Citation

Valdez CR, Brabeck KM, Barajas-Gonzalez RG, Ayón C, Rojas-Flores L. Am. J. Public Health 2024; 114(S6): S485-S494.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, American Public Health Association)

DOI

10.2105/AJPH.2024.307589

PMID

39083735

Abstract

Public health practitioners working with Latinx families in the United States must consider the historical contexts of colonization and slavery that have created conditions of violence, displacement, and social and economic marginalization throughout Latin America. Although shared experiences of colonization, dispossession, and migration affect all Latinxs, diverse national histories and sociopolitical contexts, migration patterns, and intersecting identities (e.g., gender, social class, race) complicate efforts to develop a uniform approach to this heterogeneous population. We provide a critical analysis of (1) how past experiences contribute to collective trauma and motivate migration, and (2) how these experiences are replicated in the United States through immigration-related adversities that deprive and threaten children and families through marginalization, fear of detention and deportation, and family separation brought on by a parent's deportation. This knowledge is imperative to advance research, practice, and policymaking with US Latinx populations. We provide best practice recommendations for a sociopolitically and trauma- informed public health workforce interfacing with Latinxs in the United States. (Am J Public Health. 2024;114(S6):S485-S494. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307589) [Formula: see text].

Language: en

Keywords

Humans; United States; Female; Public Health; Politics; *Hispanic or Latino/psychology; *Public Health Practice; Emigration and Immigration/legislation & jurisprudence