Sibling Dynamics Among U.S. Citizen Children of Undocumented Mexican Parents

Background and Purpose: Current immigration policies disproportionately affect Mexican-origin families, shaping the social and emotional development of citizen-children living with their undocumented Mexican parents. Research has often focused attention to parent-child dynamics within mixed-status families, yet there is a critical need to consider horizontal relationships among siblings. Research on normative life transitions in Mexican-origin families indicates that sibling relationships exhibit high levels of caregiving and support. Yet, few studies have examined the effects of immigration enforcement on sibling dynamics, raising several important questions for social work researchers and practitioners. In this presentation, we focus attention on the meaningful events and experiences that siblings face to highlight important variations in youth well-being in the aftermath of parental detention and deportation.  

Methods: We present qualitative data drawn from a multi-sited binational study that examined the psychosocial functioning of citizen-children with undocumented Mexican parents. A subsample of 20 citizen-children interviews (7 sibling dyads; 2 sibling triads) were analyzed. Within this sample, 12 children moved to Mexico to reunite with family following parental deportation, 2 children remained in the U.S. after experiencing parental deportation, and 6 children had parents who were undocumented but had not experienced any immigration enforcement. Using inductive thematic analysis, data were analyzed to examine similarities and differences in the roles and functional importance of sibling relationships before and after experiences of immigration enforcement.  

Results: Our findings show that prior to immigration enforcement, sibling relationships were characterized in terms of closeness and intimacy, with moments of brief conflict. After immigration enforcement, however, siblings diverged in their perceptions of their experiences. In most cases, older siblings most frequently expressed emotional suffering due to the detention or deportation of a parent. In the cases where younger sibling was more deeply affected, the child had witnessed the immigration enforcement event. Across our sample, the majority of sibling relationships changed dramatically following immigration enforcement as children experienced distancing within their families. The data suggests that as a result of this distancing, younger children felt unable the share their feelings and experiences with their older siblings.  

Conclusions and Implications: Sibling relationships are an integral part of broader family dynamics, yet such relationships are often overlooked in the literature. Our findings suggest that developmental age and the experience of witnessing immigration enforcement can affect the quality of sibling relationships, and in turn, the emotional experiences of children. Understanding these experiences can raise awareness on the impact of parental immigration enforcement on siblings. In light of these findings, we conclude our presentation with a discussion of implications for future policies on immigration enforcement practices.