Who's Afraid of ICE? Deportation Anxiety & the Mental Health Impact of Immigration - Ep372Who's Afraid of ICE? Deportation Anxiety & the Mental Health Impact of Immigration - Ep372
Through a Therapist's Eyes Podcast
Therapists discuss deportation anxiety, ICE enforcement and how real threats reshape family life, especially for Latino and immigrant communities. They examine the line between healthy preparation and harmful hypervigilance, and share practical ways to manage fear without letting it consume daily life.
1:09:58•22 Sept 2026
Who's Afraid of ICE? Anxiety, Deportation Fears and Family Mental Health
Episode Overview
- Anxiety linked to deportation fears can be a rational response to real risk, not just ‘catastrophising’, and needs to be treated as such.
- Therapists assess whether anxiety stems more from biology or from social and emotional realities, as this shapes treatment.
- Families often respond to ICE activity with extreme avoidance—skipping school, church, work and services—which can cause long‑term harm.
- Children absorb adult fear and instability, and repeated exposure to these events can leave lasting psychological and developmental marks.
- Cognitive‑behavioural tools, safety planning and ‘reality testing’ fears can help people prepare for genuine dangers without living in constant terror.
“"How do you manage anxiety when the thing you're afraid of could actually happen?"”
What can we learn from those who have battled anxiety that’s rooted in very real threats? This conversation on Through a Therapist’s Eyes takes a hard look at deportation fear and how it shapes the mental health of immigrant and Latino/Latinx communities.
Host and therapist Chris Gazdik is joined by fellow clinicians John Popeser and Victoria Pendergrass, with producer Neil chiming in, to unpack what happens when “the thing you’re afraid of could actually happen.” They talk through current ICE enforcement statistics, pointing out how rising arrests and profiling fears are impacting even long‑standing U.S. citizens with Hispanic surnames.
One of the most powerful moments is when Chris recalls a boy, “Sebastian,” whose dad was deported after a drink‑driving charge and who, as a result, became angry, withdrawn and scared: a child’s early lesson in instability. You’ll hear the panel wrestle with a key clinical question: how do you treat anxiety when the danger isn’t imagined?
They break down the difference between biological anxiety disorders and fear driven by social realities, and why it’s harmful to dismiss someone with “you’re just catastrophising” when their risk is genuine. Victoria talks about families avoiding church, work and even food pantries because “even though I might be fine, it still causes this high anxiety,” while John explains how kids internalise these experiences in their developing brains.
There’s practical talk too: safety planning, reality‑testing fears with CBT, and finding the line between sensible vigilance and life‑shrinking hypervigilance. As Neil puts it, the key question is whether fear is helping you prepare or just making you relive a disaster that hasn’t happened. If you’ve ever wondered how constant threat – legal, social or political – can warp daily life and family bonds, this episode offers a grounded, humane look at what that actually feels like.
How might your own fears be shaping the next generation’s sense of safety?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.