How to Evaluate a Child for “Exceptional and Extremely Unusual Hardship”
In so many immigration cases, it’s not the suffering of the immigrant that determines their fate — it’s the pain their loved ones would face if they were torn apart.
A parent’s chance to stay in the U.S. with their child often hinges on one heartbreaking question: Would the child experience “Exceptional and Extremely Unusual Hardship” if their parent were deported?
In cancellation of removal cases in which you evaluate a child’s hardships, sons and daughters under the age of 21 are considered “qualifying relatives.”
Evaluating children entails numerous variables to consider, and it is particularly complex because working with a 4-year-old is very different from working with a 12-year-old or with a 17-year-old.
Here’s how to conduct an evaluation for “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” of a minor for a cancellation of removal case.
Understand the Purpose of the Evaluation
The goal of evaluating a minor child is to gather enough information so that you can present your professional opinion about how a parent’s deportation would affect the child.
You base that opinion on what you learned about the child’s biopsychosocial history, quality of relationship with the parent, and presenting concerns in the interview and history intake.
As with adults, the focus when evaluating a child should be on the child’s individual vulnerabilities that would qualify their suffering as beyond what is typically expected in a similar situation.
Step 1: Interview the Parents
A) Obtain Developmental History from the Parents
Interview the parents to obtain the child’s developmental history: birth, developmental milestones, health concerns, academic difficulties, behavioral problems, history of trauma, etc.
B) Explore Behavioral and Mood Changes Following Traumatic Incidents
Whenever the parents mention a traumatic incident their child witnessed or endured – such as watching their mother or father be arrested right in front of them – it is important to ask the parents about any behavioral or mood changes they noticed in the child following the traumatic event.
As a result of a traumatic event, it is not uncommon for children to experience:
Nightmares
Insisting on sleeping with parents
Regression to earlier developmental stages
Odd or ritualistic behaviors
Acting out or distress during separation from a parent or caregiver
Troublesome eating habits (refusing food or overeating)
Moodiness and irritability
Self-harm behaviors
Unusual worry or heightened fearfulness
(These are all behaviors that children may not be able to share directly in their interview with you, as their self-awareness is more limited the younger they are.)
C) Use Open-Ended and Probing Questions with Parents
Open-ended questions such as “Have you noticed anything different in your child’s behavior?” are a good place to start, but they may not be specific enough to elicit sufficient information.
Example conversation:
Evaluator: Have you noticed any unusual behaviors in your child lately?
Parent: No. He’s been fine.
Evaluator: Anything that concerned you about his emotional state?
Parent: Not really.
Evaluator: How about any changes in his eating habits, or reactions to separating from mom or dad, like when going to school?
Parent: Well, he has been refusing to go to school lately. He says his stomach hurts, or he has a headache.
Evaluator: Is he generally prone to stomach aches or headaches?
Parent: Now that I think about it, he’s been complaining about that more recently.
Evaluator: Recently?
Parent: For the past couple of months, I guess.
Evaluator: When was your husband detained by DHS?
Parent: Two months ago.
Step 2: Choose the Child’s Interview Format (With or Without the Parents?)
After obtaining a thorough developmental history from the parents, you can either invite the child to join you or ask the parents to wait outside while you meet with the child alone.
For the most part, which you choose depends on the age of the child, as older children often feel more comfortable when interviewed separately.
Whichever you choose, find opportunities to observe the family interactions and behavior.
Observing the interactions between the child and parents (and siblings, if present) can be very informative, regardless of the child’s age.
Sometimes you are able to do that by bringing the family into the room and asking them to engage in an activity together. Other times, you might want to employ the help of your office staff to report back to you the family’s behavior in the waiting room.
Example observation:
“The mother was focused on the little daughter, pulling her onto her lap and trying to distract her with her cell phone while the boy sat in a chair next to his dad. When the dad got up to get something out of the car, the boy insisted on going with him. He then showed his dad a video he pulled up on his phone and both laughed."
