Date of Award

Winter 3-21-2026

Document Type

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

Degree Name

B.A. in International Studies, German

Organizational Unit

Josef Korbel School of International Studies, International Studies

First Advisor

Kate Tennis

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Keywords

Kids, Migration, Primary schools, Deportation, Mental health support, Colorado, Undocumented immigrants

Abstract

In the United States, there has been an increase of deportations, since 2024, of undocumented immigrants. This has disproportionally affected Mexicans and others from Latin American countries (Dreby 2012) due to them being the largest group of undocumented people in the United States. One effect of these deportations is an increase in children that are left in the United States while their parent(s) are in detention or have been deported. Some of these children are in mixed-status families, which means that the child has a different citizenship status than their parents or other members in their family, which allows for the child to be considered a legal citizen while the parents or family members can be undocumented. The whole family also can be undocumented, including the children, but deportation orders usually targets adults due to the deportation of children being more politically contentious. Children that have been left in the United States have been found to have higher chances of depression and high anxiety due to fears for their family and feeling of isolation from their peers. Children who are left behind have not been as researched compared to parents due to the difficulty of conducting interviews as well as a stronger focus on parents due to there being more adults that are deported and are vocal about it. Schools have been found to be important places for these students as it provides them with a safer public place that can offer resources to assist the children and can provide mental support to ensure the mental well-being of the children. Schools can also offer a sense of community as many students left behind report feeling cut-off from society as they are scared over the threat of deportation and feel that people outside of their family are hostile towards them and want them to be removed. Colorado is the case for this paper as Latinos make up 20% of the general population and the number of arrests made by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) quadrupled in 2025 compared to 2024 (Fish 2025). Colorado school districts have made efforts to support students left behind, but these efforts could be increased to better help the students as there has been a decrease in general attendance found in many schools. This decrease is in part impacted by the fear some families have about being under threat of arrest or deportation, which has them keep their students out of school so they are under watch and in a “safe” place. The current approach is intended to allow students left behind to continue going to school, but is not as clear as other states in making sure schools have a legal barrier regarding ice agents coming onto school property. There are also very few programs focused on mental health assistance for these students which should be a focus based on the high signs of negative mental effects that familial deportation has on many students that were left behind. This thesis recommends that Colorado follow California’s example in allocating resources and applying for a grant to bring more therapists to campus that are trained to support all students, including students left behind. New York is another example for recommendations as the amount of resources included on websites should be followed by Colorado school districts. Both California and New York’s Department of Education have put out general policies regarding the safety of all children and have commissions that focus on how to change primary and secondary education to better support migrant students. Colorado’s Department of Education should also make a commission that focuses on primary and secondary school and how to support every student no matter familial status.

Copyright Date

1-20-2026

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Grace Hudson

Provenance

Received from Author

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

56 pgs

File Size

585 KB

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