The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) – the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy
organization in the United States – works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans.
Through its network of nearly 300 affiliated community-based organizations (CBOs), NCLR reaches
millions of Hispanics each year in 41 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. To achieve
its mission, NCLR conducts applied research, policy analysis, and advocacy, providing a Latino
perspective in five key areas – assets/investments, civil rights/immigration, education, employment
and economic status, and health. In addition, it provides capacity-building assistance to its
Affiliates who work at the state and local level to advance opportunities for individuals and
families.
Founded in 1968, NCLR is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan, tax-exempt organization headquartered
in Washington, DC. NCLR serves all Hispanic subgroups in all regions of the country and has
operations in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio, and San
Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Urban Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research and educational organization
established in Washington, DC, in 1968. Its staff investigates the social, economic, and governance
problems confronting the nation and evaluates the public and private means to alleviate them. The
Institute disseminates its research findings through publications, its web site, the media, seminars,
and forums.

Copyright © 2007 by the National Council of La Raza
Raul Yzaguirre Building, 1126 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036, 202.785.1670

Printed in the United States of America.
All rights reserved.

Paying the Price:
The Impact of Immigration
Raids on America’s Children
Authored by:
Randy Capps
Rosa Maria Castañeda
Ajay Chaudry
Robert Santos

A Report by The Urban Institute
For the National Council of La Raza

Table of Contents

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iii
I.

Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

II.

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Background on Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Worksite Enforcement Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Study Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Organization of This Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

III.

Number of Children Affected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
National Estimates of the Number of Children in
Undocumented Families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Estimates of Children Affected in the Study Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

IV.

Worksite Enforcement Actions in the Study Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
The Day of the Raids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Detention, Release, and Deportation of Parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

V.

Immediate Impact on Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Procedures During
and Following the Raids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

Families and Extended Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Public School Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

VI.

Longer-Term Impact on Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
Family Fragmentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
Family Economic Hardship and Instability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
Interruptions to Schooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
Emotional Trauma and Psychological Health Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

VII. Community Responses and Services to Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
The Central Role of Religious Institutions as Safe Havens and
Distribution Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
The Importance of Coordination of Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
The Challenges of Leadership, Capacity, and Cultural Competence . . . . . . . . . .58
The Limited Role of Public Agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
Barriers Due to Service Locations and Information Requirements . . . . . . . . . . .64

VIII. Conclusions and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Recommendations for Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Recommendations for U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Recommendations for Public Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
Recommendations for State and Local Government and
Nonprofit Service Providers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Recommendations for Immigrant Community Institutions
and Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72

IX. Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Appendix 1: Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
Appendix 2: Profiles of the Study Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
Appendix 3: Overview of Service Delivery in the Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83
Appendix 4: National Estimates of Undocumented Adults
and Their Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91

Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96
NCLR

Foreword

O

ne of our society’s fundamental principles is that, to the extent possible, children
should not be punished for the sins of their parents. This principle has deep roots
in both religion and law. Many of the world’s great religions share similar

teachings. And, from a legal perspective, when our nation was created, the value that
children’s futures should not be based on their parents’ social status helped to shape the
world’s leading democracy.
Our child welfare system reflects this fundamental principle. If a child is endangered by
abuse or neglect, our society steps in to safeguard the best interests of the child. And while
there is clearly room for improvement in the child welfare system, there is little controversy
about the rationale for the system’s existence; few disagree that children deserve protection.
Like many morally sound policies, adherence to this principle has practical benefits as well.
It happens to be in our long-term social and economic interest to minimize harm to
children. Research demonstrates that abused and neglected children are less likely to
become productive and well-adjusted adults. Thus, it’s a good investment for taxpayers
when we step in to ensure that children are protected.
This principle – and a core value of our democracy – is currently under assault. In recent
months, the Department of Homeland Security has launched a series of raids that have resulted in
the forcible separation of children from parents accused of violating our immigration laws.
Issues of immigration are fraught with emotion, which is perhaps fitting in this “nation of
immigrants.” While the emotion in this debate is understandable, the question is not
whether to enforce immigration laws but how. It is critically important to focus policyNCLR ◆ Page i

Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

maker attention on the fact that there are conflicting principles involved, and thus
significant policy choices to be made. Enforcement resources are not unlimited, and a
wise administration will make considered judgments about how best to make use of finite
resources for the good of the nation. Presumably, this requires some assessment of the
benefits of our enforcement priorities as compared to their costs. This study is the first
significant attempt to assess the costs of these enforcement choices on innocent children,
the most vulnerable members of our society.
The National Council of La Raza’s desire to stimulate a more thoughtful policy
conversation on enforcement priorities is our motivation for investing in this study, and
for seeking a well-respected research institution to conduct it. We asked the Urban
Institute to design a study that assesses the impact of immigration raids on children and
families and the institutions that support them, such as early childhood education centers
and school systems. Their findings help remove the issue from the hyperbole which
often surrounds it, and the report outlines implications for children, families, and
communities.
The results are striking. The number of children separated from one or both parents as a
result of immigration enforcement is significant; the study found that for every two
immigrants apprehended, one child was left behind. This suggests that potentially
thousands of children have been separated from their parents as a result of recent
immigration enforcement activities, and literally millions more may be at risk. The study
found that fully two-thirds of affected children are U.S. citizens or legal residents,
suggesting that the potential future costs for our country are significant. In addition, the
Urban Institute found that the impact on the social structures that support children was
profoundly negative. Surely Americans should be concerned when one of the effects of
enforcing the law is that school systems and child care providers must prepare for the
likelihood of substantial numbers of their children being left without care, without warning.
The Urban Institute’s results suggest that there is an urgent need for Congress and the
Administration to review the nation’s immigration enforcement priorities and undertake a
more careful analysis of the costs of the choices we make. If our immigration
enforcement strategy undermines the health and well-being of America’s children and the
structures designed to protect and nurture them, it is time to reconsider our priorities.