Of course, you can’t generalize based on a single observation in one specific setting. But it is helpful to gather as much information as possible, and those observations may mean more once you’ve completed the entire evaluation and have more context.
Step 3: Interview the Child
A) Adjust Evaluation Methods According to Child’s Age and Development
The way children manifest their emotional distress spans a wide gamut across developmental stages. Consequently, assessment modalities will differ depending on the child’s age and maturity level.
B) Inquire About Past Events and Identify the Child’s Vulnerabilities
Whereas when interviewing an adult you would be interested in their concerns about a potential separation from their loved one, asking a child to envision such potential scenarios may not be as fruitful.
It is easier to inquire about events in the past and how they impacted the child.
Example case:
See if you can identify the vulnerabilities in this child’s history that indicate how he would handle a parent’s deportation:
While interviewing Claudio and his wife, you learn that their child, Luiz, has struggled with separation anxiety since he was very young. The parents attributed this to the fact that when Luiz was a toddler, an intruder broke into the home at night and was attacked by their dog. Despite moving residences and no one having been hurt, Luiz refused to sleep in his room for a long time and cried every time he had to get on the school bus.
Additionally, Claudio started working very early in the morning, which resulted in his being gone by the time Luiz woke up. His father’s absence was upsetting for Luiz, who often threw tantrums during breakfast.
His mother described him as a quiet, shy child with few friends, adding, “He looks up to his dad and wants to go to work with him when he is off from school.”
Can you see how Luiz’s past behavior patterns predict how he’d respond if one of his parents were deported? The most notable vulnerabilities are probably a history of trauma, separation anxiety, and his timid personality.
You would want to include this in your final report.
C) Use Objective and Projective Testing as Needed
In addition to the interviews, it is helpful to administer some objective and projective tests to further assess the child’s personality, attachment style, psychological symptoms, and any other prominent features relevant to the referral question. These will vary depending on the child’s age.
Younger children: Kinetic drawings to shed light on their inner world
Children ages 7–12: Child Attachment Interview to assess attachment and relationships to primary caregivers
Pre-adolescents and adolescents: Millon Inventories (pre-adolescent and adolescent versions) for personality assessment
Children of all ages: Pediatric Symptom Checklist-35 (completed by parents) to detect psychological and behavioral problems
Children of all ages: Use symptom screeners such as the Children’s Depression Inventory and the Hopelessness Scale for Children
D) Assess Potential Difficulties if the Child Must Also Relocate
It is important to assess the difficulties the child is likely to encounter if they have to relocate to their parent’s country of citizenship in the event their parent is deported.
In most cases, the child has never even visited that country.
If they happen to understand the language spoken there, they are frequently not fluent enough to be able to attend school. This would not only hinder their education but it could also compromise their socialization with peers. If the child already has a learning disability or is benefiting from an individualized education program (IEP), their prognosis is not good.
Plus, ask about social and peer connections the child would lose in the event of leaving the U.S. The more ties the child has to the U.S., the more difficult emigrating to another country is likely to be.
Tweens and teenagers are particularly vulnerable to a forced separation from their peers, which can have devastating consequences. It is important to ask about their social group, any extracurricular activities they are engaged in, and their involvement in organized sports in and outside of school.
Want Step-by-Step Training on Evaluating Minors for a Cancellation of Removal Case?
Learn how to conduct a thorough psychological assessment with children of different age groups and write a professional Cancellation of Removal case-specific report in my self-paced online course.
Whether or not you have experience working with children and adolescents, this training will prepare you to be able to evaluate the potential negative effects of a family separation based on the child’s vulnerabilities, the family dynamics, and the circumstances surrounding the immigration proceedings. This introductory-level course is intended for any mental health professional at any point in their professional career.
This course includes:
2.5 Hours of video lessons broken into 3 parts
Sample reports
Sample consent forms in English and Spanish
Helpful templates, including an intake guide, client forms, and symptoms checklists
All presentation slides
