Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Migrant Mental Health, Law, and Detention: Impacts and Alternatives

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Refuge and Resilience

Part of the book series: International Perspectives on Migration ((IPMI,volume 7))

Abstract

Asylum is granted to about 30,000 of over 75,000 refugees that arrive in the U.S. each year, and most have experienced severe trauma and possibly torture. It is the role of the state to not only protect asylum seekers with mental disabilities but to foster mental health within this vulnerable population. Numerous legal barriers to addressing refugee mental health exist because of a lack of procedural safeguards in immigration proceedings and detention centers. Various options piloted in the immigration system or modeled on the criminal justice system could help ensure due process, increase resolution of cases and good case outcomes, and create a fairer system for immigrants with mental illness, particularly programs using social workers and psychologists who work with attorneys to promote access to services. More research is needed to create a system of health services and legal protections that cultivate refugee mental health and resilience.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    There is a recently settled class action law suit, Franco et al. vs. Eric Holder, et al. (First Amended Complaint dated Aug. 2, 2010). The lawsuit asks the judge to “[o]rder the government to provide all class members with adequate competency evaluations, to provide qualifying class members with appointed counsel, and to provide qualifying class members with adequate detention hearings, and [g]rant such other relief as the Court deems just and equitable…” The class represented is “[a]ll individuals who are or will be in DHS custody for removal proceedings in California, Arizona, or Washington who have been identified…as having a serious mental disorder or defect that may render them incompetent to represent themselves in detention or removal proceedings, and who [do not have a lawyer].” (http://www.aclu.org/immigrants-rights/franco-gonzales-et-al-v-holder-et-al-first-amended-class-action-complaint).

  2. 2.

    Asylum seekers are often held longer in criminal detention as their immigration status causes them to be considered a flight risk and ineligible for bail (National Immigration Forum, 2011.

  3. 3.

    The environment is often not just incarceration like, as about half of immigrants detained are held in jails.

  4. 4.

    From C. Slobogin, Therapeutic Jurisprudence: Five dilemmas to Ponder, Psychol., Pol and Law 193, 196 (1995).

References

  • American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. (2005). Ethics guidelines for the practice of forensic psychiatry.

    Google Scholar 

  • Appleseed, Texas Appleseed, & Chicago Appleseed. (2011). Improving efficiency and ensuring justice in the immigration court system. Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barr, H. (2001). Mental health courts: An advocate’s perspective. Urban Justice Center. http://www.urbanjustice.org/publications/pdfs/mentalhealth/MentalHealthCourts.pdf. Accessed 27 Aug 2004.

