No one took a breath when Tina Hamdi’s young son spoke up at the Ohio Immigrant Alliance and Center for Law and Social Policy press conference to promote “Broken Hope: Deportation and the Road home.
“I’m here because I miss my mom,” he said.
The Children Thrive Action Center issued a new policy paper outlining the harms of deportation on children in the United States, and recommendations for the Biden administration and Congress. In “Afterthoughts: The Children of Deported Parents,” the coalition writes:
Children and young people from communities of color bear a higher burden of the costs of deportation, resulting from systemic racism, social inequality, and a punitive immigration enforcement system. This factsheet outlines the available evidence on the harms to children’s safety, mental and physical health, education, financial stability, and offers recommendations for policymakers to remedy the harm. Children should be centered in immigrant policy, not be afterthoughts. Policymakers must remedy the harm through policies that promote family unity and child well-being.
Read the factsheet here.