Guest post by Joe Hoft at JoeHoft.com – republished with permission
This article is republished with permission from AbleChild.
Illegal immigration into the United States is a topic second only to the economy during this Presidential election cycle and Americans appear to have little empathy for those that continue to flood over the Southern border. So, it seems predictable that the taxpayers won’t be any too happy about ensuring mental health services are made available to those who are viewed as breaking U.S. immigration laws.
A recent article, though, describes how these illegal or undocumented aliens “are at a higher risk of developing severe mental health disorders.” Apparently, this important study looked at nearly 1,000 people that had immigrated to another country and compared their mental health to that of natural citizens of the same age.
The data are not what any country would appreciate having as it suggests that a large number of illegal immigrants reviewed suffered psychosis at twice the rate of their natural born counterparts. The experts suggest that the detrimental mental health effects could be due to the trauma of migrating during important times of social development. Yes. One could surmise that ripping a child from its surroundings and home might be mentally and emotionally problematic.
The experts explain that psychosis is a serious mental illness that leads to hallucinations, delusions, and extreme mood swings. The researchers found that “migrants between the ages of 11-17 were at the highest risk of psychosis among all races.” And, according to the study teenagers were particularly prone to psychosis due to several factors, such trauma from separation from adults/parents.
Seems completely logical that these illegal aliens would experience negative effects from separation. But the question becomes one of finances. The United States currently is reportedly experiencing a “mental health crisis” among its citizens and State budgets are exploding from the cost of mental health care.
According to Pew Research Center “the unauthorized immigrant population in the United States grew to 11.0 million in 2022.” That’s 11 million possible mental health patients. Where will the funding come for this onslaught of mentally ill? There are few states that provide mental health services to illegal aliens so one wonders if the data are correct what happens when these people cannot get help with their mental health needs?
Will this anticipated unchecked mental illness equate to violent/aggressive behavior that most likely will fall to the responsibility of law enforcement and corrections departments within counties and states. Will psychosis and other mental disorders, alleged to affect these immigrants, become the reason behind increased crime?
And, of course, depending on the outcome of the upcoming election, there is a serious conversation on-going about whether those here illegally will even be allowed to remain. If the undocumented are allowed to remain in the US, more likely than not, those mental health care needs will be met by state governments through the federal Medicaid program, which in 2020 covered about a quarter of the $280 billion spent on mental health services. Can the taxpayers take on more financial responsibility through increased taxes to provide mental health care for immigrants who have not contributed to the mental health services needed?
Then again, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) worries that “most refugees, asylum seekers, unaccompanied minors, and other survivors of forced displacement will not receive needed mental health care due to scarcity of services and stigma against mental health care.
What planet is the APA on? Every school in the US literally has tables of printed material advising students where psychiatric help is available. And children have no problem talking about their counselors and drug regimen. Stigma is no longer an issue in Mental Health America which says nothing about the tens of millions of dollars that have been poured into creating new and expanding existing school-based health centers. School is no longer just about learning. Now school is about students’ feelings.
Where another possible 11 million mental health patients are going to get mental health, care is anyone’s guess. Make no mistake, though, the taxpayer money tree has nearly been picked clean and, despite the mental health industry’s desire to ensure that illegal immigrants get the mental health care needed, the “experts” of whose behavior is acceptable won’t be providing free services.
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