Protegiendo y sirviendo a nuestra gente

As a Mexican-American therapist, my connection to immigration work is both professional and deeply personal. I grew up with an understanding that immigration stories live quietly within our parents and grandparents, not to be spoken about openly, but ever-present.

In many Latinx families, these stories are rarely told in formal ways. Instead, they surface casually—around the dinner table or perhaps, after there has been some drinking and our loved ones begin to open up. Our elders often refrain from being vulnerable in front of others, as strength and resilience are cultural values we have acquired to face adversity in this country. Sometimes all we know of our family's history resides in the unspoken, or a subtle, passing comment about “how things used to be,”.

Because the field of psychotherapy has historically been difficult for immigrants to access, whether because of language barriers, financial limitations, cultural misunderstandings, or a long-standing cultural stigma around mental health, many immigrants were simply never given a space to share how immigration has impacted them. 

For this reason, I find that something profound happens during immigration evaluations. Phrases I often hear from my clients include "I have never told anyone this before" and "no one has ever asked me this". Many clients become emotional, vulnerable, and feel that the emotional safety of the space gives them permission to feel what has been suppressed or forcibly forgotten. I have the privilege of witnessing fragments of memory become a complete narrative.

Psychological immigration evaluations do more than document facts for a legal process. They provide context for experiences that are often misunderstood, overlooked, and minimized. They help decision-makers understand the psychological realities behind immigration—how trauma, family separation, displacement, and uncertainty affect real people and families.


Every immigration case is a real human story, and I believe these stories deserve to be documented with dignity, clarity, and compassion.