Growing Up With an Undocumented Parent in America: Psychosocial Adversity in Domestically Residing Immigrant Children

According to Pew Research Center, 6 to 7 million children are residing in the United States with at least one undocumented parent. The vast majority of these children were born in the United States themselves, and a small minority were born outside America. Even more noteworthy is the longitudinal data that 7% to 9% of all children born in the United States between 2003 and 2014 have at least one undocumented parent. Given the numbers, it is highly likely that all child health care providers will encounter this population clinically. In this Clinical Perspectives article, we start by reviewing general and specific vulnerabilities in this population, and then discuss how child and adolescent psychiatrists can effectively help these children and their families. The majority of data presented herein refers to the US-born children of undocumented immigrants, but some may include foreign-born children of undocumented immigrants residing in America.