  • Bhugra, D. (2004). Migration and mental health. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 109(4), 243–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boothroyd, R. A., Mercado, C. C., Poythress, N. G., Christy, A., & Petrila, J. (2005). Clinical outcomes of defendants in mental health court. Psychiatric Services, 56(7), 829.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bosworth, M., & Kaufman, E. (2011). Foreigners in a carceral age: Immigration and imprisonment in the US. Stanford Law & Policy Review, Vol. 22, no. 1, 2011, Oxford Legal Studies Research Paper no.34/2011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourassa, J. (2009). Psychosocial interventions and mass populations. International Social Work, 52(6), 743.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carswell, K., Blackburn, P., & Barker, C. (2011). The relationship between trauma, post-migration problems and the psychological well-being of refugees and asylum seekers. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 57(2), 107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chow, W., Law, S., Andermann, L., Yang, J., Leszcz, M., Wong, J., & Sadavoy, J. (2010). Multi-family psycho-education group for assertive community treatment clients and families of culturally diverse background: A pilot study. Community Mental Health Journal, 46(4), 364–371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Committee on Ethical Guidelines for Forensic Psychologists. (1991). Specialty guidelines for forensic psychologists. American Psychological Association, division 41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crock-Carsey, Sherri. (2006). Mental Health Court Liaison, Athens County Municipal Court Substance Abusing/Mentally Ill Court. Interview with Carolyn Turgeon, Center for Court Innovation.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Jesus-Rentas, G., Boehnlein, J., & Sparr, L. (2010). Central american victims of gang violence as asylum seekers: The role of the forensic expert. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online, 38(4), 490.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denckla, D., & Berman, G. (2001). Rethinking the revolving door: A look at the mental health courts. New York: Center for Court Innovation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fazel, M., & Stein, A. (2002). The mental health of refugee children. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 87(5), 366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fazel, M., & Stein, A. (2003). Mental health of refugee children: Comparative study. BMJ, 327(7407), 134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fazel, M., Reed, R. V., Panter-Brick, C., & Stein, A. (2011). Mental health of displaced and refugee children resettled in high-income countries: Risk and protective Factors. The Lancet, 379(9812), 266–282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feldman, R. (2006). Primary health care for refugees and asylum seekers: A review of the literature and a framework for services. Public health 120(9), 809–816.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finkle, M. J., Kurth, R., Cadle, C., & Mullan J. (2009). Competency courts: A creative solution for restoring competency to the competency process. Behavioral Sciences & the Law , 27(5), 767–786.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, W. H., Packer, I. K., Grisso, T., McDermeit, M., & Brown, J. M. (2000). From case management to court clinic: Examining forensic system involvement of persons with severe mental illness. Mental Health Services Research, 2(1), 41–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frumkin, I. B., & Friedland, J. (1995). Forensic evaluations in immigration cases: Evolving issues. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 13(4), 477–489.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Georgetown Law Human Rights Institute. Sent ‘Home’ with nothing: The deportation of Jamaicans with mental disabilities. (2011). Global health watch, the global health landscape, in global health watch 2 (pp. 210–223). London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grove, N. J., & Zwi, A. B. (2006). Our health and theirs: Forced migration, othering, and public health. Social Science & Medicine, 62(8), 1931–1942.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grudzinskas Jr, A. J., Clayfield, J. C., Roy-Bujnowski, K., Fisher, W. H., & Richardson, M. H. (2005). Integrating the criminal justice system into mental health service delivery: The worcester diversion experience. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 23(2), 277–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hagan, J., & Phillips, S. (2008). Border blunders: The unanticipated human and economic costs of the US approach to immigration control, 1986-2007. Criminology & Public Policy, 7(1), 83–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hagan, J., Eschbach, K., & Rodriguez, N. (2008). US deportation policy, family separation, and circular migration. International Migration Review, 42(1), 64-88, 1813–1820.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hagan, J., Castro, B., & Rodriguez, N. (2010). The effects of US deportation policies on immigrant families and communities: Cross-border perspectives. NCL REV, 88, 1799–1823.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hannaford-Agor, P., & Mott, N. (2003). Research on self-represented litigation: Preliminary results and methodological considerations. Justice System Journal, 24, 163.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harlow, M. C., & LeBourgeois III, H. W. (2007). Competency hearings for aliens during deportation proceedings. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online, 35(4), 530.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herinckx, H. A., Swart, S. C., Ama, S. M., Dolezal, C. D., & King, S. (2005). Rearrest and linkage to mental health services among clients of the clark county mental health court program. Psychiatric Services, 56(7), 853.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hing, B. O. (2010). Systemic failure: Mental illness, detention, and deportation. UC Davis Journal of Immigration Law and Policy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Human Rights Watch & American Civil Liberties Union. (2010). Deportation by default: Mental disability, unfair hearings, and indefinite detention in the US immigration system.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, D. R., & Smith, S. V. (2004). Medical evidence in asylum and human rights appeals. International Journal of Refugee Law, 16, 381–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. The role of mental health courts in system reform. Civil Rights and Human Dignity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Judicial Council of California, Administrative Office of the Courts. (2011). Task force for criminal justice collaboration on mental health issues: Final report. Report to the Judicial Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katzmann, R. A. (2008). Legal profession and the unmet needs of the immigrant poor. The Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, 21, 3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kerwin, D. (2005). Revisiting the need for appointed counsel. Insight.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lamb, H. R., Weinberger, L. E., & Reston-Parham, C. (1996). Court intervention to address the mental health needs of mentally ill offenders. Psychiatric Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • Legal Action Center, American Immigration Council. (2011). Immigrants with Mental Disabilities in Removal Proceedings, Latest Developments and Additional Resources. http://www.legalactioncenter.org/clearinghouse/litigation-issue-pages/immigrants-mental-disabilities-removal-proceedings.

