Children Suffer from Immigration Policies that Detain and Deport Parents, Says Recent Urban Institute Report; Casa Cornelia Offers Free Legal Services
Legal Services E-lert
Bibliographic Info:
Author: Eduardo Santana
Source: Latin American Herald Tribune, “Groups Aid Children of Deported Parents”
Date: July 27, 2010
Latin American Herald Tribune reports: “Centers of legal assistance for minors living alone in the United States are trying to alleviate at a local level the consequences of immigration policies that have led to the detention and deportation of thousands of parents. According to a recent study by the Urban Institute, some 5.5 million children are living in the country whose parents are undocumented. These children, who represent more than 7 percent of all minors in the country, live under the constant threat of their parents being arrested, separated from them and even deported. San Diego charitable group Casa Cornelia offers free legal services for minors facing problems related to immigration. Its director, Carmen Chavez, is seeking ways to regularize the parents’ immigration status in order to reunite the families in the U.S., but the difficulty of the task, she said, means that most of those youngsters will end up living with family members, friends or in state care. . . . The recent study by the Urban Institute, ‘Facing Our Future: Children in the Aftermath of Immigration Enforcement,’ analyzed the experiences of more than 100 youngsters affected by six raids on their workplaces or arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement between 2006 and 2008. Deprived of a family support network, many of these children face impossible challenges in keeping up with their schoolwork and continuing their normal physical and emotional development. . . . To avoid the consequences of family disintegration, the center recommended that the government extend the suspension of large-scale raids implemented by the Obama administration, which has employed the electronic program E-Verify to confirm eligibility to work legally. In case the detention of a father or mother is obligatory, as in the case of people with deportation orders pending, the Urban Institute recommended that the detainees be held near their homes and allowed to be visited more freely by their families, lawyers and consular officials. The study suggests that, as part of a comprehensive immigration reform, all children born in the United States have a court-appointed legal representative who can present a petition for the legal residency of their parents.”