Isabel Figueroa

Example Topic​: PTSD

Passage(s) the Inspires this Research​:

1. “On August 24, 2010, the bodies of seventy two Central and South American migrants were
found, piled up in a mass grave, at a ranch in San Fernando, Tamaulipas. Some had tortured,
and all had been shot in the back of head. Three migrants in the group had faked their deaths
and, though wounded, survived. They lived to tell the complete story” (Luiselli 26).
2. “The children seldom give details of their experiences along the journey through Mexico
upon a first screening, and it’s not necessarily useful to push them for more information. What
happens to them between their home countries and their arrival in the United States can’t
always help their defense before an immigration judge, so the question doesn’t make up a
substantial part of the interview…” (Luiselli 25).
3. “The numbers tell horror stories. Rapes: eighty percent of the women and girls who cross
Mexico to get to the U.S. border are raped on the border on the way. The situation is so
common that most of them take contraceptive precautions as they begin the journey north”
(Luiselli 25-26).
4. “Many Migrants also die of dehydration, hunger, or accidents. At the forensic institute of Pima
County, Arizona, alone, more than 2,200 human remains have been registered since 2001, the
majority of which are still unidentified. The area surrounding the border between Mexico and
the United States is a big common grave, and the migrants who die in this portion of our
continent become no more than ‘bones in the desert’- as Sergio Gonzalez Rodriguez once said
about the many women murdered…. Not completely absent” (Luiselli 29).
5. “In July 2015, for example, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) filed a
complaint after learning that in a detention center in Dilley, Texas, 250 children were
mistakenly given adult-strength hepatitis A vaccinations. The children became gravely ill and
had to be hospitalized. By law, the maximum time a person can remain in the icebox is
seventy-two hours, but children are often kept for longer subject not only to the inhumane
conditions and frigid temperatures but also to verbal and physical mistreatment. They
sometimes have nowhere to lie down to sleep, are not allowed to use the bathrooms as
frequently as they need to, and are underfed” (Luiselli 22)
Response to Passage(s) and Connection to the Topic of Interest:
These passages show what their children go through along their journey into the US through Central
America, Mexico and as well as when they arrive into the US. What these children must witness and
physically go through in order to reach their ‘Dream” of leaving in a world where ‘freedom’ and
‘safety’ is portrayed. I chose they passages because they are the best passages that demonstrate how
these children get PTSD from their long journey.

Research Focus Questions:

- Didn’t they fear for their life to be smuggled across the border?
- How were they emotionally and mentally prepared for the journey?
- How much does PTSD impact a minor's life when growing up?
Source 1
Title: Unaccompanied Refugee Minors From Central America: Understanding Their
Journey and Implications for Counselors
Source of Text (where is this text originally published): The Professional Counselor NBCC
Database or URL Where you Found Source​:
http://tpcjournal.nbcc.org/unaccompanied-refugee-minors-from-central-america-understanding-t
heir-journey-and-implications-for-counselors/
Scholarly or Popular Source? ​Is this a scholarly or popular text? How do you know? It is
Scholarly because it provides citations for sources that are used.
Summary:​ Write a 1-2 paragraph summary of the text using YOUR own words. What is this
text about?
The first part of this it gives me statistics on how many minors come into the use stating that
about half of the refugees are under the age of 18 meaning that children are more likely well
known to be coming into the US to escape their home countries. It as well aims towards which
genders are more typically to come into the US and from what country they are coming in from.
It as well touches up on the reason as to why these children decide to leave, economically,
violence, gangs, and education. This sources touches up on about the same things that source 2
does. This less mathematical though. They also talk about the PTSD they gained from
experiences in their country and in which have increased because of their migration. It as well
talks about the physical pain they had which was the migrants being deprived of food and water
because they had no where to get it or had a fear of trusting people they would fall upon along
the way. As well as the emotional pain they had when it came down to losing someone they
loved along the way, being sexually abused or even witnessing traumatic events.

