New Bill introduced to save immigrant families

NEW YORK: A new bill has been introduced to the US congress to keep immigrants families together in case of deportation.

Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard has introduced the legislation on July 16 2012.
 
‘The Help Separated Families Act, H.R. 6128’ , addressed the growing number of US citizen children, were placed in the child welfare system as a result of immigration enforcement actions, with the intent to keep children of detained or removed parents united with their families.

“I introduced this legislation when I discovered the alarming numbers of children were placed in foster care and separated from their families when their parents are detained or deported,” said Congresswoman Roybal-Allard to the press.

“We can no longer ignore the human cost of our broken immigration system. As a mother, I know the anxiety behind being separated from a child for even a short period of time. People, regardless of their immigration status, deserve to know that their children are cared for, and when possible, children should be able to remain under the care of a family relative instead of becoming a ward of the state,” she added.

This issue came to the Congresswoman’s attention when she, along with other Democratic members of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, requested the release of an Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) Report regarding the annual deportation of parents of U.S. citizen children.

During the first half of last year alone, more than 46,000 parents of US citizen children were deported from the United States. In the wake of their parents’ removal, a growing number of children have been placed in foster care and left to languish, or worse yet, have been separated permanently from their families when their parents’ rights are terminated. It is estimated that over 5,100 children in at least 22 states are currently living in foster care as a result of immigration enforcement policies, according to Color Lines, a social justice publication.

“Two sisters who had no previous criminal history were both placed in handcuffs and taken into custody. Both of the women`s children remain in foster care,” an example was given by the publication.

BDST: 1755 HRS, JUL 18, 2012
Edited by:
Mohammed Humayun Kabir, Sr Newsroom Editor