Latest / THE DAILY BRIEF / How Trump's ICE crackdown has TRAUMATIZED 'hundreds of thousands' of children in the U.S

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How Trump's ICE crackdown has TRAUMATIZED 'hundreds of thousands' of children in the U.S · THE DAILY BRIEF

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  Speaker 1: A new feature in The Atlantic is highlighting one aspect
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  Speaker 1: of the immigration crackdown that's creating a separate crisis. The
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  Speaker 1: United States is deporting large numbers of immigrant parents without
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  Speaker 1: their children. Joining us now, the reporter behind that piece,
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  Speaker 1: staff writer at The Atlantic, Caitlin Dickerson. She previously covered
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  Speaker 1: immigration for The New York Times during President Trump's first
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  Speaker 1: administration and caitlin i remember recently i think it was
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  Speaker 1: danbury connecticut i was seeing reports of kids on the
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  Speaker 1: first day of school coming home to no parents because
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  Speaker 1: they did raids on the first day of school but
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  Speaker 1: tell us a little bit about uh what you're finding
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  Speaker 1: how many people um who are in families are being
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  Speaker 1: targeted who were simply in the process of trying to
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  Speaker 1: get legal status when they were taken away leaving families
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  Speaker 1: even children behind.
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  Speaker 2: So what I.
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  Speaker 3: Found in my reporting is that the number of kids
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  Speaker 3: who are being left at home without one or both
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  Speaker 3: of their parents is really massive. Brookings researchers didn't estimate
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  Speaker 3: as of last April, they thought more than 200,000 kids
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  Speaker 3: in the United States, the majority of whom, more than
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  Speaker 3: 70% of whom were U.S. citizens, had lost at least
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  Speaker 3: one parent to ICE detention or deportation. They also believe
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  Speaker 3: that more than 30,000 children have lost both of their parents.
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  Speaker 3: So you're right.
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  Speaker 2: There are so many stories to keep up with right now.
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  Speaker 3: So many aspects to this immigration crackdown that it's hard
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  Speaker 3: to keep up.
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  Speaker 2: But I decided that I wanted.
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  Speaker 3: To focus on these kids who I discovered are being
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  Speaker 3: left in very precarious situations. So, you know, losing one
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  Speaker 3: parent is extremely destabilizing. And often we know the person
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  Speaker 3: who's deported is the breadwinner. They're at work like the
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  Speaker 3: man we just saw who was, you know, a door
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  Speaker 3: dash driver. And ICE went after him. People are out
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  Speaker 3: on the streets when they're working, and that makes them
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  Speaker 3: more vulnerable to ICE arrest. And so I interviewed families
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  Speaker 3: who had one parent left behind who was incredibly scared,
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  Speaker 3: you know, trying to make sure that they weren't going
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  Speaker 3: to maroon their children completely with no caretaker. And so
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  Speaker 3: parents who were individual parents who had been doing everything right,
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  Speaker 3: you know, they entered the United States legally. maybe under
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  Speaker 3: a parole program where they requested asylum, which is legal.
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  Speaker 3: They were going to ICE check-ins and court hearings. They're
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  Speaker 3: now actually doing the opposite and going underground, hiding from
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  Speaker 3: ICE because they're so scared of leaving their children all alone.
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  Speaker 2: And then, of course, I wrote about kids who were
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  Speaker 2: left all alone.
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  Speaker 3: There's a two-year-old in my story named Eber who's been
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  Speaker 3: living with his mother's former co-worker since January. His mom
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  Speaker 3: was detained last November.
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  Speaker 2: He just turned two.
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  Speaker 3: He doesn't even seem to remember his own mother when
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  Speaker 3: they speak over FaceTime. The woman caring for him is
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  Speaker 3: facing incredible strain as our caregivers across the country. It's
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  Speaker 3: expensive to care for these kids. They're emotionally traumatized. And
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  Speaker 3: it's very, very difficult to reunite these families. And none
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  Speaker 3: of this seems to be normal. under consideration when ICE
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  Speaker 3: is going.
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  Speaker 2: Out and arresting parents.
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  Speaker 4: Caitlin, I want to read a little bit from your piece.
