By Suzanne Gamboa -
NBC News
Children and parents separated at the border by the Trump Administration experienced severe psychological trauma that in many of them has persisted even long after they were reunited, according to the findings of the first qualitative study on the matter.
The study prepared by
Physicians for Human Rights
, published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLOS ONE, concluded that the separation of 31 parents and children whose cases were analyzed in depth "constitutes cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment" that is even "equated with torture ", as defined in the United Nations Convention against Torture.
"In the cases analyzed, it is evident that
US officials intentionally carried out actions that caused severe pain and suffering in order to punish and intimidate asylum seekers,
mainly Central Americans, so that they would not process their applications," says the study.
Migrant children separated from their parents in the Tornillo, Texas camp;
on June 19, 2018.Joe Raedle / Getty Images
Then-President Donald Trump's 'zero tolerance' policy, which separated thousands of children from their parents, was fully implemented in May 2018. Under the policy, the government took children away from their parents at the border, although not all had crossed illegally, and he was prosecuting the adults.
Some parents were deported without their children.
After facing a strong backlash, Trump signed an executive order reversing the policy about a month later.
Doctors who interviewed and evaluated migrant families reported that most of them met diagnostic criteria for at least one mental health condition, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, or generalized anxiety disorder.
The children exhibited behaviors described as regressing to their age, such as crying, not eating, having nightmares, sleeping difficulties, excessive parental attachment, clinging to caregivers, urinary incontinence, and
recurring feelings of fear after being reunited with their parents.
[A new book narrates and delves into the "American tragedy" of the policy of separating families at the border]
All of the parents the study talks about arrived at the US border after fleeing significant violence in their home countries.
In almost all cases, the children had also been abducted or drugged, poisoned, threatened with death, or injured by gang members.
"Parents were confident that the trip to the United States would guarantee the protection of their children," the study said.
Parents trusted that the trip to the United States would guarantee the protection of their children "
Physicians for Human Rights
But parents and children told investigators that US officials were treating them punitively.
They claimed that immigration officials forcibly removed their children from their arms and transferred the parents to other facilities while they slept.
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Three of the 19 parents exhibited suicidal thoughts.
Doctors who interviewed parents and children found no signs that immigrants were exaggerating their trauma and mental health problems or trying to mislead others, as some advocates for restricting immigration have claimed, according to the non-governmental organization.
The study is based on an analysis of affidavits, interviews and evaluations that doctors gave to children and parents.
Affidavits from interviews are used for legal cases, including asylum applications and lawsuits for damages caused by family separation.
The decision to separate the children from their parents was agreed by show of hands at a meeting of Trump's senior advisers led by former immigration adviser Stephen Miller, as previously reported by our sister network NBC News.
[The Government plans to pay $ 450,000 to those affected by Trump's policy of separating migrant families at the border]
The White House explained last month that more than 1,000 families separated at the border had yet to be reunited.
President Joe Biden has voiced support for compensation for separated families, some of whom are seeking damages from the government.
The Trump White House canceled an agreement to provide mental health care to separated families, NBC News reported last year.
A migrant mother and her daughter are reunited after being separated at the border.Getty Images
Kathryn Hampton, deputy director of the asylum program at
Physicians for Human Rights,
said the study's findings should be taken in the negotiations of the Biden Administration's reparations agreements with victims.
And that must also be considered when determining a dollar figure.
The researchers recommended that the
government include mental health support for parents and children who were separated
.
They also urged changes in the way immigration authorities question them, including allowing children to remain with their parents during asylum interviews or allowing them to take breaks to see their children.
The Biden Administration task force created a website to help families with reunification.
A lawsuit has made some reunited families eligible for behavioral health services.
The Department of Health and Human Services and the task force also offer screening and treatment for mental health conditions caused by the separations, said Liza Acevedo, a spokeswoman for the agency, adding that funds are also being sought for the treatment and services families receive may be continued in the future.