Janet Murguía
President and CEO
National Council of La Raza

NCLR ◆ Page ii

Acknowledgments

T

his report represents a collaborative effort between the Urban Institute and the
National Council of La Raza (NCLR) to better understand how many children are
potentially at risk of having a parent deported and/or detained as a result of

worksite enforcement actions and the potential impact of such actions on these children.
The authors of this study are Urban Institute researchers Randy Capps, Rosa Maria
Castañeda, Ajay Chaudry, and Robert Santos. The views and conclusions included herein
are those of the authors alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of NCLR, the
Urban Institute, or their funders.
The authors thank Joe Hammell and Kathleen Moccio of Dorsey & Whitney LLP in
Minneapolis for reviewing drafts of the report and providing their perspective on the
legal issues involved.
NCLR staff who contributed to the completion of this publication include Miriam
Calderón, Associate Director, Policy Analysis Center; Flavia Jiménez, Senior Immigration
Policy Analyst; Catherine Han Montoya, Emerging Latino Communities Program
Coordinator; Michele Waslin, Director of Immigration Policy Research; and Cecilia
Muñoz, Senior Vice President. In addition, Jennifer Kadis, Director of Quality Control;
Nancy Wilberg, Assistant Editor; Jackeline Stewart, Copy Editor; and Ofelia Ardón-Jones,
Production Manager/Senior Design Specialist of Graphics & Design were responsible for
shepherding the report through the production process.

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

NCLR and the Urban Institute extend their gratitude to Massachusetts Immigrant and
Refugee Advocacy Coalition, Nebraska Appleseed, and El Comité and Congregations
Building Communities in Colorado, the four intermediary organizations who were
instrumental in connecting Urban Institute researchers with key community contacts as
well as with parents and other caregivers in the study sites. Without their assistance, the
study would not have been possible. We also thank all of the community contacts in the
sites for their time and expertise. The parents and other caregivers interviewed for the
study shared personal, often painful, stories. Their accounts are the most important data
supporting the findings in this report.
Finally, NCLR acknowledges the generous support of its funders. Foremost, this report
was made possible through The Atlantic Philanthropies’ support of NCLR’s Latino
Children’s Advocacy Project. The Annie E. Casey Foundation provided additional
assistance for report production, and the Foundation for Child Development supported
the study’s release. In addition, core support for NCLR’s Policy Analysis Center is
provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
The photos included in this report represent the many faces of America’s children.
Marlene Hawthrone Thomas, NCLR, contributed photos she took of students at Mary's
Center/Education Strengthens Families (ESF) Public Charter School in Washington, DC.
Additional photos were provided by photographer Susie Fitzhugh (those on pages iii, 1,
9, 15, 33, 41, and 55 are © Susie Fitzhugh). The cover photo was included with the
permission of Peter Pereira, a photographer for the Standard-Times. This image of Baby
Tomasa crying in the arms of her mother was taken during the immigration raid that
occurred in New Bedford, Massachusetts in March 2007. It has become a symbol of the
pain and suffering of the thousands of children who have lived through this ordeal.

NCLR ◆ Page iv

I. Executive Summary

T

here are approximately five million U.S. children with at least one undocumented
parent. The recent intensification of immigration enforcement activities by the
federal government has increasingly put these children at risk of family

separation, economic hardship, and psychological trauma. U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE), the interior enforcement arm of the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS), the federal agency charged with enforcing immigration laws, has markedly
increased the pace of worksite raids in the past few years to apprehend undocumented
immigrants: the number of undocumented immigrants arrested at workplaces increased
more than sevenfold from 500 to 3,600 between 2002 and 2006. These actions are part of
intensified enforcement activities, including deportation of immigrants who have
committed crimes; door-to-door operations to arrest immigrants with deportation orders;
and large-scale raids of suspected undocumented immigrants’ worksites. With the
collapse of comprehensive immigration reform in Congress, and the all but certain
appropriation of additional enforcement resources to ICE, it is likely that the number of
worksite actions will continue to increase.
The primary goal of this paper is to go beyond the human interest stories reported in the
media and provide a factual basis for discussing the impact of worksite enforcement
operations on children with undocumented parents. The study focuses on children
because they have strong claims to the protection of society, especially when they are
citizens and integrated into their schools and communities, and the United States is the
only country they have known and consider home. They also warrant our attention
because they are emotionally, financially, and developmentally dependent on their
parents’ care, protection, and earnings.

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

The findings discussed in this report are based on a study of three communities that
experienced large-scale worksite raids within the past year: Greeley, Colorado; Grand
Island, Nebraska; and New Bedford, Massachusetts. In each location Urban Institute staff
met with employers, lawyers, religious leaders, public social service agencies, nonprofit
agencies, community leaders, and others to discuss the immediate aftermath of the raids,
as well as the potential longer-term impact on children. Parents, including some released
from ICE detention, and other caregivers of affected children were interviewed
individually.
Greeley and Grand Island were two of the six sites in which Swift & Company
meatpacking plants were raided. New Bedford was the site of a raid on Michael Bianco,
Inc., a textile manufacturing facility that makes backpacks for the U.S. military. In all
three sites the vast majority of workers arrested were from Mexico, Guatemala, or other
Latin American countries. The findings in this report, however, may also be applicable to
children with undocumented parents from other regions of the world, as about 22% of all
undocumented immigrants in the nation come from regions other than Latin America.
Number of children affected. On average, the number of children affected by worksite
raids is about half the number of adults arrested. Over 900 adults were arrested in the
three study sites, and the parents among them collectively had just over 500 children.
A large majority of the children affected are U.S. citizens and the youngest and most
vulnerable in our society – infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. In one site, two-thirds of
the children were citizens – matching national data. In two of the sites, 79% and 88%
(respectively) of children were ages ten and younger. In one site, more than half of the
children were ages five and younger.
Immediate impact on children. ICE’s processing and detention procedures made it
difficult to arrange care for children when parents were arrested. Many arrestees signed
voluntary departure papers and left the country before they could contact immigration
lawyers, their families, or – in one of the sites – their home country consulates. Detained
immigrants had very limited access to telephones to communicate with their families,
and many were moved to remote detention facilities out of the states in which they were
arrested. Some single parents and other primary caregivers were released late on the
same day as the raids, but others were held overnight or for several days. Many of the
arrested parents were afraid to divulge that they had children because they believed that
ICE would take their children into custody as well.

