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Jasmine Aguilar

Dr.J.Martinez

English 1301.212

30 March 2023

Growing up with Trauma: Mexican Children Living with Fear

Immigration can cause trauma to children since they see their family members being

taken away from them as well as living their entire life in fear. Studies show that children who

suffer from grief and profound loss may have PTSD(post-traumatic stress disorder). Having to

deal with PTSD at a young age can cause anxiety, depression, and overthinking. Children having

to deal with trauma can make a huge impact on their social life by causing trust issues and living

with fear or with the issues stated above. Lisa Lopez Levers and Debra Hyatt-Brurkhart's writing

in “Immigration Reform and the Potential for Psychosocial Trauma: The Missing Link of Lived

Human Experience”. Levers and Hyatt-Brukhart successfully persuade the audience that

Mexican children can suffer trauma by applying ethos pathos and logos.

To begin with, Levers and Hyatt-Burkhart provide a significant amount of evidence on

proving their argument that immigration can produce a huge impact on a child's life by using

logos in their writing. It is explained how Mexican children struggle with PTSD when they see

their families being deported, being separated from their loved ones. Researchers show that

recent immigrants in Arizona have high-stress levels(Levers and Hyatt-Burkhart pg.2). People

who lived experiences of families and children being separated, experience trauma that may be

associated with their immigration status. The author further provided dates on Hispanic people

who experience PTSD in different types of ways by showing percentages, 11% of Latino

immigrants have reported previous exposure to political violence, and 76% have described

additional lifetime traumas(Levers and Hyatt-Burkhart pg.3). Children go through different four
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distinct stages of first premigration trauma, then in-transit trauma, resettlement trauma, and lastly

trauma of general postmigration living conditions (Levers et al., 2012 ).PTSD can affect their

social life; Mexican children are afraid to go outside not for themselves but for their family

members. Living with the fear of deportation can lead to an increase in mental health disorders.

Understandably, Levers and Hyatt-Burkhart help readers understand the reason why these

children may suffer trauma, what stages they go through, and the effect on their social life by

presenting the rhetorical appeal of logos in their research.

In addition, Levers and Hyatt-Burkhart gave an insight into new information to the

readers from different professional references using ethos. Children can go through different

types of trauma: the nature of trauma, acculturative stress and immigrant trauma, marginalization

and powerlessness, and cultural engagement(Levers and Hyatt-Burkhart pg.4). Although people

may not think about what can happen to a child when a loved one is taken away, it can make a

huge impact on the way they see the world. The author provides information that the children's

case worker, an attorney, said a child who had lost a family member can fear for a loved one life,

not their own, and grow a significant hate tread to the world. Although Levers and

Hyatt-Burkhar gave the readers an understanding that children can experiences trauma, not all

have the same level of PTSD but can relate to the situation. Children who are known to have

immigrant families are the shame of it. Immigrant workers, work for low-pay/ardent-labor roles,

which otherwise go unclaimed by American workers, but many people say that they “take

American jobs” even though people don’t take those jobs and people get furious about it. They

grow a hater towards Mexicans and children can suffer by being scared because of the threats

they cause. The children are not themselves at risk of deportation, but the risk to their

undocumented parents leaves them at the mercy of immigration officials who may not choose to
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explore the family status of their detainees(Levers and Hyatt-Burkhart pg.6). Clearly Levers and

Hyatt-Burkhar gave the readers and understanding to the readers that children suffer trauma by

the way people treat them, what people can do to them and why it may cause trauma by applying

ethos towards their research.