[ad_1]
“My students are scared… they can’t focus.”
The teacher’s voice was raw with desperation. The call came during my internship as a USC Master of Social Work student at a local elementary school. Her words were heavy, a reminder of the fear and uncertainty our young students face daily.
The student’s voice whispered, their small hands trembling as they clutched a red card “What if my parents get deported? What if they get hurt?” Each word was a dagger to my heart. I offered the second-grader the only comfort I could; a hand to hold and a space to breathe.
Huntington Beach’s recent decision to declare itself a non-sanctuary city is not just a political and prejudiced maneuver. It’s a direct threat to the safety and mental health of thousands of children like the one I spoke with. The city’s decision, framed as a move to enhance safety, contradicts evidence that sanctuary cities usually have lower crime rates. According to the Center for American Progress, sanctuary cities report 33.5 fewer crimes per 10,000 residents than non-sanctuary counterparts. Beyond statistics, the real issue is the emotional toll on children who constantly fear family separation. In the United States, more than 16.7 million people share a home with at least one undocumented family member, including roughly 6 million children under 18. Many of these children are U.S. citizens. Between 2011 to 2013 alone, up to 500,000 U.S.-citizen children experienced the deportation of a parent. These traumatic experiences have mental health consequences such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress symptoms, and behavioral changes.
Children under deportation stress often exhibit symptoms of anxiety, depression, and behavioral changes. They face discrimination, loss of community, cultural distance, social difficulties, and financial struggles. These children may also show signs of stress, worry, withdrawal, trouble focusing at school, sleep or eating issues, and increased aggression or tearfulness.
Reflecting on that second grader’s experience, his fears filled every corner of the room. It was a cold reminder of the world outside our safe walls, where immigration raids silence entire neighborhoods. Every siren, every knock at the door deepens a growing wound, aggravated by a president who has given ICE officers the green light to enter our safe spaces: schools, churches, and hospitals.
As a social work student and mother, I am calling on our community to recognize that our policies are not just legal decisions. They shape how children see themselves and each other. They tell children whether they are valued, safe, or worthy of dignity. When cities like Huntington Beach approve non-sanctuary policies, they send a dangerous message: some children matter less than political agendas.
How Can We Support Our Children and Community?
- Educate Yourself & Others: Learn about immigration laws, ICE transfers, the impact on children, and the benefits of sanctuary policies. Attend workshops. Share accurate information. Encourage schools to train staff on how to respond to ICE presence.
Credit: @OCRRN (Instagram)
- Be an Advocate & Ally: Know your rights during ICE activity, share resources, connect those affected with support networks, participate in protests, marches, or rallies, and report sightings to OC Rapid Response Network.
- Push for Policy Change: Call your representatives, attend and speak at city council meetings, and fight for sanctuary policies.
- Foster Inclusion: Create welcoming spaces, teach empathy, and have honest conversations with our children about immigration and supporting their peers.
By keeping sanctuary policies, creating safe zones in schools, and providing access to mental health support, we can protect children’s well-being. Encouraging peer connections, community inclusion, and easy access to community aid helps children feel protected, resilient, and hopeful.
Now is the time for Huntington Beach and other Orange County cities to act. By prioritizing children’s mental health and adopting sanctuary policies, we can build a community where every child feels safe, valued, and free to thrive.
The sting of that child’s words will stay with me forever. Injustice had a face, a voice, and a heartbeat. Wrapped in a Paw Patrol backpack, that child carried the unbearable weight of grown-up fears.
Gently, I told him, “This card is to help keep everyone safe. Whether you are a citizen or undocumented, everyone in this country has rights.”
Know your rights cards can be printed at this link.
(Available in Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, English, Farsi, French, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Khmer, Korean, Pashto, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrinya, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese)
When future generations look back, what will they say about how we treated undocumented families? What will you tell your children, your grandchildren about what you did? Let’s build a community that honors diversity, supports mental well-being, and ensures every child has the stability they deserve.
Marilynda Bustamante is a Master of Social Work student at the University of Southern California and resident of Orange County. She is passionate about mental health, social justice rights, substance use treatment, and serving houseless individuals and historically disenfranchised communities. Through her work in school-based counseling and community advocacy, she strives to create supportive spaces for vulnerable children and families.
Opinions expressed in community opinion pieces belong to the authors and not Voice of OC.
Voice of OC is interested in hearing different perspectives and voices. If you want to weigh in on this issue or others please email opinions@voiceofoc.org.
Related
[ad_2]
Source link
