Committee on Education and Labor : U.S. House of Representatives

Press Releases

Recent Immigration Raids Have Devastating Impact on Local Communities, Witnesses tell House Subcommittee

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

 

WASHINGTON, DC -- Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) workplace raids have had hard consequences for local communities and U.S. children, witnesses told the House Workforce Protections Subcommittee today.

“Even though ICE put into place voluntary guidelines to ensure the humane treatment of people being detained when conducting raids, they are not being followed in a consistent fashion,” said Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), chair of the subcommittee. “As a result, we are still hearing heartbreaking stories of the impact on children. Unless ICE follows humanitarian procedures in conducting these raids, we are still left with traumatized children and communities.”

In November 2007, ICE instituted guidelines that recommend that in some circumstances the agency coordinate with local social service groups on humanitarian efforts for raids involving the arrest or deportation of more than 150 immigrants. The guidelines also outline procedures to ensure that nursing mothers have access to their newborns and the appropriate treatment of detained juveniles. However, critics testified that these guidelines are insufficient, inconsistently enforced and need to be strengthened.

“When children come into custody because their parents are detained or deported, the attempt to reunify families places a great strain on the system,” said Simon Romo, chief counsel of the New Mexico Child Protective Services Agency. “The notice of immigrant enforcement operations to child welfare agencies should be required in all instances regardless of where they take place and regardless of the size of the employer workforce to avoid causing trauma to every child.”

These raids have been especially traumatic on children, most of whom are American citizens. According to a 2007 National Council of La Raza report, there are approximately five million children in the United States with an undocumented parent.  The report found that two-thirds of those children are U.S. citizens.

“The report found evidence of increased economic hardship, social stigma, fear, isolation, family separation, disruptions in schooling, and negative emotional and mental health consequences for children,” said Janet Murguia, president of the National Council of La Raza. “Across the communities examined in the report, teachers, caregivers, and mental health professionals consistently described children with symptoms of depression and other psychological disturbances such as sleep disturbance, loss of appetite, fearfulness, mood swings, and feelings of abandonment by their parents.”

Kathryn Gibney, principal of San Pedro Elementary School in San Rafael, Calif., testified that her school continues to see rising absenteeism and falling test scores even more than a year after ICE conducted immigration deportations in her community.

“When ICE agents continue to use schools as the hunting ground for their seizures, it becomes impossible for teachers to assure students that they are safe,” said Gibney. “There must be a better way to execute a federal mandate in a more targeted manner.”

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