Analysis:​ Write a 1-2 paragraph analysis that answers the following questions:
● What focus question does this source most respond to? How so?
● In what ways does this particular source help you better understand Luiselli’s argument
or book?
● In what ways does this particular source help you develop your own claims and/or
analysis of your claims in the essay? Does it support your thesis or does it offer an
alternative perspective to your thesis? Explain.
● If you feel this source will not be helpful in examining your claims or developing your
analysis, why not? Explain.
This source fits into how they were mentally and emotionally prepared. This source covers the
part on how these children were emotionally damaged along the way. How they were forced to
witness events that children shouldn’t witness at all. How they were forced to grow up a little
faster to mentally prepare and push themselves through the physical pain they may have had
along the way. This helps me understand all the passages that are from pages 25- 26 on how
these children are brought down in an emotional level. This helps me understand the message
that Luiselli is trying to get across to others on how these children have suffered and risked so
much that should be granted asylum and other forms of residency because of how brave they
acted in this great migration. This helps my essay develope when it comes down to my analysis
on how the US doesn’t understand the negative impact migrating has on children and how it
physically and emotionally drains them.
Source 2:
Title: Pre-Migration Trauma Exposure and Mental Health Functioning among Central
American Migrants Arriving at the US Border
Source of Text (where is this text originally published) ​US National Library of Medicine
National Institutes of Healt​h
Database or URL Where you Found Source​:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5224987/
Scholarly or Popular Source? ​Is this a scholarly or popular text? How do you know? I know
this source is a scholarly source because it cites all it’s sources and it’s written by experts for
experts. (uses a lot of math)
Summary:​ Write a 1-2 paragraph summary of the text using YOUR own words. What is this
text about?
The text discusses a bit about detention centers, and they have expanded since 2014, and
through these expansions became in increase towards depression to families and children as well
that were detained at the US-Mexico borders. The detention centers were small and packed due
to very little space available for many families and children that were arriving. It also gives
reasons as to why they leave their home country, giving a statistical data on how many
female/male that flee their home country. It gives us reasons through, violence perspective,
sexual abuse, or forced to leave through threats (which can be seen through all reasons as to why
they leave). People for this survey were selected through fitting into certain criterias, Mostly
everyone in a detention certain would be chosen. Unless they were due for transportation to
another detention center. This information is built on surveys and professional information, so
others have a better understanding of the process these migrate are going through.

Analysis:
This source fits into the question of, “How were they mentally and emotionally prepared
for migration?” This fits because in the post it does discuss what children and their families went
through before migrating, so I believe what they were going through is what mentally prepared
them for the trip. I don’t think it emotionally impacted them because they didn’t know what to
expect through their journey unless they have had family members or friends how had gone
through it already. This helps me understand the aspect on how they were willing to risk
everything even though they did already know what to mentally expect when it came down to the
trip. This will help me when it comes down to the push factors of migrating to the US.

Other questions or Topics This Source Connects To:​ (optional) What other topics or
questions does this research help you think about or lead you to?
1. Why are migrants moved from detention to detention? How does this create a bigger
impact of their PTSD and Social Anxiety?
Source 3
Title: No Safe Haven Here: Mental Health Assessment of Women and Children Held in
U.S. Immigration Detention
Source of Text (where is this text originally published) Google Scholar
Database or URL Where you Found Source​:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/39365511/Mental_Health_Assessment_Lon
g_Report.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1520919854&Sign
ature=2JS%2FDAFqgVrA4uieiVDaiQ1AH44%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%
20filename%3DNo_Safe_Haven_Here_Mental_Health_Assessm.pdf

Scholarly or Popular Source? ​Is this a scholarly or popular text? How do you know? The
information in this work is backed up by expert citations and lots of more statistics.

Summary:​ Write a 1-2 paragraph summary of the text using YOUR own words. What is this
text about?
This text is about the mental and emotional disconnection that the ice box may bring to a
mother and a child. The separation between the two can bring separation anxiety to the Child.
Due to never being separated from their mother or due to fear that the detention centers may
bring to them. Bringing up information on how detentions center are a huge part of children
getting PTSD. Whether it’s because they are starved to death in these Ice boxes, or because they
become so ill that so do others around them and they begin to fear that they may never get out.
These detention centers bring fear to children through constant nightmares they may have during
the nights they spend there. They deprived from the the actual medical attention that is needed
when they become ill.

Analysis:​ This source fits into the question on whether or not PTSD can impact a child’s life
mentally and emotionally. Detention centers creates a fear to children on no longer trusting those
around them and emotionally, when it comes down to separation from their mother or father.
Separation created separation anxiety and children do need to understand that they will be apart
from their parent(s) one day but if events like being held away in detention centers occur
children will never realize that. This source helps me understand the passage I have at the top
from page 22 and how minors were “mistakenly” given adult hepatitis A shots. This information
convinces me that that wasn’t done mistakenly, it was done on purpose. It was done in order to
prevent these children from further more dipping their feet into the water. This source will
improve my claim for my paragraphs on their journey into the US where the US does not
acknowledge that it is there fault that they do not properly arrive to the US .

Other questions or Topics This Source Connects To:​ (optional) What other topics or
questions does this research help you think about or lead you to?
1. How fearful were these children when they were detained? Were they informed of the
dangers of what may happen when they were detained? If so how?