“Me Siento Mal”: Mexican and Central American Immigrants’ Narratives on the Emotional Costs of Extended Parental Separation

Abstract

Immigrants in the United States maintain emotional and economic relationships across borders while navigating the immigration system’s methods of control. The current study investigates the emotional and mental health impacts of Mexican and Central American adult immigrants experiencing transnational extended parent separation. I position extended parental separation within two theoretical frameworks: legal violence and the stress process. I employ the plática qualitative method to speak with 29 Mexican and Central American immigrants experiencing extended parental separation. Three themes reveal the complex and competing factors associated with extended parental separation: first, economic and family unification reasons for migrating to the United States; second, negative emotional and mental health impacts while navigating extended parental separation; and third, broader impacts related to life stages and generational consequences. The results indicate that the immigration system not only leads to prolonged parental separation but also exacerbates its negative effects, thereby creating additional stressors in immigrants’ lives.