Abstract

This article will address immigration as a psychosocial event and will describe the different stages of the immigration process, when immigration becomes traumatic, and how each immigration stage can place vulnerable Latin American families at high risk for traumatic stress. It will explore pre-migration experiences and the factors bringing young families to cross the United States-Mexico border. The authors discuss (a) the long- and short-term effects of family separations on young children and their caregivers and (b) trauma- and diversity-informed interventions targeted at increasing safety, empowerment, and hope.