rubén Parra-Cardona. One of the reviewers indicated that this manuscript outlines a “critical issue in our country…the authors did a great job [of] laying out the sociopolitical issues and toll. It is a unifying article written by a diverse collection of authors with important viewpoints and experiences.” Another reviewer indicated that this article “…is timely and needed.” Still, another reviewer expressed their support of this article in a rather exuberant manner, “I couldn’t agree more with the premises of this article, and think it deserves to be shouted from the rooftops. The treatment of immigrant families isn’t a political issue, it’s a human rights issue.”
Abstract
The status of immigrant families resettled to the United States in the past decade has been fraught with upsurges of governmental policies that have systematically increased the levels of oppression, violence, and abuses of human rights. The socio-political-economic toll of xenophobic practices on specifically targeted immigrant populations is magnified by the psychological and relational impact they have on individuals, families, and communities. This manuscript is conceptualized as an ongoing call for social action and specific mobilization by mental health professionals in response to the increasing threats to civility and dignity faced by various immigrant communities. The paper is organized in three sections: (a) an overview of the effects of immigration policy on immigrant family experiences; (b) the impact of mental and relational health on immigrant populations; and (c) elaborations of three exemplar community projects designed to support immigrant families. The manuscript concludes with a discussion exploring avenues for promoting a stronger base for solidarity and social action.
Read the full text on the Wiley website: https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12460
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