  • Lustig, S. L., Delucchi, K., Tennakoon, L., & Kaul, B. (2008). Burnout and stress among united states immigration judges. Annual Reviews, 12, 14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mautino, Kathrin S. (2004). Mental competence in the context of immigration proceedings. Journal of Immigrant Health, 6(1), 1–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meffert, S. M., Musalo, K., McNiel, D. E., & Binder, R. L. (2010). The role of mental health professionals in political asylum processing. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online, 38(4), 479.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, K. E. (1999). Rethinking a familiar model: Psychotherapy and the mental health of refugees. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 29(4), 283–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mukhopadhyay, R. (2008). Death in detention: Medical and mental health consequences of indefinite detention of immigrants in the united states. Seattle Journal of Social Justice, 7, 693–736.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Immigration Forum. (2011). Immigrants behind bars: How, why, and how much? Washington D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Organization of Forensic Social Work. (1987). Code of Ethics. www.nofsw.org.

  • Pitsker, N. (2007). Due process for all: Applying eldridge to require appointed counsel for asylum seekers. California Law Review, 95(1), 169–198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Post Deportation Human Rights Project. (2008–2009). Keeping families connected: Annual Report. Boston College: Center for Human Rights & International Justice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Post Deportation Human Rights Project. (2009–2010). Annual report. Boston College: Center for Human Rights and International Justice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pourgourides, C. (2006). Dilemmas in the Treatment of Asylum Seekers. Psychiatry, 6(2), 56–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ochoa, K. C., Pleasants, G. L., Penn, J. V., & Stone, D. C. (2010). Disparities in justice and care: Persons with severe mental illnesses in the US immigration detention system. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online, 38(3), 392.

    Google Scholar 

  • Office of Inspector General. (2011). Management of mental health cases in immigration detention. Washington D.C.: Department of Homeland Security.

    Google Scholar 

  • Packer, Travis, Esq. (2010). Non-Citizens with Mental Disabilities: The need for better care in detention and in court.

    Google Scholar 

  • Priest, D, & Goldstein, A. (2008). Suicides point to gaps in treatment. The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/specials/immigration/cwc_d3p1.html. Accessed May 2008.

