OPINION — For millions of immigrants across the country, uncertainty surrounding immigration policy is no longer just a political issue, it is a growing mental-health crisis.
As legal challenges continue, new applications remain unprocessed for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a U.S. immigration policy that allows eligible undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to work legally and be protected from deportation.
Now, many recipients are facing significant renewal processing delays while immigrant families across the country continue navigating broader uncertainty around work authorization, residency and deportation protections. For students, parents and young professionals in the Valley and throughout Arizona, that uncertainty can mean living in constant fear: fear of losing employment opportunities, fear of family separation, fear of financial instability and fear that years of hard work could disappear overnight.
