Mental Health Awareness Month
This Mental Health Awareness Month, let’s talk about how immigration detention harms people and their communities. These statistics show another reason abolishing ICE is so important! In the meantime, if you care about the mental health of folks in detention, there are a lot of ways to help. You can volunteer to staff Freedom for Immigrants hotline and connect people to the resources they need. You can write letters to detained immigrants, providing valuable emotional support. One organization that facilitates pen-paling is ADVOCATES FOR IMMIGRANTS IN DETENTION NORTHWEST and another is Queer Detainee Empowerment Project!
You can also donate to us so that we can get more folks released from detention more quickly, please visit here to donate.
Additional Source Information:
Slide 2: Mental health of detained asylum seekers. Keller, Allen S et al. The Lancet, Volume 362, Issue 9397, 1721 - 1723. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14643122/
Slide 3: Saadi A, Patler C, Langer P. Duration in Immigration Detention and Health Harms. JAMA Netw Open. 2025;8(1):e2456164. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2829506
Slide 4: Roche KM, White RMB, Lambert SF, Schulenberg J, Calzada EJ, Kuperminc GP, Little TD (2020). Association of Family Member Detention or Deportation With Latino or Latina Adolescents' Later Risks of Suicidal Ideation, Alcohol Use, and Externalizing Problems. JAMA Pediatr. 2020 May 1;174(5):478-486. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32176245/
Slide 5: Pinedo M, Valdez CR. Immigration Enforcement Policies and the Mental Health of US Citizens: Findings from a Comparative Analysis. Am J Community Psychol. 2020 Sep;66(1-2):119-129. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7944641/
Slide 6: National Immigrant Justice Center, Formerly Detained Immigrants and Doctors Join NIJC in Demanding Civil Rights Investigation into Inadequate Mental Health Care and Abusive Solitary Confinement Practices in ICE Detention, June 2, 2022. https://immigrantjustice.org/press-releases/formerly-detained-immigrants-and-doctors-join-nijc-demanding-civil-rights
Slide 7: Shela Sridhar, Leah Ratner, Matthew G. Gartland, Dennis Kunichoff, Margaret M. Sullivan, Vasileia Digidiki, Approaching pediatric mental health screening and care in immigration detention, The Lancet Regional Health - Americas, Volume 43, 2025,100999. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667193X25000092
Slide 8: Volunteer with Freedom For Immigrant
https://www.freedomforimmigrants.org/take-actionSlide 8: Volunteer with Advocates for Immigrants in Detention
https://aidnw.org/programs/immigrants-in-detention-visiting-writing-phone-funds/
