Vilma Carillo is one of an unknown number of parents separated from a US citizen child at the southwest border. Her daughter, Yeisvi, is currently in the custody of the Arizona Department of Child Safety and the state has begun child welfare proceedings.
Read MoreThe federal government has spent $80 million to care for and reunite migrant children who were separated from their parents by immigration authorities, a figure that continues to grow months after the policy ended because more than 140 children are still in custody.
Read MoreMigrant families could be held indefinitely in unlicensed detention centers under a new federal plan that also would end critical court protections for immigrant children, according to new court records.
Read MoreThe number of immigrant children in federal custody has reached an all-time high, with more than 14,000 children currently being held in government facilities, the San Francisco Chronicle first reported Friday.
Read MoreThe U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia denied the U.S. government’s motion to dismiss Legal Aid Justice Center’s lawsuit on behalf of detained immigrant children and their families, striking a blow to a new immigration policy that has kept thousands of children unnecessarily detained for months.
The migrant caravan underscores the dire need to address the root causes of migration from Central America to the United States, including the pervasive violence that forces children without parents and families with young children to embark on a life-threatening journey of thousands of miles to seek safety in the United States.
Immigrant families are dropping out of the food stamps program, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), likely because they are afraid using public benefits could lead to problems with their legal status. Less access to healthy, affordable food is associated with a higher risk of poor health outcomes like nutrient deficiency and poor cognitive development for kids, as well as more hospitalizations.
Read MoreThis report from Urban Institute and the National Center for Children in Poverty found that expanding state immigration enforcement policies increased material hardship (such as eviction or difficulty paying for basic household expenses) in immigrant households with children. Although the policies target unauthorized immigrant populations, lawful immigrant households also experienced more material hardship in states with expanded enforcement, suggesting a broader climate of fear created by such policies.
The San Diego federal judge overseeing family separation cases against the government has given final approval for a settlement agreement that aims to give certain migrant parents a second shot at asylum.
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