Exiling Children, Creating Orphans: How Deportation Hurts Us All

1. Exiling Children, Creating Orphans:How Deportation Hurts Us All Luis H. Zayas, Ph.D. Children’s Policy Conference Texans Care for Children February 26, 2014

2. Deportation leads to Louis Brandeis, U.S. Supreme Court 1922 “the loss of both property and life; or of all that makes life worth living.”

3. The Immigration-Deportation Environment • 11.7 million unauthorized immigrants • 5.5 million children in mixed-status families • 4.5 million are U.S. citizen-children • Pew Hispanic Center, 2011, 2012 • Conflicting local & state & federal policies • Aggressive enforcement practices • Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals • Prosecutorial discretion

4. ICE: “Record Levels of Enforcement” Year Apprehensions Removals 2005 1,291,065 246,431 2006 1,206,412280,974 2007 960,772319,382 2008 1,043,774 359,795 2009 869,828 395,165 2010 752,307 387,242 2011 641,601 388,409 2012 643,474 419,384 2013(awaiting figures) 368,644 Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2013

5. 2:1 Capps et al., 2007 Demographers’ Ratio

6. Applying the Ratios Year Removals 2:1 4:1 2005246,431123,215 61,608 2006 280,974140,487 70,244 2007 319,382159,691 79,846 2008 359,795179,897 89,949 2009 395,165197,582 98,792 2010 387,242193,621 96,811 2011 388,409194,204 97,103 2012 419,384209,692 104,846 2013 368,644184,322 92,161 TOTALS 3,165,426 1,582,711791,360

7. Harm to Families • Parents making anguishing decisions • Children separated from parents • Siblings separated from each other • Older siblings taking care of younger siblings • Children placed in custody of child welfare • Parental rights terminated, sometimes • Creating two classes of citizen-children • Exiles • Orphans

8. Harm to Children • Psychological & Social Effects • Anxiety & hyper-vigilance • Depression • Trauma • Impaired attachment & bonding • Ambiguous loss and grief • Behavioral disorders • Uneven conditions of siblings (USC v. UNDOC) • DACA-eligible v. DACA-ineligible siblings

9. UT Austin StudyExploring the Effects of Parental Deportation • Three groups of citizen-children • Boys and girls ages 10-15 • In U.S. or Mexico: post-deportation v. no deportation • Group A: Parents deported, child in Mexico • Group B/C: Parents deported, child stays in US • Group D: No deportation experience, family in US • Mental health measures • Depression; anxiety; overall behavior; self-concept; trauma • In-depth interviews Study funded by the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development

10. UT Austin StudyPreliminary Results UT Austin Study NOTE: Study of 61 citizen-children (32 girls, 29 boys) with an average age of 11 years 9 months. The ‘parent deported’ group includes children in Mexico and U.S. Study funded by the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development

11. Collateral Damage Visiting condemnation on the head of an infant is illogical and unjust. . . . Obviously, no child is responsible for his birth, and penalizing the child is an ineffectual—as well as unjust—way of deterring the parent. William J. Brennan, Jr., U.S. Supreme Court Plyerv. Doe(1982)

12. Harm to Our Nation • Developmental health of our nation • Requires a healthy, well-educated, law-abiding labor force and citizenry • Developmental outcomes that are truncated • Behavioral & social-emotional competence • Literacy & education • Creativity • What will be the skills abilities of these returning citizens?

13. Policy Implications, I • Recognize that present system is no longer a viable • Change laws • Incorporate explicit language for children’s well-being during parents’ detention/removal • Redefine “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” to include mental health and education • Humane prosecutorial and judicial discretion • Keep immigrant parents out of detention • Ensure child’s best interest before detaining/removing parent • Favor supervised release of parent over detention • Ensure children’s access to parents during detention • Ensure family unity & equity, and family reunification

14. Policy Implications, II • If must deport, provide assistance to child in US or outside • Practices • Safe havens or school programs to assist children directly after arrests • USDHS and USDHHS develop child protection and trauma-minimizing methods • Improve communication between immigration and child welfare systems • Involve service providers for citizen-children facing exile • State level: • Grant extensions of child dependency cases to avoid terminating the parental rights • Educate child welfare and juvenile courts on detention and deportation