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

In the days and weeks following the raids, informal family and community networks took
on significant caregiving responsibilities and economic support of children. Families
faced major economic instability as their incomes plunged following the arrest of working
parents, usually the primary breadwinners. The most important immediate needs were
food, baby formula, diapers, clothing, and other necessities. Families were generally
reluctant to go to state or private agencies to ask for assistance due to fears of additional
arrests of family members, be they adults or children. Many families hid in their homes –
in some cases in basements or closets – for days and weeks on end.
On the day of the raids, school districts in all three sites were effective in ensuring that
children were not dropped off to empty homes or left at school overnight, but some
children walked to empty homes. The Grand Island school district implemented a plan
to contact every child whose parents worked at the Swift plant and to determine adult
supervision for them. Because of the efforts of school district officials and extended
family and community networks, no young children were left behind in school, left at
home without adult supervision, or taken into foster care. Some adolescents, however,
were left in the company of other teenagers and children for days and even weeks. Some
younger children remained in the care of babysitters for weeks or months.
Longer-term impact. Many parents were deported within a few days of their arrest, and
in such cases families had to make arrangements depending on whether the arrested
parent could eventually reenter the United States legally or would be willing to face the
grave risks involved with attempting illegal reentry at some point in the future. Other
parents were held in detention for months, and only released after paying substantial
bonds (up to $10,000), or not released at all before their deportation. During the time
these parents were held, their children and other family members experienced significant
hardship, including difficulty coping with the economic and psychological stress caused
by the arrest and the uncertainty of not knowing when or if the arrested parent would be
released.
Hardship increased over time, as families’ meager savings and funds from previous
paychecks were spent. Privately funded assistance generally lasted for two to three
months, but many parents were detained for up to five or six months, and others were
released but waited for several months for a final appearance before an immigration judge
– during which time they could not work. Hardship also increased among extended
families and nonfamily networks over time, as they took on more and more responsibility
for taking care of children with arrested parents.

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

After the arrest or disappearance of their parents, children experienced feelings of
abandonment and showed symptoms of emotional trauma, psychological duress, and
mental health problems. Many lacked stability in child care and supervision. Families
continued hiding and feared arrest if they ventured outside, increasing social isolation
over time. Immigrant communities faced the fear of future raids, backlash from
nonimmigrants, and the stigma of being labeled “illegal.” The combination of fear,
isolation, and economic hardship induced mental health problems such as depression,
separation anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidal thoughts.
However, due to cultural reasons, fear of possible consequences in asking for assistance,
and barriers to accessing services, few affected immigrants sought mental health care for
themselves or their children.
Community responses. In all three study sites, community leaders and institutions
initiated intensive and broad response efforts to assist immigrant families after the raids.
Religious institutions emerged as central distribution points for relief because they were
considered “safe” by families, had space to hold functions and deliver services, provided
a natural outreach avenue, were not threatening to other service providers, and could
provide some assistance without “strings attached.” But in the long run, church-based
assistance was not sustainable due to the limited capacity of infrastructure and staff.
Other private social service delivery systems also played important roles. In Grand Island
and Greeley, Swift & Company provided substantial assistance through United Way
agencies, and in New Bedford, the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts
funded efforts facilitated by the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA)
Coalition, a statewide organization.
The presence of trusted membership organizations and coalitions with a focus on
immigrant issues facilitated response efforts in New Bedford and Grand Island. In Grand
Island, a number of state agencies and local leaders had previous experience with a raid
in 1992, and they stepped forward to organize the response. But in Greeley, difficulties
in coordinating services and obtaining the names of arrested family members – along with
a major snowstorm about a week after the raid – delayed the response effort.
Local leadership, service delivery capacity, and cultural competence also emerged as
critical factors in enhancing community responses, yet not all of these were present in all
three sites following the raids. Small Latino community-based organizations (CBOs)
played leading roles in relief efforts, but few featured strengths across all these

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

dimensions. Recent immigrant groups such as the Maya Kiche from Guatemala had
limited leadership experience and needed support from outside groups.
State and local public health and social service agencies had varying levels of community
trust and involvement in response efforts across the sites. The Massachusetts Department
of Social Services (Massachusetts DSS) sent 35 workers to detention centers in Texas to
interview detainees; they were successful in obtaining the release of 20 single parents
who were held there. Through this effort, Massachusetts DSS attained direct contact with
some affected families and gained their trust. In Greeley, by contrast, the county social
service agency was not a trusted site for relief efforts due to a recent state law requiring
that immigrants providing false documents be reported to the authorities. In Grand
Island, a recent child welfare case – in which an immigrant parent lost her child and was
deported – had broken trust between the agency and the community.
In all three sites, social service agencies sent staff to churches shortly after the raid to
assist affected families, and they stationed staff at churches and other service delivery
locations temporarily. Despite outreach efforts and the fact that U.S.-citizen children are
eligible for a wide range of public benefits and services, few families sought public
assistance in any of the three sites following the raids.
Nongovernmental service providers also faced trust issues with the affected families,
which complicated service delivery. In Grand Island, ICE’s ongoing door-to-door
operations and arrests of immigrants in their homes maintained a high level of fear in the
community for weeks, and families there would not even go to church or open the door
for community leaders who brought them food baskets.
In all three sites, there was substantial paperwork associated with verifying that families
seeking assistance were related to immigrants arrested at the worksites. Verification
procedures substantially delayed delivery of aid in Greeley because it took more than two
weeks to get a full and accurate list of arrestees from ICE.
The location where the major forms of assistance were distributed affected the delivery of
services following the raids. In general, providing services in multiple locations such as
religious and grassroots community organizations and going door to door was more
effective than opening a central distribution point and waiting for families to seek
assistance there.

