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FACING OUR FUTURE:Children in the Aftermath of Immigration EnforcementAjay Chaudry, Randy Capps, Juan Manuel PedrozaRosa Maria Castaneda, Rob Santos, Molly Scott XV Regional Conference on Migration Seminar on Family and Migration Institute Nacional de Migracion, Mexico April 21, 2010 The Urban Institute

Overview • Brief Background on children of immigrants in the United States • Description of Study • Findings • Family Separation • Family Well-Being • Child Behavior • Policy Recommendations

Children of Immigrants in the U.S. • 12 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. & 8.3 million in the U.S. labor force (March 2008) • 5.5 million children with unauthorized immigrant parents (March 2008) • 4 million children of unauthorized immigrants were born in the United States (March 2008) • Between 1998 and 2007, over 100,000 immigrant parents of U.S. citizen children have been deported from the United States (U.S. DHS OIG) • Sources: Passel & Cohn, 2009, “A Portrait of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States,” Pew Hispanic Center; Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, 2009, “Removals Involving Illegal Alien Parents of United States Citizen Children.”

Goals of the Study • Builds off Paying the Price study in 2007 (study of three worksite raid sites) • Capture long-term raid impacts and community responses • Study multiple types of enforcement activities beyond worksite raids • Monitor changes in enforcement policies and practices over this time • Represent the diversity of populations and communities affected by immigration enforcement • Document more thoroughly family and child well-being at multiple points (short-term and longer term after arrests) • Understand how enforcement and community contexts affect community responses

Research Questions • What are the effects of enforcement on parent-child separation? • How do these effects differ in the short and longer terms? • What are some of the specific effects of enforcement actions on children’s well-being? • What economic hardships do families face? • What changes in children’s behavior are reported at home or in schools? • What services and social support did immigrant families receive in the immediate and long-term aftermath of parental arrests?

Study Methods • In-depth qualitative interviews • Parent interview protocol • Family characteristics before arrest • Arrest circumstances and outcomes • Family economic hardship • Parental mental health and child behavior • Informal and formal assistance • Community interview protocol • Comparison across sites • Local economies and immigrant communities • faith-based, nonprofit, community-based, and public response

Study Sites • Grand Island, NE – December 2006 worksite raid • New Bedford, MA – March 2007 worksite raid • Van Nuys, CA – February 2008 worksite raid • Postville, IA – May 2008 worksite raid • Rogers and Springdale, AR – Ongoing local law enforcement of immigration violations since 2007 • Miami, FL – Ongoing Fugitive Operations Team (FOT) arrests

Study Respondents • Diverse set of families capture a range of experiences • 85 families and 190 children • Arrested Parents Countries of Origin: • Mexico (46); • Guatemala (19); • Other Central and South America (11) • Haiti (9) • Average length of time in U.S.: 9 years

Children in Study

Family Separation • About half of families (42 parents) had arrested parent released the same day; About half detained for day(s) to month(s); More than 20 percent detained more than one month. • Respondents in Van Nuys and Postville were released most regularly • Follows ICE’s new humanitarian guidelines of November 2007 • In Arkansas and Miami, separation was more frequent and longer because: • humanitarian guidelines did not apply • arrests are not usually high profile • Family, spouses, and extended family step in • 20 families (and 49 children) experienced a parent’s deportation • 8 cases some or all children returned to parents’ country of origin • 12 cases children remained in the U.S. separated from one parent • 9 deported to Guatemala, 7 to Mexico, 4 to Haiti

Family Separation After Parental Arrest

Family Well-Being • Changes in economic hardship • Lost employment and income • Difficulty paying bills • Housing instability • Crowded housing • Frequent moves • Loss of home ownership • Food Insecurity

Food Hardship

Child Behavior: Short Term • A majority of children exhibited changes in eating, sleeping and crying (often changed in tandem) • More than half of children cried or felt afraid • Anxious, withdrawn, clingy, and aggressive behavior were frequent but less common • More than 3 out of 5 children exhibited 3 or more behavior changes • Children separated from parents or whose parents were arrested at home experienced more severe effects

