The novel that we begin reading this week is called The Leavers by Lisa Ko. The plot is about a boy, Deming Guo, whose undocumented Chinese immigrant mother, Polly Guo, goes missing. Deming ends up going into foster care, and he is adopted by a white suburban couple. The Leavers begins in New York with Polly picking up Deming from school where he has just gotten out of detention. Polly works at a nail salon. One day, Polly goes to work, and she never comes home. The couple who adopt Deming, Kay, and Peter, live in a small town upstate from the Bronx. They rename him, Daniel Wilkinson. Deming feels the effects of displacement when his mom goes missing, and he moves in with an American family. There are many harmful, lasting effects on family members from immigrant family separation.
Immigrant family separation deeply impacts immigrants but especially immigrant children. The well-being of immigrant children is important because they are the fast-growing segment of the U.S. population (Tienda and Haskins 3). Immigrant children separated from their parents are at risk for increased anxiety and depression. Research in Family Science demonstrates that children may also experience financial and housing instability, internalizing and externalizing behavioral difficulties, academic problems, and social withdrawal (“The Science Is Clear”). Deming struggled in school due to his lack of motivation and poor grades to pursue a career with a college degree. His struggles with school can contribute to his separation from his mother.
Later in life, Deming develops a gambling problem and alcohol addiction. These problems Deming developed stem from his separation from his mom. Gambling and alcohol were a way for Deming to cope with his emotions about wanting to reunite with his mom. Even though Deming was adopted by a loving and financially stable family, he constantly struggled to find a true sense of belonging. Immigrant family separation left a mark on Deming’s life which is clear through his school struggles, gambling, and alcohol addiction.
Ko, Lisa. The Leavers. Algonquin Books, 2018.
“The Science Is Clear: Separating Families Has Long-Term Damaging Psychological and Health Consequences for Children, Families, and Communities.” Society for Research in Child Development SRCD, 2018, https://www.srcd.org/briefs-fact-sheets/the-science-is-clear.
Tienda, Marta, and Ron Haskins. “Immigrant Children: Introducing the Issue.” The Future of Children, vol. 21, no. 1, Princeton University, 2011, pp. 3–18, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41229009.
Coming from an immigrant family, I feel like stories like these hit close to home. I agree with what you said about the importance of the well-being of immigrant children. I feel like being an immigrant is already so hard to be able to adapt to new changes however without the support of any family it just gets that much harder. I am curious to know if you think that if immigrant children can relate to orphanage kids or even single-parent households or are those completely different situations
Reading Ko’s, The Leavers, I felt emotional, coming from an immigrant family, the lasting effects of immigration and family separation is life lasting. I have many friends who have been separated from loved ones and it has been very hard for them, and it effected them tremendously while growing up. Something that needs to be talked about more is the negative effects of separating families, and many don’t realize this and call immigrants many disgusting things without knowing the truth.
I cannot imagine the amount of strength it took Deming to overcome these obstacles as an immigrant child. Not only did he have to deal with being a minority in America, which is a challenge within itself, he also was forced to adapt to a new family dynamic, as he was taken in by a new white suburban couple. All of these new customs and ideas that he was thrown into at a young age was most likely the cause of his personal issues that he faced later in life.