Continuing & Professional Studies, Palo Alto University

This self-paced training program on Psychological Evaluations in Immigration Court: Considerations for Mental Health Professionals is presented by Virginia Barber-Rioja, PhD.

About 11 million immigrants in the U.S. are undocumented and it is estimated that about 15% of those in immigration detention suffer from a psychiatric disorder (Human Rights Watch, 2010). Political instability around the globe and increased violence in Central America, paired with tougher immigration policies like family separation, are all expected to increase the rates of mental health symptoms in immigrants and refugees. This highlights the important role that mental health professionals can play in the immigration court system. Mental health experts can aid immigration judges in making deportation decisions in a number of ways based on the type of relief from removal that immigrants are applying for. Persecution-based applications are based on fear of persecution and torture (i.e., asylum), and often involve the assessment of trauma related symptoms or Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Discretion-based applications can involve the evaluation of the hardship that will be suffered by the immigrant or their family if deported. Evaluations for immigration court are considered a type of forensic mental health assessment, and require expertise in both forensic and cross-cultural psychology. In addition, these evaluations present with particular challenges as immigration law is rapidly changing, the referral questions are not always clear, and appropriate testing instruments are limited.

The goal of this training program is to provide attendees with knowledge about the legal context of immigration court and the different types of relief available to undocumented immigrants, and to review general considerations in the process of conducting evaluations in immigration proceedings.