Immigration

“The deported parents are kind of lost in the story. Not only were they separated, they were deported back to the country they fled. They haven’t seen their children in three years now, and there’s no clear pathway to get them back.” – Carol Anne Donohoe, Attorney with Al Otro Lado     Right now more than 600 migrant children are still separated from their families. This cruel legacy is left behind by the Trump administration which tore more than read more…

On August 7, 2019, ICE officials raided several food plants in Mississippi in the largest single raid of its kind in U.S. history.  Many of the individuals detained were parent(s) and some will never be reunited with their children. What happens to children when parent(s) are no longer at home to care for them? There are many complicated possibilities for where a child will end up if his or her parent(s) are detained. The best case scenario is when a read more…

Each year Promise the Children focuses on a number of important issues that range from Child Poverty and Early Education to Limiting Out-of-School Suspensions, Advocating for Stronger Gun Laws and Ending the Detention of Immigrant Children. As a member of the PTC community, we value your feedback! Our current areas of focus include Public School Funding and Teacher Salaries, Child Care and Early Education, Gun Safety and Control, and the Supervision of Detention Centers Housing Immigrant Children Separated from Parents. read more…

Christmas is supposed to be about the beautiful birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem that inspires us to be generous, loving and forgiving. Jesus was born a refugee whose parents fled from Nazareth because the Roman King Herod threatened to kill all male newborns in the city. In an attempt to keep their family safe from harm, Joseph, Mary and Jesus fled to Bethlehem where they found refuge. Fortunately their family didn’t suffer the separation and detentions that are plaguing read more…

On a day to day basis, the trauma of parental separation with and without additional adversity, takes many forms.  In the urban elementary school in which I work, it is the kindergarten boy who becomes unable to physically manage his body when his teacher mentions that the class will be making Mother’s Day cards. When the rest of his classmates begin to work on their cards, this boy throws himself on the rug and begins to roll around and growl. His read more…

Two major crises in the United States—new immigration policies and the opioid epidemic—are causing children to suffer incredible hardship as they are forcibly separated from, or tragically lose, a parent at alarming rates. Families Separated by the Trump Administration Since the enactment of the Trump Administration’s Zero Tolerance Policy for illegal border crossings, the number of immigrant children separated from their parents and placed in U.S. Government custody increased by an alarming 21% in a little over a month. At read more…

“I am 17 years of age now and I am a victim of having my home ripped apart due to deportation. My father was taken from my home 11 years ago in front of my face. It’s really something you just don’t get over it. I’m still hurt as if it just happened 2 seconds ago” says one of our citizen children. When citizen children’s parent(s) are detained or deported, they lose the love and guidance of a parent who read more…

Over the past several years, especially since January 2017, executive orders that provide for significant expansion of efforts prioritizing the deportation of all undocumented people in the United States have been issued. Currently, there are more than five million children in this country living with at least one undocumented parent. Unfortunately, there aren’t any protections in place to preserve family units when an undocumented parent is deported, which often leads to children being funneled into the child welfare system. The read more…

As we work on behalf of our children and families, it’s important to be informed! Here are 5 myths about DACA and Dreamers and why they’re wrong. Myth 1: DACA is a pathway to citizenship DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) is a program that gives beneficiaries a temporary reprieve from deportation, allowing them to stay lawfully in the country, granting work permits and allowing them to obtain driver’s licenses. The program is not amnesty, nor is it a path to read more…

Our government has declared war on citizen children whose parent(s) are undocumented even though they may have lived and worked here for many years. Even the Temporary Protective Status (TPS) granted to those who are victims of a natural and other disaster in their home countries is being revoked. Our government is destroying healthy, self-supporting families. Write or email your Senators and Congresswo(men) today and ask for their support. Tell them that a path to citizenship, rather than so many read more…