The Trump administration has failed to comply with a court order to continue funding legal representation for unaccompanied immigrant children.
U.S. citizen children with immigrant parents are expressing fears of being deported themselves amid the Trump administrations ramped up immigration enforcement efforts.
Federal immigration enforcement officers have been conducting welfare checks at the homes of unaccompanied children in the Houston area and nationwide.
Immigration advocates are raising concerns that the Trump administration is expanding family detention beyond recent border crossers to include families with long-standing ties to the U.S.
Recent deportations by ICE, including the separation of a Cuban mother from her 1-year-old and the deportation of Honduran mothers and their U.S. citizen children, are raising legal concerns about the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies.
Girasol has 3 upcoming trainings on topics related to working with immigrant populations, including:
This webinar will present findings from a survey of over 2,000 Spanish-speaking immigrants, offering insights into their experiences, needs, and resistance strategies within the current political climate.
This new book contain two chapters that address issues for immigrant children and families who become involved with the child welfare system.
This article explores the implications of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts on the millions of U.S. citizen children living with undocumented family members, and the state and local child welfare systems that may serve them.
April 22, 2025 — In partnership with the Berkeley School of Social Welfare, the Latinx and Democracy Cluster (LDC) Speaker Series, and the Center on Immigration and Child Welfare Initiative (CICW), Dr. Kristina Lovato, Assistant Professor of Social Welfare and Director of the CICW, hosted Dr. Luis Zayas, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, for a powerful presentation titled “Immigration Enforcement: Facing A New Reality of An Age-Old Phenomenon.”
Drawing from his award-winning book, Through Iceboxes and Kennels: How Immigration Detention Harms Children and Families, Dr. Zayas shared research findings on the psychological and social impacts of immigration detention on asylum-seeking families. He presented a theoretical model of migration from Central America, highlighting the profound effects of post-migration experiences—particularly immigration enforcement—on children’s attachment, development, and mental health. Using visual models of disrupted development, Dr. Zayas illustrated how forced family separations and detention environments damage children’s wellbeing.
The discussion also explored how practitioners and service organizations can more effectively support immigrant families amidst growing uncertainty about the future of immigration enforcement policies. Dr. Zayas emphasized the urgent need for trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and systemic approaches to serve impacted communities.
© 2025 CICW.