WSPA Statements on Public Issues

This post has been updated 6/20/18 to reflect the most recent Executive Order continuing indefinite detention of immigrant children and families.

The Washington State Psychological Association is adamantly opposed to the current Administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy involving the lengthy detention of immigrant children and families in federal facilities after attempts to cross the U.S. border, applied to even those seeking asylum–and relatedly, the other recent immigration policy shift stating that domestic and/or gang violence are not legitimate reasons to seek asylum. As psychologists, we find these policies unacceptable, given the significant risks for exploitation and victimization such experiences confer on already-vulnerable children—especially those who have been separated from their parents—and the tremendous and often irreparable emotional burden these forced fractures place on families who are often already exposed to significant mental and physical trauma. Psychologists have long understood the ways in which children are uniquely vulnerable to trauma, and research findings are clear that even brief trauma can continue to have adverse effects across the lifespan. We join our colleagues in esteemed national organizations such as the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians,/a>, and the National Latina/o Psychological Association in condemning these policies based on a large body of scientific research on the impact of migration, family separation, and trauma throughout the lifespan. By the latest Executive Order, which is yet to be implemented and which seeks to extend detention of children indefinitely, families are now allowed to remain together in federal detention centers; however, over 2,300 children nationally have already been separated from their parents with no clear plans for reunification.

WSPA’s mission is to promote the psychological well-being of all Washington residents, through education, clinical service, and advocacy. As a proud member of the Refugee Mental Health Network, we are appalled by reports that over 200 asylum seekers, including many parents separated from their children, are currently being held in a federal prison in SeaTac, Washington. We fully support the efforts of Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Governor Jay Inslee, and our elected representatives in their efforts to resolve this situation.

Our emphatic rejection of the current policy is consistent with our mission as an organization and our Code of Ethics as psychologists, and reflects the value we place on respect for the rights and dignities of all people, not only as psychologists, but as Americans. We are proud of our collective national history as a refuge to those in need that is enhanced, not diminished, by diversity. We stand with organizations such as the United Nations Human Rights Office and Physicians for Human Rights in recognizing these harmful experiences as an issue of fundamental human rights. Justice and respect for all people are our most closely held values as psychologists, Americans, and human beings, and we resolutely believe U.S. immigration policy should reflect those values.

Read the Executive Order here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/affording-congress-opportunity-address-family-separation

Ways to Help

We urge you to call your members of Congress (https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members) and let them know of your opposition to these policies.

Below is a list of organizations working to support refugees separated from their families.

*Please note that this is not an exhaustive list nor does WSPA have any formal alliance with any of the groups. We encourage everyone to thoroughly research the causes they support.

Refugees Northwest provides mental health and physical evaluations, emergency food, and basic needs for asylum-seekers; read more about their work on behalf of asylum-seekers, asylees, and refugees, and how to help, on www.refugeesnw.org

Northwest Immigrant Rights Project is doing work defending and advancing the rights of immigrants through direct legal services, systemic advocacy, and community education. https://www.nwirp.org/

Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) is the largest immigration nonprofit in Texas offering free and low-cost legal services to immigrant children and families. Donate to their fund for legal representation, education, and advocacy for unaccompanied minors here: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/leafund

American Immigration Lawyers Association provides pro-bono services to represent women and men with their asylum screening, bond hearings, ongoing asylum representation. http://www.aila.org/

CARA—a consortium of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, the American Immigration Council, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association—provides pro-bono legal services at family detention centers. http://caraprobono.org/

Florence Project is an Arizona project offering free legal services to men, women, and unaccompanied children in immigration custody. https://firrp.org/

Kids in Need of Defense works to ensure that kids do not appear in immigration court without representation, and to lobby for policies that advocate for children’s legal interests. https://supportkind.org/about/

The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights works for the rights of children in immigration proceedings. https://www.theyoungcenter.org/

The Urban Justice Center’s Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project provides legal services and works to prevent the deportation of those fleeing violence. https://asylumadvocacy.org/

Women’s Refugee Commission advocates for the rights and protection of women, children, and youth fleeing violence and persecution. https://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/

On September 1, 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a historic speech to members of the American Psychological Association who gathered in Washington, D.C. for its 75th Annual Convention. Dr. King spoke directly about the problems of racism and segregation in our country, and he called on psychologists as social scientists to assume a more active role in their eradication. Fifty years later Dr. King’s words have taken on a new sense of meaning and urgency not just for psychologists but for our nation as a whole.

The Charlottesville white nationalist rally in August in which three people lost their lives and many others were injured follows a nationwide increase in hate crimes in the past year. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) reported as many as 1,094 incidents in the first month after the presidential election last year, and 1,863 between November 9 and March 31 of this year. There are 917 hate groups currently operating in the United States according to SPLC. Considering that most hate crimes are not reported to the police (Bureau of Justice Statistics), these recent numbers represent a pressing call for increased public discourse and action.

Washington State Psychological Association (WSPA) joins the American Psychological Association to firmly and unequivocally condemn the acts of racism and violence which took place in Charlottesville, and all other acts of bias, prejudice, and discrimination, which lead to hate crimes motivated by an offender’s bias against a victim’s race, ethnicity, gender and gender expression, culture and national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and/or socio-economic status. White supremacist views and other forms of racism, bigotry, discrimination and prejudice do not belong in our society and must be recognized and denounced.

Violent crimes motivated by bias and hate have far reaching effects on the victims. These include feelings of helplessness and humiliation (Herman, 1992), a loss of the sense of safety and security, and symptoms of depression and anxiety (APA, 2017). As mental health professionals, psychologists are uniquely equipped to assist individuals, groups, and communities traumatized by hate crimes. Today, fifty years later, we remember Dr. King’s call and recommit as social scientists to use our knowledge and skills to realize improved outcomes for all individuals and communities. We foster healing in all people through mental health treatment, community-based education including programs teaching tolerance, reducing prejudice, and promoting social justice, and research and policy initiatives targeting a safer, healthier, and more equitable society for all.