We know that immigrant families are separated every day when caught up in our current immigration enforcement and detention system. The Florence Project routinely encounters parents of U.S. Citizen children who are detained in Florence and Eloy and are at risk of losing custody of their minor children and being permanently separated from them. We struggle to assist these parents so they can maintain ties with their children and educate child welfare personnel about the detention system so they can locate parents and seek reunification where appropriate.
A new report prepared by Nina Rabin of the University of Arizona’s Southwest Institute for Research on Women and Bacon Immigration Law and Policy Program called Disappearing Parents: A Report On Immigration Enforcement & The Child Welfare System highlights this issue through research and recommendations based on the experience of women detained in Arizona.
A similar report was released on a national level by the Women’s Refugee Commission late last year and is available here.
We are happy to see the UA and the Women’s Refugee Commission raise awareness about this important issue impacting our clients.
