In the Midst of Political Debates, Social Workers See the Suffering

By Orfanelly Ambriz, Natalia Cano, Marilyn Casillas, Graciela Macias, and Monica Ortega

Social workers need to stand in the forefront of many social issues to address social injustice, such as working with our families to process the thoughts, feelings, and anxiety that are being created by the 2016 presidential campaigns. The political atmosphere that is surrounding today’s presidential campaigns is directly affecting the children and families that we serve. As professionals, we are witnessing that the children and families we work with are experiencing psychological turmoil as a result of the fear evoked by the controversial political debates. The children of minorities we serve report experiencing nightmares and anxiety related to the possible election outcomes. Children of undocumented parents have expressed the fear of being separated, isolated and deprived of their rights as a result of the uncertainty and instability of who will be elected to be the next President of the United States.

The children of undocumented parents have expressed feeling like second-class citizens because of the candidates’ negative views on immigrants. Candidates are utilizing social media to spread their message which often depicts immigration and immigrants in a negative light. As a result, undocumented families are experiencing trauma-like symptoms that are impeding them from engaging in daily activities at school, work and society overall. At times, parents are baffled and unable to soothe their children’s fears because they, too, fear the possible outcomes of this election. Current policy changes proposed by the running presidential candidates are directly impacting the well-being of our working families, and we need to raise attention to this matter in order to ensure that marginalized and vulnerable individuals do not endure continual injustice.

Where does this leave us when there are so many contradictions, endless words, promises and actions made by both republican and democrat presidential candidates? As social workers, it is within our values and code of ethics to be the voice of social justice. It is our responsibility to advocate for the disenfranchised and oppressed families we represent. As social workers, we are responsible for promoting healthy and stable families by respecting and understanding the stressor affecting the communities we work in. It is, therefore, our responsibility to educate, involve, and empower families and other service providers we serve to understand the fears of children with undocumented parents and families which were developed by the political campaigns.