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An adult holds the hands of a child.

The fear of deportation is heavy among immigrant communities in Sonoma County. But for many families, the fear of being left behind is just as overwhelming.

Claudia, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who has lived in Sonoma County for more than 20 years, asked that only her first name be used out of fear of deportation. She says she's not the only one afraid of being picked up by ICE.

“In the case of my son, he always tells me, ‘Mom, what am I going to do? I can’t stay alone. I still need you,’” Claudia says. 

She says her 13‑year‑old son, a U.S. citizen, constantly worries about what would happen if she were detained. Nothing has happened to their family, she says, but everything he sees on social media and TV sends him into an endless loop of imagining the worst.

Some days he comes home crying and many nights he can’t sleep.

“Psychologically, it feels like a storm they’re living through,” she says.

Claudia recently put her son in therapy, hoping it will give him some relief.

Dr. Christine Garcia is a clinical psychologist and CEO of Side by Side, a nonprofit behavioral health organization that primarily serves Latino youth and families in Sonoma County and across the North Bay. She says they’ve seen cases like Claudia’s son all too often in recent years.

"This tremendous amount of fear that’s all‑engulfing for families," Garcia says, "obviously filters through to their kids.” 

Side by Side has worked with more than 1,000 youth since last year, Garcia says, all of them in crisis and experiencing psychological symptoms similar to Claudia’s son.

“It would be terrifying to constantly walk around with the fear that life as you know it will be completely different, and not in any way that you could imagine,” she said.

Mixed‑status families, Garcia says, are juggling economic struggles, changes to health care access and logistical planning for a potential deportation. Mental health often becomes an afterthought.

“I think it ends up being kind of the last thing, unfortunately,” she says.

But many families eventually reach a tipping point.

“Everyone’s stressed, and kids are having meltdowns. They’re having, unfortunately, suicidal ideation.”

Research backs this up. A 2020 study published in PubMed found that 28% of Latino adolescents with a family member detained or deported reported thinking about suicide. Increased immigration enforcement is also linked to higher rates of depression, anxiety and PTSD — long‑term harms that follow children into adulthood.

Garcia says Sonoma County is in its own crisis mode when it comes to the mental well‑being of immigrant communities. She believes the broader community must step up to support mixed‑status families who are struggling silently, both in school and at home.

Organizations like Side by Side are working to make services accessible, even as some families fear leaving their homes. And for everyday community members, Garcia says the first step is simple:

“Get to know your neighbors — who they are, what they struggle with — and be that community by being neighborly.”

All children, she says, are part of Sonoma County’s future.

“Mental health is so critical," Garcia says. "The emotional well‑being of a child — protecting that protects their future and protects our future.”