Child Behavior: Long Term • Child behavioral changes remained relatively high but did not intensify for most children • Some children seemed to adjust somewhat in the longer term • Approximately one third of all children experienced 4 or more changes • Withdrawal and aggression were especially persistent among children separated from parents for long periods

Children’s Responses • Longer family separations associated with more acute and continuing children’s behavior changes • Home raids, particularly where parents witnessed parent’s arrest particularly traumatic • Fear of immigration officials a source of anxiety for some • Frustration can result in externalizing behavior • Though rare, a few regressed in some areas of development • Children adjusted with support from at home and at school

Policy Recommendations CHANGES TO CURRENT IMMIGRATION LAW • Restore judicial discretion that existed in immigration law prior to 1996 that would allow judges to take children’s best interests into account during deportation proceedings; • Provide minor children representation before the court (through court appointed legal guardian) to petition for a parent’s lawful admission and residency

Policy Recommendations CHANGES TO CURRENT IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT POLICIES AND PRACTICES • Maintain the de factomoratorium on worksite raids • Allow alternatives to detention for arrested parents including more supervised releases • Extend release guidelines to non work-site enforcement arrests • Allow parents who have a potentially valid claim the opportunity to work • Issue work permits and expedite visas for victims of crimes • Facilitation of family contact for those in detention • Improve screening and data collection on arrests, deportations • ICE should develop plans alongside other agencies (federal and state departments of education and social services) to promote the well-being of children

Policy Recommendations CHANGES TO RESPONSE EFFORTS AND SERVICES TO AFFECTED FAMILIES AND CHILDREN • Ensure schools and early childhood programs receive early alerts from ICE and local law enforcement • Trusted community actors should educate parents about enforcement protocols and changes • Child welfare agencies should consider avenues to protect and advance the interests of children affected by enforcement operations • Networks of deportation defense lawyers should be established • Trusted community institutions should coordinate legal and humanitarian assistance • NGOs, alongside governments, should consider strategies for coordinating health and education services for citizen children who cross back and forth between nations as a result of parental deportation

Understanding Implications of Immigration Enforcement for Children’s Well-Being • This work documents some experiences, but some unanswered questions, and undocumented impacts • Quantifying the numbers of children leaving U.S. or living in U.S. separated for times from their parents • Following the experiences and outcomes for children who stay, who leave, who leave and return. • Better identifying educational impacts for children • Nature of immigration enforcement constantly changing • Broader implications for the current climate regarding immigration on children’s well-being • How can you rigorously study the direct and indirect impacts of immigration policies on children and how do you reconcile the competing interests of immigration enforcement and children’s security and well-being?

For more information, contact: • Ajay ChaudryUrban InstituteCenter on Labor, Human Services and Population2100 M Street, NW Washington, DC 20037 • For copy of report go to Urban Institute website: • Facing Our Future: Children in the Aftermath of Immigration Enforcement • achaudry@urban.org

Worksite Enforcement Source: DHS, 2009, “Worksite Enforcement Overview” Fact Sheet, Washington DC, April 30.

Fugitive Operations Teams Source: DHS, 2009, ICE Fiscal Year 2008 Annual Report.

Delegation of Immigration Authority 287(g) Program Arrests Source: ICE. www.ice.gov/pi/news/factsheets/section287_g.htm. Cited by Center for Immigration Studies. http://www.cis.org/287greport

For more information, contact: Ajay ChaudryThe Urban InstituteCenter on Labor, Human Services and Population2100 M Street, NW Washington, DC 20037 For copy of report go to Urban Institute website: Facing Our Future: Children in the Aftermath of Immigration Enforcement achaudry@urban.org

Parent Mental Health(Short Term)

Parent Mental Health(Long Term)

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