National Council of La Raza: Policies

Action Center Join our action network and make your voice be heard. Sign up for Action Alerts Current and Past Action Alerts Register to Vote

Overview
While large-scale worksite immigration raids have been receiving much attention, increasing immigration enforcement activities on a smaller scale—including raids of private homes and neighborhood businesses—have gone largely unnoticed. Such activities often result in the forcible separation of families and can have particularly negative consequences for their children, such as economic hardship, fear, isolation, social stigma, and psychological trauma. It is estimated that for every two adults who are deported, one child is directly impacted—either left behind in the U.S. without one or both parents or forced to leave the country they consider home with a deported parent. This suggests that, in 2007 alone, 135,000 children were affected by both large- and small-scale raids. Five million U.S. children, most of them citizens, live with at least one undocumented parent. Consequently, the number of children that could potentially be affected by future raids is staggering.

NCLR Position
NCLR recognizes the importance of upholding the nation’s immigration laws. However, it is concerned that the current enforcement strategy conflicts with other primary national policy goals, including child protection and well-being. Currently, the U.S. lacks a consistent, comprehensive standard to ensure the protection of children directly affected by immigration enforcement actions. NCLR encourages the development of new enforcement standards that work to mitigate the effects of raids on children and ensure their safety and well-being. Ultimately, NCLR advocates for comprehensive immigration reform that would allow the U.S. to regulate its borders while simultaneously meeting its responsibility to protect its children and, therefore, its future.