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  Speaker 4: You write this, quote, Some children end up with foster
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  Speaker 4: families after caregivers burn out. Some have landed in the
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  Speaker 4: homes of abusive relatives or acquaintances. In January, two-year-old Orlin
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  Speaker 4: Hernandez-Reyes was left with his aunt's ex-partner, who was known
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  Speaker 4: to be dangerous when ICE detained his mother. She begged
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  Speaker 4: deportation officers to reunite her with Orlin before she was
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  Speaker 4: deported to Honduras. But that did not happen. Soon after,
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  Speaker 4: Orlin's body was found with broken bones and signs of
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  Speaker 4: sexual abuse. And his caregiver was charged with murder. He
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  Speaker 4: is pleaded not guilty. Then ICE director Todd Lyons blamed
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  Speaker 4: his mother, saying she chose to leave her son here
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  Speaker 4: with a violent murderer who took his life. That is
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  Speaker 4: a hard passage to stomach. Can you just explain a
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  Speaker 4: little bit more, talk about that story a little bit?
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  Speaker 4: But also, I mean, when we say some of these
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  Speaker 4: children as young as two years old are left behind
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  Speaker 4: with no parents, what does that look like in the moment?
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  Speaker 4: The parents are disappeared. And then in the immediate aftermath,
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  Speaker 4: what happens to these kids?
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  Speaker 3: So because ICE isn't in many cases working with local
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  Speaker 3: authorities to ensure that kids are safe, these situations in
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  Speaker 3: the moment can look very haphazard. You know, you have
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  Speaker 3: neighbors coming in, noticing that a child is alone or
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  Speaker 3: getting a phone call from a child who's alone, you know,
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  Speaker 3: former co-workers, like I mentioned of one of the mothers
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  Speaker 3: in my story, really anybody who's around scrambling to find
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  Speaker 3: housing and safety. And I'm glad that you brought up
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  Speaker 3: the case of Orlean because, right, I described a scenario
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  Speaker 3: where a well-meaning caregiver who's taken in A child whose
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  Speaker 3: parent was deported for an indefinite amount of time is
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  Speaker 3: facing incredible strain, as is, of course, the separated parent
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  Speaker 3: and the child. But I also found cases like Orleans
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  Speaker 3: where someone who wasn't well-meaning, you know, an adult who
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  Speaker 3: was estranged, who had a history of abuse, even convicted
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  Speaker 3: history of abuse, swooped in after a child's parent was
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  Speaker 3: detained by ICE. The parent was powerless to stop this
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  Speaker 3: from happening. took a child into their home. I write
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  Speaker 3: about a mother who dealt with that scenario with two
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  Speaker 3: of her children. You know, her ex-partner was estranged from them.
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  Speaker 3: He had multiple DUIs. He had convictions for domestic violence,
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  Speaker 3: including of children. When this mother was detained, he took
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  Speaker 3: two of their children into his home, and it took
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  Speaker 3: months for this mother to try to get the kids back.
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  Speaker 2: Frankly, the only reason that she.
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  Speaker 3: Was successful was because, for She was hooked up with
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  Speaker 3: a pro bono family lawyer in Los Angeles who who
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  Speaker 3: argued the case from the time the mother was detained
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  Speaker 3: and then ultimately deported to her home country.
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  Speaker 2: But this is something that we.
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  Speaker 3: Know most parents taken into ICE custody aren't going to
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  Speaker 3: be able to do on their own.
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  Speaker 2: You know, family courts are extremely difficult to navigate.
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  Speaker 3: And because ICE isn't making sure that arrangements have been
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  Speaker 3: made for children before detaining and deporting parents, This is
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  Speaker 3: a scenario that is becoming more and more common to
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  Speaker 3: the tune of.
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  Speaker 2: Like I said earlier, perhaps hundreds of thousands of children.
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  Speaker 4: Oh, my God.
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  Speaker 1: The new piece is available online right now. Staff writer
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  Speaker 1: for The Atlantic, Caitlin Dickerson. Thank you very much for
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  Speaker 1: your reporting.
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  Speaker 4: Or just click below.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks.