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u.s. news Diamars 5 aPriL 2022

Federal lawsuit seeks to block end to sweeping asylum limits

(AP) — Arizona, Loui- The lawsuit says the order order ends. Previous rises in
siana and Missouri have is “the only safety valve pre- migration have strained law
sued President Joe Biden’s venting this Administration’s enforcement agencies and
administration to prevent disastrous border policies nonprofits on the border try-
federal officials from end- from devolving into an un- ing to provide security and
ing a public health rule mitigated chaos and catastro- shelter.
that allows many asylum phe.”
seekers to be turned away Nonprofit groups that work
at the southern U.S. bor- It noted that several Demo- with asylum seekers are ar-
der. cratic senators, including Ar- guing for an end to the rule,
izona Sens. Kyrsten Sinema which they say endangers
The lawsuit was filed over and Mark Kelly, have asked people who are fleeing vio-
the weekend in a Louisiana the Biden administration to lence back home.
federal court challenging the hold off on lifting Title 42 to
planned May 23 end to bor- better prepare for an expected The federal lawsuit said that
der controls known as Title increase in asylum seekers. even though Title 42′s end
42. The order was imposed is premised on a decrease of
nearly two years ago by the The Department of Home- COVID-19 cases, the U.S. Trump administration’s last
U.S. Centers for Disease land Security has said as government has not taken The action also pointed to days about future changes
Control and Prevention over many as 18,000 migrants other similar action such as agreements Arizona and to immigration policy or en-
coronavirus concerns. could show up daily at the lifting a mask mandate for Louisiana signed with the forcement.
southern border when the airline travel. federal government in the

With students in turmoil, US teachers train in mental health

(AP) — As Benito Luna- around the country. The sil- ery state. dents treat each other and Since California began offer-
Herrera teaches his sev- ver lining is that special train- themselves — and a lot less ing the Youth Mental Health
enth-grade social studies ing helped him know what to Experts say while childhood empathy. First Aid course in 2014,
classes, he is on alert for look for and how to respond depression and anxiety had more than 8,000 teachers,
signs of inner turmoil. when he saw the signs of a been on the rise for years, Many states have mandated administrators and school
And there is so much of it mental emergency. the pandemic’s unrelent- teacher training on suicide staff have been trained, said
these days. ing stress and grief amplified prevention over the last Monica Nepomuceno, who
Since the pandemic started, the problems, particularly decade and the pandemic oversees mental health pro-
One of his 12-year-old stu- experts have warned of a for those already experienc- prompted some to broaden gramming at the California
dents felt her world was fall- mental health crisis facing ing mental health issues who the scope to include mental Department of Education.
ing apart. Distance learning American children. That is were cut off from counselors health awareness and sup-
had upended her friendships. now playing out at schools in and other school resources porting behavioral health She said much more needs to
Things with her boyfriend the form of increased child- during distance learning. needs. be done in the country’s larg-
were verging on violent. Her hood depression, anxiety, est state, which employs over
home life was stressful. “I’m panic attacks, eating disor- Child abuse and and neglect But school districts nation- 600,000 K-12 staff at schools.
just done with it,” the girl ders, fights and thoughts of increased during the pan- wide also say they need more
told Luna-Herrera during suicide at alarming levels, demic. For children in trou- psychologists and counselors. The course helps distinguish
the pandemic, and shared a according to interviews with bled homes, with alcoholic The Hopeful Futures Cam- typical adolescent ways of
detailed plan to kill herself. teachers, administrators, ed- or abusive parents, distance paign, a coalition of national dealing with stress — slam-
ucation officials and mental learning meant they had no mental health organizations, ming doors, crying, bursts of
Another student was typically health experts. escape. Those who lacked last month published a re- anger — from warning signs
a big jokester and full of con- technology or had spotty in- port that found most states of mental distress, which can
fidence. But one day she told The California Department ternet connections were iso- are struggling with mental be blatant or subtle.
him she didn’t want to live of Education funds the pro- lated even more than their health support in schools.
anymore. She, too, had a plan gram for any school dis- peers and fell further behind Only Idaho and the District Red flags include when a
in place to end her life. trict requesting it, and the academically and socially. of Columbia exceed the na- child talks about dying or
pandemic has accelerated tionally recommended ratio suicide, but can be more
Luna-Herrera is just one moves to make such courses Many children bounced back of one psychologist per 500 nuanced like: “I can’t do
teacher, in one Southern a requirement. The training after the extended isolation, students. this anymore,” or “I’m tired
California middle school, but program is operated by the but for others it will take lon- of this,” said Tramaine El-
stories of students in distress National Council for Mental ger, and mental health prob- President Joe Biden has pro- Amin, a spokesperson for
are increasingly common Wellbeing and available in ev- lems often lag a stressor. posed $1 billion in new fed- the National Council for
eral funding to help schools Mental Wellbeing. More
Returning to school after hire more counselors and than 550,000 K-12 educa-
months of isolation inten- psychologists and bolster sui- tors across the country have
sified the anxiety for some cide prevention programs. taken the Youth Mental
children. Teachers say stu- That followed a rare pubic Health First Aid course since
dents have greater difficulty advisory in December from it launched in 2012, she said.
focusing, concentrating, sit- U.S. Surgeon General Vivek
ting still and many need to Murthy on “the urgent need Changes in behavior could
relearn how to socialize and to address the nation’s youth be cause for concern — a
resolve conflicts face-to-face mental health crisis.” child who stops a sport or
after prolonged immersion activity they were passionate
in screens. In early 2021, emergency about without replacing it
room visits in the U.S. for with another one; a typically
Kids expected to pick up suspected suicide attempts put together child who starts
where they left off but some were 51% higher for adoles- to look regularly unkempt; a
found friendships, and their cent girls and 4% higher for student whose grades plum-
ability to cope with social adolescent boys compared to met or who stops handing in
stress, had changed. Educa- the same period in 2019, ac- homework; a child who eats
tors say they also see a con- cording to research cited in lunch alone and has stopped
cerning increase in apathy the advisory. palling around with their
— about grades, how stu- friends.