I.C.E: An Epidemic in the United States

A dangerous epidemic has overtaken our country in the last year. What might this epidemic be you might be asking?

The epidemic is called: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

According to the Department of Homeland Security (2025), 605k deportations have occurred in the past year alone. During Trump's first term, he separated more than 5000 children from their parents, causing irreparable damage and trauma to the parents and children who were torn apart. Now, six years later, the Trump administration and its Congressional House of Terrors are back, and so is the trauma inflicted on these communities.

More than 14% of the US population is made up of immigrants, and yet, there is little research done on immigrants' mental health. Immigrants are less likely to seek help because of fear due to their immigration status, and according to the World Health Organization (2025), immigrant communities are also the most impacted by mental health issues. Due to racism, prejudice, poverty, lack of resources, and lack of education about mental health, they are the most likely to suffer from anxiety, PTSD, depression, etc..

State policies are not doing enough and/or anything to protect those who have built and sustained their economies (Gelatt, 2024). State legislators owe it to their immigrant communities to acquire funding, education, and resources to aid immigrant mental health. Immigrant communities are under attack, and the number of people who will need mental health resources is growing by the minute with every person that is being ripped from their lives by the administration in office. An administration that has benefited the most from the basically free labor of immigrants. It is now the government's job to take action for those who have in any way, shape, or form been affected by ICE raids and kidnappings. For those who have been left behind with the image of their mother, father, sibling, or friend being ripped from all that they have known and worked hard for for whatever amount of time.

It starts with counselors/therapists taking action and standing up for their clients and advocating for change and protecting their clients as we are taught to do. It starts with providing resources for these community members to access education about mental health to help destigmatize mental illness. The time to stand and fight for their rights and access to mental health aid is now becuase if not now, then when? When suicide rates skyrocket in the US? When depression and PTSD rates are at an all time high because we have failed to protect and educate our people?

Whether people like it or not, immigrants have left a permanent footprint in the US because they have left behind citizens. Citizens that the US now owed help to because they are CITIZENS and is it not stated in the Fourth Amendment that unlawful seizures and detentions of people violate their rights? Yet, we are now seeing the constitution being defaced everyday with every person being unlawfully picked up. So much for land of the free. The mental wounds being brought on by this will not heal easily and it is time to stand up and urge our local legislators to provide for their people.

References

Geiger, A. (2025, August 21). What the data says about immigrants in the U.S. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/08/21/key-findings-about-us-immigrants/

Gelatt, J. (2024, October 23). Explainer: Immigrants and the U.S. Economy. Migrationpolicy.org. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/content/explainer-immigrants-and-us-economy

Immigrant Families Need Nuanced, Creative Approaches to Mental Health | CLASP. (2024). CLASP. https://www.clasp.org/blog/immigrant-families-need-nuanced-creative-approaches-to-mental-health/

News, P. (2025, December 11). Trump administration separates thousands of migrant families in the U.S. PBS News. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/trump-administration-separates-thousands-of-migrant-families-in-the-u-s

Thanks to President Trump and Secretary Noem, More than 2.5 Million Illegal Aliens Left the U.S. | Homeland Security. (2025). U.S. Department of Homeland Security. https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/12/10/thanks-president-trump-and-secretary-noem-more-25-million-illegal-aliens-left-us

World. (2023, October 10). Five key themes for improved mental health care for refugees and migrants. Who.int; World Health Organization: WHO. https://www.who.int/news/item/10-10-2023-five-key-themes-for-improved-mental-health-care-for-refugees-and-migrants

World. (2025, September). Refugee and migrant mental health. Who.int; World Health Organization: WHO. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/refugee-and-migrant-mental-health