•This study reviewed forced family separation as the result of migration policies.•Forced family separation is linked to negative mental health outcomes for children.•Forced family separation is linked to adverse health among parents/caregivers.•There is racial and ethnic discrimination in punitive immigration policies. This paper aims to systematically look at the impacts of child separation from the primary caregiver as the result of migration policies from a racial and ethnic equity perspective. An online systematic search of Web of Science Core Collection, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Sociological Abstracts with keywords relevant to migration, family separation, and health outcomes was conducted in January 2022. The studies retrieved through the search were independently reviewed by two of the authors using the PRISMA checklist for scoping reviews and Covidence systematic review software. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study, 14 papers were included in the scoping review. We found that none of the studies were centered on a racial and ethnic equity framework. The reviewed studies showed that forced separation was associated with negative mental health outcomes including anxiety, depression, emotional and behavioral problems, post-traumatic stress or post-traumatic stress disorder, sleep disturbance, and stress among children. Similar adverse health outcomes were reported among caregivers. These negative mental health outcomes can have long-term and even generational impacts on the well-being and health of the communities in the U.S.