Deportation and separation can trigger PTSD among children along the Texas border. That’s the claim of a new study by a California advocacy group.
The report, released this week, documents how the forced breakup of immigrant families impacts Rio Grande Valley families.
Researchers found that nearly one in five children surveyed in the Rio Grande Valley experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Eighteen hundred kids were forcibly separated from their parents in the fiscal year of 2017 in the [Rio Grande] Valley, and that is a result of local law enforcement working with federal immigration officials,” said Ana Tellez with Human Impact Partners.
KENS 5 border correspondent Jose Sanchez has the story about how stress affects children.