Immigration Policies In The United States

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Thousands of people are affected every day by the immigration policies put in place. In the United States, the concept of asylum seekers and refugees is different but also very similar when working with immigration policy. Refugees are people who are in their own country; according to Amnesty International they are people who feel their human rights are at risk, but their country and government will not protect them from that. On the other hand, asylum seekers are people who have fled their homes and are seeking protection from persecution and serious human rights violations in another country, but who haven’t yet been legally recognized as a refugee and are waiting to receive a decision on their asylum claim. Amnesty International Current …show more content…
Once people are let into the United States, they have no resources to help them once they can flee from harm. The policies for asylum seekers are also always changing. According to an article written by J. Anna Cabot, asylum seekers from Mexico faced many issues once they were able to come to the United States, this includes access to healthcare and mental health resources. Lots of the people who are looking for asylum may be displaced, but refugees do not choose which country they would like to live in. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees makes recommendations to select countries. There are eight U.S. federal agencies, six security database biometric security checks, three in-person interviews with the Department of Homeland Security, and medical checks that are involved in the thorough screening of refugees, which can take between 1-2 years. (Lloyd, 2019) This means they are brought into the United States or other countries, they may not know the language, they may also face prejudice in these other countries, and may even face …show more content…
This was due to a family separation policy that was put into effect the year prior. This causes many refugees and asylum seekers to face many mental health issues. According to the statistics in Mental Health Facts on Refugees, Asylum-seekers, & Survivors of Forced Displacement in the article by the American Psychiatric Association, 1 in 3 asylum seekers and refugees experience high rates of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorders. (Suzan Song, MD, MPH, Ph.D. and Sara Teichholtz, M.D) Only 3% of asylum seekers are referred to mental health services. In the United States, adolescent refugees face higher rates of mental illness in comparison to non-refugee adolescents. Mental health concerns stem from traumatic experiences, challenges with acculturation, discrimination from peers, separation from parents, and cultural perceptions of mental illness in their country of origin. (Lloyd, 2019) Many of these adolescents face mental health illnesses such as depression, PTSD, and anxiety. Most of these adolescents come from the Democratic Republic of the