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

Conclusions and recommendations. Children are vulnerable members of society; thus,
the United States, like most other nations, has developed systems to protect them. These
systems are designed to meet children’s basic needs such as food, shelter, and health care,
and to keep them safe from psychological and physical harm. Yet, these systems cannot
replace parents when they are taken away from their children. Current U.S. immigration
policy mandates the arrest of undocumented parents, and by extension causes separation
of parents from children.
The U.S. government has largely been silent about the impact of these raids on children,
and ICE has yet to acknowledge fully that worksite enforcement operations have harmful
and long-lasting consequences for families. In fact, ICE has not issued public guidelines
or regulations concerning the treatment of parents during their arrest, detention, and
deportation.
Beyond the broad concern about the lack of protection for children following worksite
enforcement operations, the research also raised many specific concerns about the
conduct of worksite raids and community responses to them. The following is a brief list
of the recommendations drawn from the study; the full list is available at the end of
section VIII, “Conclusions and Recommendations,” of this report:
■

Congress should provide oversight of immigration enforcement activities to ensure
that children are protected during worksite enforcement and other operations.

■

ICE should assume that there will always be children – generally very young children
– affected whenever adults are arrested in worksite enforcement operations, and
should develop a consistent policy for parents’ release. Single parents and primary
caregivers of young children should be released early enough in the day so that their
children do not experience disruptions in care; they should not be held overnight.

■

ICE should provide detainees access to counsel and advise them of their right to
confer with their country’s consular office. Detainees should be allowed access to
telephones, and the confidentiality of their telephone conversations should be
ensured.

■

Schools should develop systems to help ensure that children have a safe place to go in
the event of a raid, and to reduce the risk that children will be left without adult
supervision when the school day ends.

■

Social service and other public agencies should prepare plans to respond to
immigration raids and develop outreach strategies to assure parents and other
caregivers that it is safe to seek emergency assistance and benefits for children under
such circumstances.

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

■

Churches and other religious institutions should be considered central points of
communication, distribution of assistance, and outreach to families affected by
immigration enforcement operations.

■

Social services and economic assistance need to be provided over a prolonged period
of time – often many months – until parents are released from detention and their
immigration cases are resolved. Longer-term counseling for children and their parents
to mitigate psychological impacts may also be necessary.

■

Relatives, friends, community leaders, and service providers should develop plans for
immigrant families in the event of a single parent’s or primary caregiver’s arrest and be
ready to provide ICE with necessary documentation for a parent’s release.

■

Immigration lawyers, advocates, community leaders, and others should be honest with
arrested immigrants about their chances of remaining in the United States, and
strategic in choosing which cases to fight. Arrested immigrants should not have to
pay large legal fees if their cases have a low probability of success, especially when
they are already facing substantial economic hardship.

■

A clearinghouse of information about responses to raids should be developed
nationally. Such a clearinghouse could be a repository for stories about raids, a
conduit for sharing information, and a setting for developing best practices in service
delivery.

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

NCLR ◆ Page 8

II. Introduction

T

he United States has reached a crossroads in its immigration policy and
enforcement strategies. With at least 11 million estimated undocumented
immigrants in the country,1 there is mounting pressure on Congress and the DHS

to resolve the status of immigrants and to create an immigration system that is fair and
orderly. Some in Congress have pursued various legislative strategies that would grant
permanent legal status to the 11 million or more undocumented individuals currently
residing in the United States. Others have proposed granting temporary work permits,
which would at least allow these immigrants to stay in the country legally for a period of
a few years. But these measures have failed to pass the full Congress, leaving millions of
immigrants without any form of legal status – or basic rights in the country – and
vulnerable to arrest, detention, and deportation at any time.
Most of the children of undocumented immigrants are birthright citizens, and the rights
of U.S. citizens extend to these children, along with the obligations of the U.S.
government, other public institutions, and private actors in our society to protect them.
Recent estimates suggest that there are about five million children in the United States
who have one or more undocumented parents. Two-thirds of these children – more than
three million – are U.S.-born citizens.2 Under current law these children are just as

vulnerable to immigration enforcement as their parents. While they cannot be deported
themselves, the arrest, detention, and possible deportation of one or more parents have
potentially great immediate and longer-term impact on these children.
Worksite enforcement is different from other immigration enforcement activities in
several important ways, having negative short- and long-term implications for families
and children. Worksite raids occur all over the country – not just near the border.
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Generally, immigrants arrested in worksite raids have no prior criminal history or
immigration-related arrests. Worksite raids by definition are aimed at people working in
the country illegally, and the offenses for which they are arrested include unauthorized
work and at times use of false Social Security numbers. For those who have been in the
country working for many years – which includes the bulk of the immigrants included in
this study – arrests arguably cause great shock and disturbance, and the instability
following the arrest of parents can negatively affect children in all aspects of their
lives – economically, psychologically, and otherwise.

BACKGROUND ON DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (DHS)
WORKSITE ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
DHS is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the world. Every year DHS arrests
more than 1.6 million immigrants; the vast majority of them are arrested along or near the
Southwest border with Mexico.3 Further into the interior of the United States,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducts operations that net thousands of
immigrants every year under a variety of enforcement strategies. Through “Operation
Return to Sender,” for instance, ICE arrested almost 20,000 undocumented immigrant
fugitives in federal fiscal year (FY) 2006.4 “Criminal aliens” – those immigrants convicted
of criminal charges within the United States – are arrested in even larger numbers. Since
1996, when new criminal deportation provisions were enacted in the Illegal Immigration
Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, more than 650,000 immigrants – both
undocumented and legal noncitizens – have been deported as criminal aliens, many after
serving substantial prison time. In both FY 2004 and FY 2005 more than 90,000
immigrants were deported as criminal aliens.5 To meet the needs of its various
investigation, law enforcement, detention, and deportation operations, ICE’s budget is
$4.7 billion for FY 2007.6
There has been an increased focus on worksite enforcement within DHS and ICE, but the
number of worksite arrests is still small relative to other interior enforcement activities.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the predecessor agency to ICE, arrested
very few undocumented immigrants at worksites during the late 1990s through 2002. But
since its creation in 2003, ICE has “dramatically enhanced its efforts to combat the
unlawful employment of illegal aliens in the United States.”7 Between FY 2002 – the last
full year INS was in operation – and FY 2006, the number of worksite administrative
arrests increased more than sevenfold, from fewer than 500 to more than 3,600 (Figure 1).
During the first ten months of FY 2007 (October 2006 through July 2007), there were more
than 3,600 administrative arrests and more than 700 criminal arrests – about as many as
during all of FY 2006.

