Mental health presupposes that an individual is free to make choices. A sense of helplessness and loss of control over one s destiny represent the essence of mental disorder. I find it infuriating beyond belief that the mainstream of my profession has not rushed to the side of Eli n Gonzalez and his relatives in Miami. Eli n does not need to be with his father, so much as he needs to live under freedom. Freedom is more important than family.
Freedom is also much less stressful than tyranny.
Contrast, for example, the image of Eli n joyfully playing ball in Miami with that of being sent to a labor camp at the age of 11. Consider Eli n's future under Communism. If our government were really concerned about Eli n's mental health, they would keep him in the United States and do everything possible to help his father join him. No sane, caring father would want to condemn his son to life in a totalitarian country. And no honest child psychologist could ever miss this fact.