Children and youth seeking asylum in the United States: Reported challenges, supports, and future aspirations.

Abstract

Children and youth seeking asylum encounter a range of unique experiences and obstacles in their efforts to secure protected immigration status. This study used a consensual qualitative research approach to analyze data that centered lived experience voice gathered from first-person interviews with 12 adults, six men, and six women aged 18-29 years, who entered the United States as minor asylum seekers. Results indicated that they experienced premigratory exposure to violence or harm, psychological distress, financial instability, and obstacles to health care. Participants also reported fear, adversity, and time spent in immigration detention centers as they sought asylum in the United States. Further, they disclosed current mental health concerns, as well as barriers to education, employment, and legal representation. Participants identified a series of effective internal and external supports they leveraged to adaptively respond to systemic challenges, described their aspirations for the future, and provided recommendations for guiding clinicians in service provision. The results of the study can inform psychologists and allied professionals about the impact of exposure to harm that asylum-seeking minors face, this population's resilience, and possible strengths-based strategies for responding to the needs of young people experiencing forced displacement and areas of potential advocacy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).