U.S. Citizen-Children of Undocumented Parents: The Intergenerational Effects of Illegality

Background and Purpose: An estimated 4.5 million U.S. citizen-children live in families in which one or both parents are undocumented. Due to escalations in punitive measures that target undocumented individuals in the U.S., a growing number of citizen-children face the harsh realities associated with parental deportation: forced family separations, material deprivation, anxiety, and depression. In this presentation, we draw on ecocultural theories of youth development to examine qualitatively the ways in which the condition of illegality extends from undocumented parent to citizen child. In doing so, we describe the contextual circumstances that give rise to psychosocial stressors and poor mental health among citizen-children living with their undocumented parents.

 

Methods: Qualitative data analyzed for this project were drawn from a mixed-method, multi-sited binational study that examined the psychosocial functioning of citizen-children with undocumented Mexican parents. A total of 83 citizen-children, between the ages of 8 and 14 years, were recruited for participation. Within the sample, 31 participants had accompanied their parent(s) to Mexico following parental deportation, 18 remained in the U.S. after parental deportation, and 34 participants were not directly affected by parental deportation at the time of data collection. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with citizen-children to elicit their narratives about living with parents who were undocumented, their experiences, and the sociocultural, economic, and political forces that shaped their lives. Using inductive thematic analysis, analysis focused on comparing similarities and differences between citizen-children with and without direct experiences of parental deportation and across age groups to explore differential child outcomes.

Results: Our findings show that citizen-children experienced formidable psychosocial stressors that affected their well-being. A key finding in our results was the salience of what we call a “cultural script of silence,” or shared code held among family members that prohibited the discussion of legal status both within and outside of the household. Not only did the script guide the ways in which parents and children interacted, but it also informed how parents taught or modelled behaviors, and the ways in which parents communicated and provided support. Deliberate efforts to silence thoughts and emotions prevented children from having a space, either with family or friends, to process their fears, anxieties, and worries. The importance of intergenerational silence sometimes acted to weaken supportive bonds between parents and children, and participants reported becoming distrustful of their parents as a result. In its most extreme manifestation, the cultural script of silence set into motion a series of emotional or family dynamics that negatively affected well-being.

Conclusions and Implications: Citizen-children’s daily lives are organized around the very real possibility that their undocumented parents could one day be detained and deported. As a result, the risks conferred by undocumented status; which include social, economic, and psychological hardship; extend to the experiences of citizen-children living with undocumented parents. In this way, the effects of illegality are passed down from one generation to the next. Understanding this process is key to the design and implementation of policies and programs to enhance positive youth outcomes.