As Congress begins to discuss comprehensive immigration reform, we urge members to include a national registry of the U.S. citizen children who have been scattered throughout the nation’s county foster care system when their parent was detained/deported. Thousands of children are unnecessarily put into foster homes while their parent(s) have no way of locating or contacting them - our broken immigration system has shattered thousands of loving families. Establishing a national registry of these children is a key step in addressing this crisis, and must be included in any true comprehensive immigration reform bill.
Why is this important?
In 2011, over 46,000 parents of at least one U.S. citizen child were part of massive ICE detentions and deportations. During these sweeps many parents were unable to claim or make arrangements for their children to be returned to them, or to be cared for by close family members. As a result, thousands of children have been scattered throughout the nation’s county foster care system – making separation from their parents' love, permanent.
