Federal News & Issues

Aug 23, 2019

WASHINGTON, D.C. —The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is deeply concerned with the administration’s decision to end the Flores Settlement Agreement, and issued the following statement from APA President Bruce Schwartz, M.D.

“A substantial body of research shows that stressful events during childhood can lead to long-term developmental, learning and health problems, not to mention a heightened risk of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder. The Flores Settlement Agreement was intended to protect the well-being of children who are detained by immigration authorities, but the new rule would endanger their mental health by eliminating the 20-day limit on detainment and weakening licensing requirements of detention centers.

The children and families seeking asylum at the U.S. borders are already...

Aug 13, 2019

The Department of Homeland Security issued a final regulation that changes long-standing rules governing how and whether immigrants can be determined to be a “public charge;” widens the scope of programs considered by the government in making such a determination; and serves as a barrier to accessing health care for legal immigrants, as doing so can now serve as a basis for denying individuals green cards or U.S. visas.

In response, the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Osteopathic Association, American College of Physicians, and American Psychiatric Association, collectively representing more than 597,000 of America's frontline physicians, issued this statement:

Our organizations, which represent more than 597,...