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TRAUMA AND HEALING — In Arizona’s Maricopa County — "the epicenter of the US’ immigration wars" — immigration status can deeply affect mental health, Terry Greene Sterling reports for The Guardian. As a former undocumented immigrant himself, Lehigh University psychology Professor Germán Cadenas has done extensive research on the psychology of being undocumented. Mental health challenges like anxiety, depression and PTSD "can stem from being marginalized, hunted and detained as well as from feeling dehumanized by xenophobic rhetoric, an exclusionary higher educational system, predatory employment practices, civil rights violations and the uncertainties of changing immigration policies," according to researchers and advocates, Greene Sterling writes. But Professor Cadenas underscores that identifying harmful systems, and engaging in activism around them, can help immigrants protect their own mental health — and help others heal as well. ‘I WENT BACK’ — Paired with striking photos from Omar Ornelas, Lauren Villagran of the El Paso Times tells the story of Haitian migrant John Lafontant. After leaving his home country of Haiti nearly ten years ago to work in Chile, Lafontant sought better opportunities in the U.S. But arriving in Del Rio, Texas, instead of a door to the U.S., he found "more than 14,000 people, including families with children, waiting outdoors for days or weeks without adequate shelter, food or potable water but with Border Patrol tickets in hand." After receiving a warning message from his brother that the U.S. had begun deporting Haitians at the Del Rio encampment, Lafontant crossed back into Mexico. With shelter at a Seventh Day Adventist Church and a factory job in Tijuana, he could start over. "I went back so they didn’t deport me, too," recounted Lafontant. "... I can’t go back to Haiti."
RESETTLEMENT WOES — The Biden administration paused refugee resettlement in October to focus on assisting Afghan evacuees — but some resettlement agencies say the move is unnecessary and thwarts their efforts to rebuild capacity after the Trump-era hollowing out of resettlement infrastructure, reports Danae King of The Columbus Dispatch. "When we were asked do we want to pause (refugee) arrivals, I said no because it’s apples and oranges," said Angie Plummer, executive director of Central Ohio’s Community Refugee and Immigration Services (CRIS). "We don’t think that it’s necessary. It's not a competition for resources to have these folks come." The State Department says not all refugee cases have been paused, as it is prioritizing some urgent cases. The pause is set to be lifted on Jan. 11. DISPLACEMENT PARALLELS — In a column for Baptist News Global, Erich Bridges dives deep into the recent history of displacement across Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Myanmar. Turkey is currently the top host country for displaced people, "with more than 4 million refugees and asylum seekers." After meeting with Afghan refugees on a recent visit to Turkey, Bridges attended a meeting hosted by his church on the needs of Afghans arriving in the U.S., including a family living in a hotel with a newborn. "I couldn’t help but think of Mary and Joseph, desperately searching for shelter and warmth as their holy child entered the world, Bridges writes. "… Could Jesus be coming to us again in the guise of an Afghan child? And if so, will we welcome him and give him shelter?" Here is today’s compilation of local stories:
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