ImmigrationICE deported 47,000 parents who had least one U.S. citizen child
Between 1 January 2011and 30 June 2011, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported 46,686 parents who had at least one U.S. citizen child; more than 5,100 children of immigrants have ended up in foster care because their parents had either been detained or deported; if the second half of 2011 saw the same rate of deportations, there would be 100,000 kids who are U.S. citizens who had parents deported, and about 15,000 would end up in foster care
Deportees boarding flight to country of origin // Source: seneweb.com
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the first half of 2011 deported 46,686 parents who had at least one U.S. citizen child, says an ICE report made public last Monday.
“If deportations continued at that rate for the rest of 2011, we can assume that over 100,000 kids who are U.S. citizens saw parents deported,” said Stacy Martin, vice president for external relations of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS).
“LIRS, the national organization established by Lutheran churches in the United States to serve uprooted people, is deeply troubled by this report,” said Martin. “It shows that the U.S. immigration system is tearing apart so many families.”
“The United States prides itself on being a country that honors and upholds family values, yet the U.S. immigration system is absolutely failing American families,” Martin said.
The period covered by the data in the new report by ICE, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security, is 1 January 2011 – 30 June 2011.
A LIRS release reports that In January 2012, the Applied Research Center released “Shattered Families,” a report showing that more than 5,100 children of immigrants have ended up in foster care because U.S. immigration authorities had either detained or deported their parents. The report also predicted that at least 15,000 more children would end up in foster care over the next five years.
In 2011 ICE issued prosecutorial discretion guidance to U.S. immigration officers and announced a nationwide review of cases pending before immigration courts to determine which cases are considered low-priority for removal. For a parent of a U.S. citizen child to qualify for relief under this guidance, a parent would need to have long-time presence in the United States and have established compelling ties and made compelling contributions to the United States.
“Despite recent efforts to provide more discretion to U.S. immigration officers, our laws and policies are still too rigid,” said Eric B. Sigmon, LIRS director for advocacy. “U.S. immigration officials should have more flexibility to consider the best interests of children when making decisions about the detention and deportation of parents with children.”
— Read more in “Deportation of Parents of U.S.-Born Citizens: Fiscal Year 2011 Report to Congress Second Semi-Annual Report”