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ICE’s new emphasis on worksite enforcement has resulted in large-scale sweeping
operations in many states, as well as many much smaller operations. In December 2006,
as part of “Operation Wagon Train,” more than 1,000 ICE agents raided six Swift &
Company meatpacking plants; ICE also arrested 1,297 immigrants under administrative
charges and another 274 persons – both immigrants and U.S.-born natives – on criminal
charges.8 Two of these Swift raid sites were visited for this study. Since the raid on
Michael Bianco, Inc. in New Bedford in March – the last of the three operations discussed
in this report – there have been worksite enforcement actions in at least nine states, with
more than 700 immigrants arrested.9 Almost all of the immigrants arrested in these raids
were Latinos – primarily from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras – but nationally almost a
quarter of undocumented immigrants are from regions of the world other than Latin
America. In some other worksite raids, arrested immigrants may not have been
predominantly Latinos.
ICE’s detention capacity has also increased to accommodate the growing number of
arrests from worksite and other operations. On any given day in FY 2006, ICE detention
facilities housed almost 20,000 immigrants, a 10% increase over FY 2005. There are large
and growing numbers of deportations as well. In FY 2006, ICE formally deported more

FIGURE 1

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Worksite Arrests,
Fiscal Years 2002 through 2007

Criminal arrests
Administrative arrests

Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “Worksite Enforcement Overview.” Fact Sheet. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Homeland Security, 2007. Available at http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/factsheets/worksite.htm.

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than 185,000 immigrants from the United States.10 However large these numbers may
seem, these deportations amounted to less than 2% of the estimated 11 million
immigrants in the country without authorization.

STUDY GOALS
The primary goal of this paper is to go beyond the human interest stories reported in the
media and provide a factual basis for discussing the impact of worksite enforcement
actions on children with undocumented parents. The study focuses on children because
they have strong claims to the protection of society, especially when they are citizens and
integrated into their schools and communities, and the United States is the only country
they have known and consider home. They also warrant our attention because they are
emotionally, financially, and developmentally dependent on their parents’ care,
protection, and earnings.
A secondary goal is to draw attention to the ground-level experiences of immigrant
families and communities following the raids and use these experiences to understand
how the raids have affected families and communities. This report also includes a
concrete set of recommendations for policy changes, planning, and organizing to mitigate
the impact of future raids on children and communities.
To this end, the study addresses the following key questions:
■

Number of children affected. How many children have parents who have been
arrested in worksite enforcement actions? What are the ages of these children, and
how many are U.S.-born citizens?

■

Immediate impact on children. What are the immediate physical, emotional, and
psychological effects of the raids on children? Who cares for children on the day of a
raid and what happens to them in the days that follow? How are their basic needs for
supervision, food, and shelter met? What is the impact of separation from their
parents? What happens with children’s schooling?

■

Longer-term impact on children. Over the longer term, do families remain in the
same communities or relocate elsewhere in the United States or abroad? If a parent is
deported, does the child move with the parent or remain with another parent or
caregiver? How do families make decisions about moving or staying, and what are the
implications of their decisions for children?
◆ How do family circumstances and caregiving arrangements change during the
intervening period between when a raid occurs and when parents are released from
detention and deported? What housing, employment, and economic conditions do

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the families face while the parent is detained, when they are released on bond and
waiting adjudication, and once their case is decided?
◆ How do increased fear in immigrant communities and backlash from
nonimmigrants affect children psychologically?
◆ What are the potential longer-term consequences for children’s development?
■

Community responses. How have state and local public agencies, nonprofit service
providers, faith-based organizations, community leaders, schools, and other people and
institutions responded to the raids? What types of assistance are provided, and what
needs are left unmet? What seem to be the most effective response models or strategies?
What are the key challenges in delivering services to families and children?

■

Lessons learned and recommendations. What lessons can be learned from community
responses to the raids in anticipation of similar raids in the future? What
recommendations can be made for public agencies, private organizations, and
immigrant communities to prepare for future raids? What recommendations can be
made for ICE and the federal court system adjudicating the cases?

ORGANIZATION

OF

THIS REPORT

Following a brief description of the methodology, the report discusses the number of
people arrested in the three raids covered by the study along with the numbers and
characteristics of children in arrestees’ families. Next, the report discusses what actually
happened on the day of the raids in each site, and what happened to the people who
were arrested. Following is a section discussing the immediate impact of the raids on
children in terms of their caregiving arrangements, schooling, and basic economic needs.
Longer-term consequences – economic, social, and psychological – are discussed in a
separate section. The next section describes the social service responses of the three
communities visited for the study. Implications for future responses to immigration raids
are discussed throughout the report in text boxes at the end of each substantive section;
vignettes and stories about affected families are also described in text boxes. Conclusions
and recommendations are provided as the last substantive section of the report. Four
appendices follow: (1) a detailed description of the methodology; (2) summary of the
demographic, economic, and social characteristics of the sites; (3) description, in
systematic detail, of the community responses to the raids in the three study sites; and (4)
detailed estimates of the number of children in undocumented families nationally,
regionally, by country of origin, and by parent occupation.

