Families awaiting deportation face emotional roller-coaster that can lead to 'chronic stress'

Over thesummer, things have been changing for the better for Sarah Alsaleh.

The newlywed received permanent resident status in August. She's also expecting againfollowing two miscarriages in the past year that she believes were partially caused by the stress of her deportation order.

"I will be,in September, three months pregnant," she said.

In June,Alsaleh, 25, with eight members of her family including three children under age 10 were served deportation orders that required that they be sent to Jordan in mid-July.

Alsaleh said she was born and raised in Qatar and hasneverlivedin Jordan, although the familyhas Jordanian citizenship. Her father told CBCHamilton thefamily is Palestinian.

But while Alsaleh'sdate has been cancelled because of herpermanent resident status,lifting a weight off her shoulders,the rest of herfamily facesa deferredbut still looming deportation order.They're among the 9,369 people in Ontario on CanadaBorder Service Agency's (CBSA) removal list.

"It's just a temporary deferral," Alsalehsaid. "I'm still very scared for my family."

Deportation puts kidsthrough 'prolongedperiod of stress'

In the winter, Alsaleh's parentsYasir Alsaleh and Ana Marecek said theywere told they had to bring her10-year-old sister,Lujian, and her three-year-old niece,Haya,to a CBSAappointment.

While at the appointment, Alsaleh saidLujian cried and begged the agent to not remove her family.

"Canada recognizes the importance of promoting and safeguarding the rights of children, both in Canada and abroad," Maria Ladouceur, spokesperson for the CBSA, said in an email.

Ladouceur said the agency works "to ensure that decisions on behalf of children are made in consideration of their best interests."

But theCBSA visit along with the stress of the deportation, according to Alsaleh, have had a serious impact on her young sister's mental health.

"She needs the therapy still because she went through a lot."

According to one mental health professional, the "chronic stress" from a deportation order can be lasting, even when the order itselfhas been deferred.

John McLennanis a child psychologist,an associateprofessor at the University of Calgary andtheeditorof theJournal of the Canadian Academy of Child andAdolescent Psychiatry (CACAP). In May, he wrote a column on the impacts of deportation on children.

"We're all exposed to short-term stress our bodies are sort of adapted to thatbut it's theprolonged period of deportation I think is a particular worry," he said, adding cases can go on for months or even years.

Adolescents struggle with mental health, school

Alsaleh's teenage sister, Lana, is friends with two other teenage girls facing deportation Samina and SadinAboizneid.

Originally from the Palestinian territories, the family of six immigrated first to Chile, then to Canada where theyoungest childwas born.The family was deported to Chile and then returned to Hamiltonin 2019.

In January, a CBC Hamilton reporter visited the Aboizneidsand spoke to the three eldest children, who shared their concerns for their family and how the deportation process has impacted their mental health.

Samira, 15, said that after the first deportation, "My mental health was completely ruined.... It sent me off into a depressive episode."

She'sworried her younger brothers will experience the same issues.

Her older brother,Tariq, who is 18 but is considered a child in the family's applications with the CBSA, told CBC Hamilton in January that the family's previous deportation and second removal order made it difficult for him to focus on school.

"I was doing good in school," he said, adding he was getting 90s in his academic courses.

"But then they sent us back and it messed me up. It really dragged me down. I felt betrayed."

McLennan said this is a common issue with children and adolescents going through a family deportation.

"Going into a new situation with unknown housing, schooling, safety issues in another place pulling apart your social network,when your familyor schoolor communitythat you're linked with are all being removed at the same time thiscompounding levelof stress is certainly concerning."

'Threat hanging over your head'

McLennan said the chronic stressof family separation can greatly impact a child's mental health.

The Aboizneidfamily'syoungest child, Wael, was born in Canada and has Canadian citizenship.

"[The CBSA]said leave himfor adoption," his fathertold CBC Hamilton in January, addingthe family has considered leaving their youngest with other family members wholive in Canada.

McLennan said the mental health impact on children can begin before the removal order has even been enforced.

"The unknown of what's going to happen,the risk of being separatedday after day after day, play a greater impact. You might say, 'Well, we haven't even separated them yet' it's that threat hanging over your head."

"There's no good choice for the families in that situation," he said.

The CBSA told CBC Hamilton in an email that it"always considers the best interest of the child" when carrying out family removals, but McLennansaid CACAP's stance is that response isn't enough.

"[The CBSAsays], 'we're not separating families.We're saying the parent has to return because of their illegal entry or irregular entry, and they're free to take their children with them,'"McLennan said.

"What we've struggled with is how did you decide that this is, in any way, in the best interest of thechild. We've never got a satisfactory response."