Central American and Mexican Mothers and Youth Migration-Related Separations and Reunifications

In pursuit of safety and better economic opportunities, some parents make the difficult decision to migrate to the United States, leaving their children behind in the care of a substitute caregiver. Since 2021, more than 400,000 unaccompanied immigrant youth have migrated to the United States to reunify with their parents. These reunifications are often precarious; attachment disruptions resulting from prolonged separation affect the psychological well-being of youth and parents. We collected and analyzed interviews from 16 mother–youth dyads from Mexico and Central America who experienced migration-related separations. Drawing on frameworks of attachment, ambiguous loss, and migratory grief, we used grounded theory methods, specifically Schatzman’s dimensional analysis, to uncover meanings, interactions, and outcomes that migrant youth experience during and after separation from their mother. Analyses revealed five key findings: (a) Family separation is not a discrete event; it occurs in the context of multiple separations related to migration, divorce, community violence, and death; (b) families experience ongoing stress and trauma after reunification; (c) youth and mothers’ experiences of ambiguous loss and migratory grief are often disenfranchized both in and outside the family system; (d) ambiguous loss and migratory grief can exacerbate attachment ruptures, affecting the quality of the mother–youth relationship; and (e) despite unanticipated ruptures in attachment, mothers strive to repair their relationship with their children and attune to their needs during reunification. Addressing attachment disruption, ambiguous loss, and migratory grief can strengthen families, build resilience, and buffer the consequences of migration-related trauma.