In an AAP statement issued Tuesday, President Susan J. Kressly, M.D., FAAP, said many of the actions taken this week by the Trump administration will bring “fear and hardship” to immigrant children and families and that the Academy “opposes any policies that are detrimental to children’s health and well-being.”
“As pediatricians, our number one priority is the health and safety of all children — including children in immigrant families,” Dr. Kressly said.
The actions in question include a directive from Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman that rolls back a Biden administration policy limiting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from making arrests at or near hospitals or doctor’s offices, schools, playgrounds and places of worship.
“We are stronger and healthier as a nation when all children, including immigrant children, can access the services — healthcare, nutrition, and education — for which they are eligible,” Dr. Kressly said. “The institutions providing these services must be able to do their work without the threat of immigration enforcement agents showing up at their doors.”
The AAP policy Detention of Immigrant Children outlines harms of family separation and detention on child health, including exposure to toxic stress that can disrupt children’s brain architecture and affect their short- and long-term health. “This is especially harmful to children who have fled violence and armed conflict to seek protection in the United States,” Dr. Kressly said.
Sanctuary cities including New York and Chicago also are bracing for large-scale deportation operations by ICE, as promised by Trump “border czar” Tom Homan.
“Our federal leaders must remember that immigrant children are children,” Dr. Kressly said. “Policy changes impact real people: people who are a part of our communities and who we interact with every day.”