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METHODOLOGY
The study was conducted in a short time frame – about four months from April through
July 2007 – and is exploratory and preliminary in nature. Site visits were conducted in
three communities within two to six months after large-scale worksite raids had taken
place. Thus, the study covers only the short- and intermediate-term impact on children
and the communities’ responses to the raids. Some findings and hypotheses about
potential longer-term effects on children were also explored in the study; however, a
comprehensive assessment of longer-term consequences must be left to a follow-up study
with a longer time frame. The impact on children who left the country with their parents
or other caregivers was beyond the purview of this study.
In each site, information was obtained directly from immigrants who were arrested, their
spouses, and other family members. Immigrant community leaders, employers, and
public and private agency staff who provided relief following the raids were also
interviewed. Semistructured interview guides were used to collect standardized
information from site to site and among respondents; these guides also allowed for
open-ended discussions with respondents. Data on the number of children directly
affected were collected, when possible, from each site. National figures on children of
undocumented immigrants and their characteristics were obtained using data from the
March 2005 U.S. Current Population Survey (CPS), enhanced by Urban Institute
assignments of legal status to noncitizens in the survey. The methodology is described in
more detail in Appendix 1 at the end of this report.
The three study sites were all selected based on large-scale ICE worksite enforcement
actions within six months before the site visits. The raids were conducted in
manufacturing plants that are major employers. The sites were similar in size and
included a substantial number of Latino immigrants, but the demographics of Latino
populations differed across the locales, as did their residential and employment patterns.
Although the report focuses on sites where virtually all of the arrested immigrants were
from Latin America, the findings may also be applicable to children with undocumented
parents from other regions of the world.11 Appendix 2 describes the demographic,
economic, and social characteristics of each of the three study sites in more detail.

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III. Number of
Children Affected

U

nderstanding the scope of the impact of worksite enforcement actions on
children and families requires data or estimates of the number of children
potentially and actually affected. Unfortunately, there are no hard numbers on

the undocumented population, as it is largely clandestine and difficult to survey; data on
the number of ICE arrestees with children are also lacking. Absent such exact data, this
section draws on two of the best available sources: national survey data from the U.S.
Current Population Survey (CPS), and data obtained during the course of the study’s three
site visits.
Nationally, there are almost five million children with at least one undocumented parent,
and about half as many children as undocumented working-age adults. From the site
visits, the best available information suggests that at least 506 children were directly
affected by the arrest of at least one parent. This is more than half of the total number of
arrestees (912).

NATIONAL ESTIMATES OF THE NUMBER
UNDOCUMENTED FAMILIES

OF

CHILDREN

IN

While employer enforcement actions may deter the employment of undocumented adults,
the unavoidable consequences of such actions include putting the well-being of children
at risk. Nationally, about half of all working-age undocumented adults have at least one
child. On average, one child is likely to be affected for every two workers arrested, if the
demographics of undocumented workers arrested match the national data.

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Nationally, the ratio of children to working-age undocumented adults (ages 18 to 64) was
53% in 2005. There were 9.3 million undocumented working-age adults and 4.9 million
children (ages 0-17) living with these adults (Table 1).12 About half (48%) of
undocumented working-age adults had children. Three-quarters of undocumented
families with children had two parents in the home, and there were two children on
average per family.*

TABLE 1

National Estimates of Undocumented Working-Age
Adults and Their Children, 2005
Number of adults (ages 18-64)
Number of adults with children (ages 0-17)
Percentage of adults with children
Average children per parent
Average children per family
Total number of children (ages 0-17)
Ratio of children to adults
Percentage of children:
U.S.-born citizens
Ages 0 to 5
Ages 6 to 10
Ages 11 to 17

9,281,000
4,483,000
48%
1.1
2.0
4,925,000
53%
64%
37%
28%
35%

Note: Estimates are inflated by about 10% to adjust for undercounting in the Current Population Survey, as are the most
recent and widely accepted estimates by the Pew Hispanic Center. See Passel, Jeffrey S., The Size and Characteristics of
the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U.S.: Estimates Based on the March 2005 Current Population
Survey. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center, 2006.
Source: Urban Institute analysis of March 2005 U.S. Current Population Survey data, augmented with assignments of legal
status to noncitizens.

Thus, based on national data, one would expect that the number of children affected by
raids would be equal to about half the number of adults arrested. Moreover, as
undocumented families have two children on average, there are multiple children
affected in most families. However, there are likely to be differences across our study
sites based on the demographics of immigrants there and other characteristics. Potential
reasons for variation across the sites are discussed in detail in Appendix 4.

*

See Appendix 4 for further details.

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Hundreds of other children were also affected because they lived in extended households
with the arrested immigrants; families who were directly affected moved in with them; or
they felt the psychological impact of the raids on the whole immigrant community. These
children are not reflected in the estimates included in this report.
Citizenship of children. The majority of children in undocumented families are U.S.born citizens; therefore, worksite enforcement actions are affecting a large number of
citizens in addition to undocumented immigrants. The U.S. Constitution declares that
children born in the United States are citizens by birthright. In 2005,
almost two-thirds (64%) of children with undocumented working-age

IMPLICATIONS

parents were U.S.-born citizens (Table 1).
The almost five million children

The majority of younger children with undocumented parents were

with undocumented parents in

U.S.-born citizens, but most adolescents were foreign-born and

the United States are at risk of

therefore undocumented, like their parents. In 2005, 84% of children

adverse consequences if their

under age six were U.S.-born citizens, compared with 63% of children

parents are arrested in

ages six to ten, and just 44% of children ages 11 to 17. As a result, in
many cases worksite raids are affecting both citizen and noncitizen
children within the same families.

worksite or other immigration
enforcement actions. The small
number of worksite arrests so
far – just a few thousand – has

Ages of children. Worksite enforcement actions are also affecting a
large number of the most vulnerable members of society – the

directly affected only a small
fraction of the children
potentially at risk.

youngest children. The children of undocumented immigrants are
predominantly young children, and many are infants, toddlers, and
preschoolers. In 2005, more than a third (37%) were ages five and younger, and almost
two-thirds (65%) were ages ten and younger.13 Because so many of the children of
undocumented parents are very young, child care arrangements are likely to be critical in
the aftermath of worksite raids. Moreover, schools cannot be the only or primary focus of
response efforts, because only about two-thirds of the children affected are likely to be
old enough to be in school.

ESTIMATES

OF

CHILDREN AFFECTED

IN THE

STUDY SITES

There were 506 children (collectively) whose parents were arrested in the three sites (912
total arrested adults). The ratio of children to arrested adults ranged from about three
children for every four adults in Greeley to just under one to three in New Bedford.

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Although only three sites were chosen for the study – and they are by no means
representative of all the worksite enforcement actions that have taken place recently –
data from the sites fall into line with the national data, suggesting that there are a little
more than half as many affected children as adults. But there was great variation in the
number of children from site to site, suggesting that some raids have significantly more
impact on children than others. There were more children per arrested adult in Greeley
and Grand Island than in New Bedford, most likely because New Bedford arrestees were
younger, were more likely to come from Guatemala and other Central American countries,
and were earning lower wages; these factors are discussed in more detail in Appendix 4.
Number of children with arrested parents. The sites in Greeley and Grand Island each
had about 275 arrests (Table 2). In Greeley, according to service providers interviewed for
the study, 90 households with children and at least one arrested worker received services.
Assuming there was one arrestee per household, amounting to about one-third of
arrestees with children, these households had a collective total of 201 children, or 2.2
children on average per household. In Greeley there were approximately three children
for every four arrested adults.
In Grand Island, a similar number of children with arrested parents (192) were in families
that sought services, but no information was available on how many adults or families
with children sought services. The ratio of children to arrestees in Grand Island was
more than two children per every three arrestees (69%), just below the ratio in Greeley.*
New Bedford had fewer adults with children, despite the larger number of overall
arrestees (361). In this site, only 78 arrestees (22%) had children, and the total number of
children was 113. Those arrestees with children had only 1.4 children on average in New
Bedford, compared with 2.2 in Greeley. The ratio of children to arrestees was just under
one child for every three arrestees (31%) in New Bedford, less than half that of the other
two sites. The data we obtained from the first two sites likely undercounted the number
of children affected because they are based on reports by service providers. However, in
New Bedford, the data are complete.
Citizenship of children. Data on the U.S.-citizen share of children were obtained only for
Greeley. At this site, 66% of children were citizens, consistent with national data. Given

*

The figures on the number of children affected in the first and second sites are based on records of households
that received services and had at least one parent arrested, verified against a list provided by the swift of
company. Because not all families with children sought services, these numbers are likely underestimates.

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TABLE 2

Numbers of Arrestees and Children of Arrestees for the
Three Study Sites

Greeley
273
90
33%
2.2

Grand Island
278
N/A
N/A
N/A

New Bedford
361
78
22%
1.4

Number of children
Ratio of children to arrestees

201
74%

192
69%

113
31%

Percentage of children:
U.S.-born citizens
Ages 0 to 5
Ages 6 to 10
Ages 11 to 17

66%
N/A
N/A
N/A

N/A
44%
35%
21%

N/A
71%
17%
12%

Geographic region of the U.S.

West

Midwest

Northeast

Mexico
Guatemala

Guatemala
Mexico

Guatemala
Honduras
El Salvador

Total workers arrested*
Number with children
Share with children (ages 0-17)
Average number of children

Predominant countries of
origin of arrestees

*

Includes all those officially reported as arrested by ICE, some of whom were arrested at locations other than the primary facility that was
raided.

Sources: Greeley and Grand Island data are based on information obtained from service providers and therefore may undercount the number
of children affected as not all arrestees or families sought services. New Bedford data are based on a comprehensive list of arrestees and their
family members compiled by state and local advocates and service providers.

the higher share of Guatemalan arrestees in Grand Island and New Bedford – and the fact
that a higher share of children with Guatemalan than Mexican parents are citizens
(Appendix 4) – one would expect the citizen share of children to be higher in these two
sites, but no data were obtained.
Ages of children. Data on children’s ages were obtained for Grand Island and New
Bedford, and in both sites large majorities were age ten and younger. In Grand Island,
44% of children were under six years old, and another 35% were age six to ten. Just 21%
were ages 11 to 17. Children were much younger in New Bedford: 71% were under six,
and 17% were age six to ten. Only 12% were age 11 to 17, not counting the four arrestees

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IMPLICATIONS

who were themselves minors. In fact, a large number of the children
in New Bedford were infants and toddlers, and a dozen pregnant

Arresting undocumented

women were arrested. The relatively young ages of the children in

immigrants from worksites

New Bedford – relative to Grand Island and the national data presented

inevitably affects children. On

earlier – are most likely due to the same factors associated with fewer

average, there are likely to be

children in this site, especially the younger average age of arrestees

about half as many children as

(Appendix 4).*

adults affected by worksite
enforcement actions. But there
is likely to be great variation
among worksite operations, as
the share of children varies
with immigrants’ age, country
of origin, and other factors.

*

Nationally, in 2005 the age distribution of children in undocumented families was 37% under age six, 28%
ages six to ten, and 35% ages 11 to 17.

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IV. Worksite Enforcement
Actions in the Study Sites

T

he central focus of this report is on the impact of the ICE worksite raids on
children at the three study sites. These raids were large in scale and had a
dramatic and long-lasting impact on the communities in which they were

conducted. Arrested immigrants often experienced long and difficult periods of
detention and uncertainty about their future. To understand the impact on children, it is
important to first review how the raids were conducted and how arrested immigrants
flowed through the ICE system of detention, release, appeal, and deportation following
the raids. The discussion of these issues in this section of the report is not meant to be
exhaustive, but only to provide a context for our later discussion of the impact of the
raids on children and services provided to them.

