Federal magistrate judges in Tucson are showing signs of pushing back against a Trump administration practice of separating parents from their children after crossing the border illegally.
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Immigration advocates last week appealed for international help to fight the Trump administration’s policy of separating immigrant parents and children who cross the United States-Mexico border.
Read MoreZero to Three urges the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to stop family separations, and to ensure babies and their parents remain together in environments that allow them to function as a family.
Decades of research on child development tells us that children develop best in the context of safe, supportive, nurturing relationships. This article explores this knowledge in the context of family separation due to immigration enforcement.
Under the new policy, a significant number of children will be separated from their parents. At a conference last month, Sessions said, “If you are smuggling a child, then we will prosecute you and that child will be separated from you as required by law. If you don’t like that, then don’t smuggle children over our border.” But, there is already a long queue of immigration cases involving unaccompanied minors.
Read MoreThis paper examines the heterogeneous treatment effects of a universal child care (preschool) program in Germany by exploiting the exogenous variation in attendance caused by a reform that led to a large staggered expansion across municipalities.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) on Sunday sought a tour of an immigrant detention center in Brownsville, Texas, near the U.S. border with Mexico. But Merkley was not allowed inside. Supervisors at the facility called the police.
Read MoreIt’s not immediately clear how Trump’s policies are affecting children who arrive at the border alone, or those who are being separated from their parents. But here’s what we know about how both groups of minors are treated when they try to enter the country.
Read MoreJennifer Podkul, KIND’s Director of Policy, and Cory Shindel, Policy Associate, will share federal legislative updates and information about new Administration policies affecting the rights and treatment of unaccompanied immigrant children. Learn more about opportunities to collaborate and lift your voice in support of these children in this critical time.
A DHS official announced that 638 parents who crossed with children had been prosecuted in just a 13-day span this month.
Read MoreThe University-Based Child and Family Policy Consortium, in collaboration with the Society for Research in Child Development, hosted a webinar on May 23, 2018 on Latino Families’ Access to Early Care and Education.
View WebinarThis study used a nationally representative parent survey, combined with in-depth interviews and home visits with a smaller sample of families, to learn how parents of young children, particularly low-income parents, encourage and take part in their children’s learning, especially their science learning.
Read MoreA new report suggests that there has been a startling increase in the number of instances where US Border Patrol officers have abused children seeking shelter in the United States from violence and poverty in Central America.
Read MoreSenator Tina Smith (D-MN) and colleagues in the Senate, along with Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA 40) and colleagues in the House, introduced the Humane Enforcement and Legal Protections (HELP) for Separated Children Act to protect children separated from their parents by immigration enforcement actions.
Read MoreA civil rights group has said Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has an “astounding” level of ignorance about the law after she claimed on Tuesday that it is up to schools to decide whether to report undocumented students to immigration enforcement officials.
Read MoreEarlier this month, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a goal to criminally prosecute 100 percent of people crossing the border illegally — including families with children. Those who are charged with improper entry — a misdemeanor on the first infraction — are jailed and separated from their children. Previously, most parents had been allowed to remain with their children in family shelters while awaiting asylum cases or deportation proceedings.
Read MoreWhile the Trump Administration has been careful to state that a decision has yet been made about housing the migrant children on military bases and the DoD has not received formal tasking, choosing this path would continue the trend of widening the military’s role in immigration enforcement more broadly. It follows the announcement made last month that state National Guard units would assist DHS and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) in immigration enforcement.
Read MoreThe science is clear that adverse childhood experiences, known as ACEs, profoundly impact brain and child development. Removing a child from a nurturing parent is a strong ACE and this new policy is likely to have both short and long-term harmful consequences for the child. In addition to the immediate cruelty of separation, many children will experience changes in brain neuropathways, epigenetic profiles and immune system dysfunction. These changes result in life-long behavioral, mental and physical health disorders.
Read MoreThe Trump administration this month did not dispute a New York Times report in federal court that more than 700 children, among them at least 100 younger than 4, were separated from an adult who claimed to be their parent. Now, immigrant advocates are bracing for those numbers to dramatically increase as the administration ratchets up prosecutions of immigrants who illegally cross the border with Mexico.
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