The United States Case

Abstract

Thousands of illegal people enter the United States seeking a better life for their children. The United States is the land of opportunity for many immigrants and their families. These immigrants leave their countries to escape war, poverty and in some cases child slavery. Taking an enormous risk of deportation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE).

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Many children of undocumented immigrants are stuck in between the child welfare system and the immigration legal system. When parents are turned over to customs officials for possible deportation because of their illegal status, their children are forced into foster care or have to stay on their own, separated from their parents. ICE: The Impact on the Welfare of Immigrant Children.

Immigrant children cross into the US every day searching for family members, seeking asylum or protection from harm in their own countries. Once here unknown to them, lays an entirely different set of trials and tribulations as they meet the legalities that wait. One of the numerous consequences of the ICE system is the separation of children, from their immigrant parents. The immigration policies fail to address the needs of these children whom they affect. There are many ways for immigrant children to enter the child welfare system due to ICE. In some cases, detained parents may not have the opportunity to make child care arrangements or, a child may enter the child welfare system because of an immigrant parent's criminal arrest, which can then trigger the parent's deportation. These persons can be mandatorily detained and deported even if they have some protected legal status, are responsible for the care of dependent children, and/or are now rehabilitated.

Regardless of the child's age, detaining their parents for deportation introduces extreme despair into their lives. Being separated from their parents can cause alienation, instability, and psychological trauma that can create lasting effects especially if the child is at a young age.

Accounting for other factors, it can lead to inadequate learning opportunities as well as limit access to programs and services, which can help these children, overcome many adversities.

When ICE officers take undocumented parents into custody, their children may become involved with family