  • Ramji-Nogales, J., Schoenholtz, A. I., & Schrag, P. G. (2007). Refugee roulette: Disparities in asylum adjudication. Stanford Law Review, 60(2), 295.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robjant, K., Robbins, I., & Senior, V. (2009). Psychological distress amongst immigration detainees: A cross-sectional questionnaire study. British Journal of Clinical Psychology , 48(3), 275–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robjant, K., Hassan, R., & Katona, C. (2009). Mental health implications of detaining asylum seekers: Systematic review. The British Journal of Psychiatry , 194(4), 306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rousseau, C., Mekki-Berrada, A., & Moreau, S. (2001). Trauma and extended separation from family among Latin American and African refugees in Montreal. Psychiatry: Interpersonal & Biological Processes, 64(1), 40–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rousseau, C., Key, F., & Measham, T. (2005). The work of culture in the treatment of psychosis in migrant adolescents. Clinical child psychology and psychiatry, 10(3), 305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rousseau, C., Ter Kuile, S., Munoz, M., Nadeau, L., Ouimet, M. J., Kirmayer, L., & Crépeau, F. (2008). Health care access for refugees and immigrants with precarious status: Public health and human right challenges. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 99(4), 290–292.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruiz-Casares, M., Rousseau, C., Derluyn, I., Watters, C., & Crépeau, F. (2010). Right and access to healthcare for undocumented children: Addressing the gap between international conventions and disparate implementations in North America and Europe. Social Science & Medicine, 70(2), 329–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sadoff, R. L. (2011). Ethical issues in forensic psychiatry: Minimizing harm. Wiley-Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheikh, M., MacIntyre, C. R., & Perera, S. (2008). Preventive detention: The ethical ground where politics and health meet focus on asylum seekers in Australia. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 62(6), 480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sirotich, F. (2009). The criminal justice outcomes of jail diversion programs for persons with mental illness: A review of the evidence. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online, 37(4), 461.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sly, K. A., Sharples, J., Lewin, T. J., & Bench, C. J. (2009). Court outcomes for clients referred to a community mental health court liaison service. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 32(2), 92–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steadman, H. J. (1992). Boundary spanners: A key component for the effective interactions of the justice and mental health systems. Law and Human Behavior, 16(1), 75–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steadman, H. J., Davidson, S., & Brown, C. (2001). Law & psychiatry: Mental health courts: Their promise and unanswered questions. Psychiatric Services, 52(4), 457.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steele, Z., Silove, D., Brooks, R., Momartin, S., Alzuhairi, B., & Susljik, I. (2006). Impact of immigration detention and temporary protection on the mental health of refugees. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 188(1), 58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steinglass, P. (2001). Forced relocation: A family researcher/clinician’s perspective. Psychiatry: Interpersonal & Biological Processes, 64(1), 64–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strijk, P. J. M., Van Meijel, B., & Gamel, C. (2010). J. Health and Social Needs of Traumatized Refugees and Asylum Seekers: An Exploratory Study. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care.

    Google Scholar 

  • Texas Appleseed. (2010). Justice for immigration’s hidden population: Protecting the rights of persons with mental disabilities in the immigration court and detention system. Austin, TX.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toki, V. (2010). Therapeutic jurisprudence and mental health courts for maori. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tribe, R. (2002). Mental health of refugees and asylum-seekers. Advances in psychiatric treatment, 8(4), 240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsankov M. E. (2009). Incompetent respondents in removal proceedings. Immigration Law Advisor, U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review, 3:1, 2009. http://www.justice.gov/eoir/vll/ILA-Newsleter/ILA%202009/vol3no4.pdf. Accessed 15 Feb 2010.

  • Turner, S. W., & Herlihy, J. (2009). Working with refugees and asylum seekers. Psychiatry, Specific Populations, 8(8), 322–324.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walter Leitner International Human Rights Clinic. (2010). Removing refugees: U.S. deportation policy and the Cambodian-American community. Leitner Center for International Law and Justice, Fordham Law School, New York City.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watters, C. (2001). Emerging paradigms in the mental health care of refugees. Social Science & Medicine, 52(11), 1709–1718.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watters, C., & Ingleby, D. (2004). Locations of care: Meeting the mental health and social care needs of refugees in Europe. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 27(6), 549–570.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weiskopf Consulting Services. (2000). Draft forensic mental health standards and guidelines. Presented to The New York State Conference of Local Mental Hygiene Directors.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization. (2010). How health systems can address health inequalities linked to migration and ethnicity. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimerman, N., & Tyler, T. R. (2010). Between access to counsel and access to justice: A psychological perspective. Fordham Urban Law Journal, 37, 473–507.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zonana, Howard MD. (2010). Commentar: The role of forensic psychiatry in the asylum process. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 38, 499–501.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mailman School of Public Health (MPH), Columbia University, New York, USA

    Chelsea Davis

Authors
  1. Chelsea Davis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chelsea Davis .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center on Immigration and Justice, Vera Institute of Justice, New York, New York, USA

    Laura Simich

  2. Department of Psychiatry Equity, Gender and Populations Division, University of Toronto Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Lisa Andermann

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Davis, C. (2014). Migrant Mental Health, Law, and Detention: Impacts and Alternatives. In: Simich, L., Andermann, L. (eds) Refuge and Resilience. International Perspectives on Migration, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7923-5_14

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation