de la Peña Cristina Muñiz, Pineda Lisa, Punsky Brenda
Terra Firma: Healthcare and Justice for Immigrant Children, Montefiore Medical Center, 890 Prospect Avenue, Bronx, NY 10459 USA.
J Child Adolesc Trauma. 2019 May 30;12(2):153-164. doi: 10.1007/s40653-019-00262-4. eCollection 2019 Jun.
The crisis of family separation caused by Trump Administration's zero tolerance policy (ZTP) on the southern border has focused the nation's attention and provoked public uproar due to the violation of basic rights and the expected negative impact on children and parents. There is decades' worth of research documenting the damage of separating children from their parents in a wide diversity of circumstances and for a wide variety of reasons. There is also ample research evidence of the impact of any form of childhood trauma and consequent disruptions in development, cognitive impairments, and health problems through adulthood. However, there is no first-hand documentation published of how these children and families specifically experienced separation at the border and the effects it is having on them to date. The present article first provides an overview of the historical and socio-political context of family separation policies in the US, and a thorough description of how ZTP was implemented in actuality. Second, this article offers a review of the literature on the impact of family separation on children and parents in diverse contexts. Third, we describe direct clinical experiences with these children and parents receiving services at the Terra Firma program in the Bronx community in New York. Finally, this article delineates important recommendations for policy makers, service providers, and the community as a whole.
特朗普政府在南部边境实施的零容忍政策（ZTP）所引发的家庭分离危机，已引起全国关注，并因侵犯基本权利以及对儿童和父母预期的负面影响而激起公众的强烈抗议。数十年来的研究记录了在各种各样的情况下，出于各种各样的原因将儿童与父母分离所造成的伤害。也有大量研究证据表明，任何形式的童年创伤以及随之而来的发育中断、认知障碍和成年后的健康问题都会产生影响。然而，目前还没有发表的第一手资料记录这些儿童和家庭在边境具体是如何经历分离的，以及迄今为止分离对他们产生了怎样的影响。本文首先概述了美国家庭分离政策的历史和社会政治背景，并详细描述了零容忍政策在实际中是如何实施的。其次，本文回顾了关于在不同背景下家庭分离对儿童和父母影响的文献。第三，我们描述了在纽约布朗克斯社区的“坚实土地”项目中，为这些儿童和父母提供服务的直接临床经验。最后，本文为政策制定者、服务提供者和整个社区提出了重要建议。
