One of the harshest realities following the ICE raids in the U.S. is the children stranded when they lose their parents in the crosshairs of the aggressive immigration policies under the Trump administration, according to a CNN report on Tuesday.
More than 100 children are now facing the new "separation crisis" after their parents have been deported, according to the report.
When ICE raids their parents' workplaces, homes, during school drop off, and in communities, these children are often left to parent themselves in an abrupt and often unexplained detention. And these cases have become more prevalent as the administration has moved away from "humane enforcement" of immigration law,s and ICE appears to have violated the protections that are still in place for undocumented parents to help find someone to care for their child or plan travel.
American children of immigrants do not fall within ICE's jurisdiction, and unlike immigrant children, they are not tracked by the agency, CNN reports.
A spokesperson tells CNN that ICE “goes out of its way” and claims to give parents the opportunity to designate a guardian or have their children accompany them when they are detained. The spokesperson disputed CNN's in-depth reporting.
“CNN is trying to obscure the fact that each of the illegal alien parents they are defending willingly chose to break our nation’s criminal and administrative laws and as a result of those choices, are responsible for what happens to their children – just as any U.S. citizen parent who breaks the law is when they are taken to jail,” the spokesperson told CNN.
The Trump administration has set an aggressive quota of 3,000 arrests per day, prompting arrests of not just immigrants with violent records, but also targeting people who have lived in the country for more than a decade and have no criminal record.
Several people have died during the chaotic and violent ICE raids in the U.S. It has left many children in a vulnerable position.
“This ICE is not using their discretion,” said Heidi Altman, vice president of policy at the National Immigration Law Center, told CNN. “The checks and balances that used to exist are gone.”
Lawmakers are also introducing legislation to help make it easier for parents to give kids left behind guardians.
“We are witnessing families being torn apart in real time — parents detained, unable to pick up their children from school and childcare,” Democratic California Assemblywoman Celeste Rodriguez said in a statement about legislation that is currently awaiting the governor’s signature. “This bill is not just about planning; it’s about creating a safety net.”