First Focus, a bipartisan children’s advocacy group in Washington, put out a report this month showing that when an immigrant parent is detained or deported, his or her children often end up in the child welfare system. About a year ago, a New York Times article also focused on this issue.
One of the recommendations of the report is that immigration and law enforcement officials receive training on how to minimize the negative impact on children during arrests of their parents. The report also recommends that procedures be changed so that immigrant parents who are detained can participate in family court proceedings and other meetings involving the child welfare system.
The report says that in 2008, 73 percent of children of immigrant parents unauthorized to live in this country were born in the United States and thus were U.S. citizens.