Prof. Hirokazu Yoshikawa: For a child to be separated from theirparent in a forced separation like
what's occurring in many immigrant
families in our country is one of the
most traumatic events that could happen
in life.  And when that relationship is
torn apart it can create a level of
trauma and immediate and ongoing stress
that has lifelong consequences. So the
research that we've been synthesizing
here at NYU shows that in the short run
there can be the immediate fears of not
knowing whether your parent is ever
going to come back, whether you're ever
going to see your parent again. What we
often see is immediate kinds of social
isolation or fear of going outside,
reduced school attendance.  Then in the
longer run, the research shows that there
can be heightened depression, higher
anxiety, even PTSD symptoms in children
and then lower academic performance and
health in the long run. So this
cumulative stress, anxiety and fear can
truly have lifelong harm and damage as
the consequence for children.
