Mental health workers in the Bay Area and Central Coast are reporting a significant drop in immigrants seeking treatment as fear of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement intensifies. Social workers have begun conducting sessions in their cars and increasing home visits to accommodate clients’ growing fear of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Impact on Communities
Social worker Ruby Lopez-Flores, a member of SEIU 521, reported that many of her clients have started avoiding public spaces out of fear of being detained by ICE. In communities like Salinas and Pajaro, which collectively are home to an estimated 91,000 farmworkers, the fear of encountering immigration agents has led to missed work and lost wages for a population already facing severe housing insecurity and high rent. One study examining the impact of ICE raids in the Southern California community of Oxnard estimated the city’s agricultural workforce had shrunk by 20 to 40% in the aftermath of the raids.
Effects on Youth and Stress
A Stanford study published in October found that immigration raids in the Central Valley coincided with a 22% increase in daily student absences, potentially indicating developmentally harmful stress that could set students back educationally. Dr. Kathleen Roche, a George Washington University professor studying the effect of immigration policies on Latino families, examined more than 500 Latino adolescents over four years. Families with someone who was detained or deported were more likely to experience heightened anxiety over separation and negative mental states, with long-term economic effects from the increased stress as affected children become less likely to be prepared for school and jobs.
Crisis Response Concerns
Mental health workers worry about the stakes when barriers to care exist. Yvette Carreon, who chairs the SEIU 521 Monterey County Committee on Political Education, said the children they work with are missing class and dealing with heightened, ongoing stress. The concern is that when clients “crash” and “hit that rock bottom,” sometimes it is too late to intervene.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.kqed.org/science/2000751/amid-ice-fears-mental-health-workers-report-drop-in-immigrants-seeking-treatment