Research shows that extortion is a common and harmful experience among Latin American immigrants traveling to the US

According to a study, adult Latin American immigrants traveling to the United States are extorted an average of $804 per research participant during their trip. to appear in Epidemiology of injuries.

“This study builds on research on newly arrived immigrants’ exposure to trauma, using a modified version of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire to measure the range of traumas experienced during migration,” said Laura Vargas, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and corresponding author. “So many respondents reported multiple instances of extortion that we felt the need to study this experience in isolation.”

Researchers spoke to 85 new immigrants arriving at the U.S. southern border with Mexico in Texas, asking them if they had been extorted, by whom, where it happened and for how much money.

The study found that the most common perpetrators were police officers (80.6%) and immigration officials (37.3%), followed by drug traffickers or gangs (25.4%) and the military (20.9%). The most extortion experiences occurred in Mexico (77.6%) and Guatemala (67.2%), followed by other transit countries such as Colombia (22.4%) and Nicaragua (20.9%). Using a conversion rate to US dollars, experts found that the average rate of money extorted from migrants is $804, and that adults traveling with children are more likely to be extorted.

Additionally, survey responses indicate significantly higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compared to those who were not extorted, but there was no significant difference in rates of depression or anxiety. Researchers say extortion should be considered an extreme stressor, and the study’s findings could help inform mental health care for newly arrived immigrants.

“For Americans, extortion is hard to understand, but in Latin America it is very common. It is almost a part of life, albeit a very traumatic part,” Vargas said.

“It’s important to shed light on it and understand it from their own lived experiences. And while we have a small sample here, a large majority of respondents have experienced extortion; ultimately, we clinicians need to be very actively thinking about how we can engage with new immigrant populations through the lens of trauma that may be different than what we see here in the U.S., with the goal of taking care of the different health outcomes that come from PTSD and giving newly arrived immigrants a chance at a dignified life.”