Inside Trump’s New Tactic to Separate Immigrant Families
Hamed Aleaziz, The New York Times (August 5, 2025)
ICE officials are using family separation as a pressure tactic to force families to leave the United States voluntarily.
Exclusive: Federal law enforcement to begin interviewing unaccompanied migrant children in government custody
Priscilla Alvarez, CNN (August 8, 2025)
Federal law enforcement agents will begin conducting in-person interviews of unaccompanied minors in ORR custody, raising concerns among advocates.
ICE’s family separations are forcing children to parent themselves
Diana Fishbein, The Hill (August 8, 2025)
The current Trump administration’s immigration policy is heightening interior enforcement efforts, leaving children in the lurch when their parents are deported.
Hundreds of groups push back on Trump denying lawful immigrants access to Head Start, other programs
Hundreds of groups push back on Trump denying lawful immigrants access to Head Start, other programs
Suzanna Gamboa, NBC News (August 13, 2025)
Over 300 organizations have come together in opposition of the administration’s decision to prevent legally present immigrants from accessing more federally funded health and human service programs, like Head Start.
ICE sent 3 U.S. citizen children, including boy with cancer, to Honduras with their deported moms
Daniella Silva, NBC News (August 13, 2025)
A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of 3 U.S.-citizen children, including one with cancer, who were deported to Honduras with their mothers.
Judge denies Trump administration request to end a policy protecting immigrant children in custody
Valerie Gonzalez, AP News (August 15, 2025)
A federal judge has denied the Trump administration’s request to end the Flores Settlement Agreement, which provides protections to immigrant children in federal custody.
Building Bridges, Not Walls: Resisting Anti-Immigrant Policy
Laurie Cook Heffron & Esmeralda Rubalcava Hernandez, University at Buffalo, School of Social Work (August 19, 2025)
In this podcast episode, social work scholars examine immigration policy in Texas and provide practical strategies for social workers to resist and respond to these policies.
Deportation of 6-Year-Old Puts Spotlight on ICE’s Detention of Families
Luis Ferré-Sadurní, The New York Times (August 20, 2025)
Immigration authorities have detained nearly 50 children in the New York City area since January, and at least 38 of them have been deported.
Trump’s Immigration System Puts Kids at Risk
Ruchira Gupta, TIME (August 21, 2025)
Current U.S. immigration policies are using children as enforcement tool by accessing shelter data to target sponsors for detention and deportation, causing families to withdraw from sponsoring children, leaving kids stranded in shelters longer, and creating vulnerabilities to trafficking.
Hundreds of unaccompanied Guatemalan children can stay in the U.S. for now, judge says
Chiara Eisner, NPR (August 31, 2025)
A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting hundreds of unaccompanied Guatemalan children, giving lawyers 14 more days to work the case and preventing any children from being removed during the next two weeks.
22nd Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., Migration Policy Institute, and the Georgetown University Law Center • Oct. 9, 2025 • 9 a.m.-5:20 p.m. ET
The conference, with in-person and virtual options, will bring together leading experts, policymakers, attorneys, and advocates to engage in policy and legal analysis and discussion of some of the most important immigration issues that have surfaced in the U.S. policy debate.
ICYMI: New Free Training on Supporting Immigrant Children and Families in the Child Welfare System
New Mexico State University (August 2025)
This self-paced online training for child welfare professionals and other stakeholders draws from successful immigrant-serving child welfare models across the U.S. to address the unique challenges and opportunities that arise when working with immigrant children and families in the child welfare system. Three free Social Work CEUs are also available.
The 2025 ICE Detained Parents Directive: Practice Advisory for Child Welfare Agency Administrators & Practitioners
Center on Immigration and Child Welfare Initiative & Casey Family Programs (August 2025)
This practice advisory reviews the 2025 Detained Parents Directive and provides recommendations to child welfare administrators and practitioners on how to utilize the Directive to advocate for immigrant children and families.
Supporting Immigrant Children and Families in the Child Welfare System: Challenges & Best Practices for Child Welfare Agencies & Practitioners
Megan Finno-Velasquez and Sophia Sepp, New Mexico State University, School of Social Work (August 2025)
This free comprehensive online training addresses the unique challenges and opportunities when working with immigrant children and families in the child welfare system. It is geared toward child welfare agency administrators, practitioners, and other stakeholders. Three free social work CEUs are available from the NMSU School of Social Work.
The Trump Administration’s First 100 Days of Immigration Policy: Impacts to Immigrant Children and Families
CICW Research Workgroup, Center on Immigration and Child Welfare Initiative (August 2025)
This policy brief examines the impacts on immigrant children and families of the Trump administration’s immigration-related actions during his first 100 days in office, and proposes solutions to protect their health and wellbeing.
We don’t turn away families”: Systematic support of immigrant families with young children during and after the COVID pandemic
Carolina Villamil Grest, Megan Finno-Velasquez, Anayeli Lopez, & Sophia Sepp; Journal of Human Rights and Social Work (2023)
This study along the US-Mexico border found that local-level solutions including community organizing, immigrant inclusion in agency practices, community partnerships, and sanctuary policies can help overcome structural barriers and ensure equitable access to health and social services for immigrant families.
Behind the Scenes: Mapping How State and Local Governments Implement Language Access Measures
Migration Policy Institute (May 2025)
This report examines how state and local governments implement language access measures, finding that while there’s no universal approach, governments can learn from existing efforts and adapt strategies to their own contexts and needs.
“It’s Horrible to Live Like This”: Immigration Policy’s Real-Time Impact on Young Children
Juliana Zhou & Elisa Minoff, Center for the Study of Social Policy (July 16, 2025)
This brief details interviews with child care providers who report that the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda is causing families to withdraw toddlers from care, children to experience heightened anxiety, and providers to fear for their own safety while trying to support immigrant families.
Anti-Child and Anti-Family: How the Trump Administration is Targeting the Most Vulnerable Among Us.
Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights (June 3, 2025)
This explainer details how the Trump administration’s policies prioritizing enforcement and family separation are harming children, particularly immigrant children, while governments are also reducing childhood protections and subjecting teens to adult consequences for political purposes.
The 2025 ICE Detained Parents Directive Vs. the 2022 ICE Parental Interests Directive
Women’s Refugee Commission (July 2025)
This brief provides a side-by-side comparison of the key differences between the 2022 and 2025 versions of the Detained Parents/Parental Interests Directive.
