When Illegal Immigrants Are Separated from Their U.S. Citizen Children

Recently the New York Times brought up the issue of U.S. citizen children being separated from parents who are undocumented immigrants in this country. The article recounts the story of one Guatemalan immigrant who lost custody of her child following her incarceration for illegal immigration. The boy was adopted by U.S. citizens.

Other custody situations like this one are taking place across the country. An adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is described as saying that her department is seeking ways to deal with family separations in the face of new immigration enforcement guidelines. Department of Homeland Security information about this issue is not easy to find on its website, but these resources provide some interesting information:

• "Immigrant-Orphans Adopted by U.S. Citizens by State or Territory of Residence, Gender, and Age: Fiscal Year 2008" Scroll down to Supplemental Table 4 on this page for access to these stats.
• U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement Family Residential Standards
  
  And two reports from the Homeland Security Department's Office of Inspector General:
  


• Removals Involving Illegal Alien Parents of United States Citizen Children
  
• Fiscal Year 2009 Annual Performance Plan See "Detentions and Deportations Involving the Parents of U.S. Citizen Children"

You can find additional resources in our guide to Immigration.