THE DAY

OF THE

RAIDS

Greeley, Grand Island, and New Bedford experienced among the largest worksite
enforcement actions that ICE – or any U.S. immigration authority – has ever conducted.
They involved a large-scale show of force with hundreds of agents involved in each site.
Greeley and Grand Island were two of the sites for “Operation Wagon Train,” in which
1,297 undocumented immigrants in total were arrested at six Swift & Company
meatpacking plants on December 12, 2006.14 New Bedford was the site of a raid on the
military contractor Michael Bianco, Inc., in which 361 undocumented immigrants were
arrested on March 6, 2007.15 These large-scale operations involved substantial logistical
support, as hundreds of arrestees were moved across different locations, processed,
detained, and then released or deported. They evinced significant community reaction
and gained substantial attention in the media. Most of what we learned about the days
the raids took place corroborated media reports.
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The raids were conducted similarly in all three locations. ICE contacted local law
enforcement personnel prior to the raid, but in Greeley and Grand Island no other
authorities or community members had advanced warning. In New Bedford, state and
local law enforcement officials were contacted in advance of the raid. ICE also contacted
the governor, who notified the central office of the Massachusetts DSS. The local DSS
office was not informed until the morning of the raid. In all three sites, ICE agents
arrived at the plants early in the morning with a large number of vehicles – including
several buses – to move arrested immigrants from the plants to processing facilities. To
the general community, the movement of many buses and other ICE vehicles into town
was the first sign that a raid was in progress.
In Greeley and Grand Island, ICE obtained warrants to search the plants for immigrants
charged with identity theft (e.g., use of someone else’s Social Security number) and used
these warrants to gain access to the manufacturing plants. In New Bedford, ICE had
placed an agent in the worksite and, based on the agent’s observations, obtained a warrant
for employer violations of working conditions and workers’ rights. In all three sites,
plant management shut down the assembly lines and instructed workers to assemble in
central locations, where ICE agents separated them into groups by citizenship and legal
status and requested to see their documentation. There were conflicting reports about the
degree to which ICE agents were armed and had their guns drawn during the raids. There
were also conflicting reports about the number of agents who spoke Spanish and were
able to communicate effectively with the arrested workers. Less controversial was the
fact that many Guatemalans in all three locations spoke a Mayan dialect, not Spanish, as
their first language; ICE certainly had difficulty communicating with this group.
In many cases, the workers were not carrying proper identification documents on their
person; therefore, they were initially unable to prove they were citizens or legal residents.
As word of the raids spread across the communities, crowds gathered outside the plants.
Spouses, relatives, lawyers, advocates, clergy, and others came to the plants to provide
documentation for citizens and legal immigrants, although they often had difficulty
getting past security – whether ICE, plant security, or local law enforcement – and
communicating with ICE workers. In all three plants, it took several hours to sort through
the many arrestees and determine their legal status, work authorization, and potential use
of other people’s Social Security numbers.
There were also conflicting reports of how arrestees were treated during the raids and
while still at the plants. Some study respondents said that ICE agents behaved in a
“professional manner” during the raids and allowed the workers access to lockers, food,

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restrooms, and other necessities. Other respondents claimed that ICE did not allow for
breaks or access to food and water for long periods of time. In general, the comments
about ICE’s conduct of the raids were much more positive in Grand Island than in the
other two sites, suggesting there is some variation in enforcement actions depending on
the ICE staff involved and the nature of the action. However, in all three sites, arrestees
were held for several hours at the plants before boarding buses for other locations where
they were to be held for processing, and during this time had no access to legal counsel
or communication with their family members about their
circumstances. Arrestees were generally placed in handcuffs or had

IMPLICATIONS

plastic bands tied around their wrists during their transportation from
the plants to the processing facilities. In New Bedford some of the

Large-scale worksite raids

arrestees also had their legs shackled during their transportation to

involve an extensive show of

detention facilities in Texas.

force on the part of
immigration authorities, and

In all three sites, crowds gathered outside the plants over a period of
several hours during which the raids took place. Many were relatives,
friends, or others seeking to provide documentation, but others were
community leaders and members. In Greeley and Grand Island,

older children – especially
adolescents – may witness
force used against their
parents, which can include
handcuffing or shackling. The

several high school students left school when they heard about the

large-scale nature of the raids

raids and went to the plants. There were no incidents of altercations

and the follow-up raids in

or violence outside the plants at any of the three sites, however.

Greeley and Grand Island kept
the immigrant communities

Much smaller follow-up raids occurred in both Greeley and Grand

living in a state of fear.

Island. In Greeley, several immigrants were arrested at a plant

Pervasive fear and the

subsidiary, and a small number of people were arrested at their homes
on the same day as the plant raid. In Grand Island, ICE continued to
search for a handful of ID theft suspects by going door to door in the
community over the course of several days following the plant raid.

DETENTION, RELEASE,
OF PARENTS

AND

experience of witnessing force
used against their parents
could leave a lasting
psychological impact on
children and adolescents.

DEPORTATION

Arrestees from Greeley and New Bedford were initially processed at ICE facilities within
Colorado and Massachusetts, but arrestees from Grand Island were moved to a National
Guard camp in Iowa for their initial processing. Initial processing generally involved
identifying and recording arrestees’ true names and nationalities; collecting fingerprints;
checking names and fingerprints against ICE, national criminal, and other databases; and
determining whether arrestees should be released, detained, or allowed to leave the
country voluntarily.

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After initial processing, arrestees were generally sorted into four groups: (1) those taking
“voluntary” removal or deportation – who left the country quickly; (2) those detained –
either nearby or in many cases in other states – pending resolution of legal status and
appeals; (3) those referred to federal or state authorities for trial on criminal charges; and
(4) those released on their own recognizance pending an immigration hearing, usually
because they were sole or primary caregivers of children (Figure 2).
Voluntary removal or deportation. In Greeley and Grand Island, a large number of
arrestees signed papers agreeing to be deported without appeal. In many cases they also
agreed to leave the United States before they had any access to a lawyer or an official
from their consulate. Greeley had the largest number of Mexican arrestees (128), the
majority of whom (86) signed voluntary deportation papers and were flown to the
southwestern border within 48 hours.* This group was deported before they had access
to lawyers or officials from the Mexican Consulate.** No information on their identities
was made available until one and a half weeks after the raid, when the consulate received
a list from ICE of all the arrestees. This group was composed almost entirely of men, and
many of those with family in Greeley called their family members from the border, after
deportation, to get back in touch with them. In addition, most of the 94 Guatemalans
who were arrested signed papers agreeing to be deported, and they were deported within
40 days. The Guatemalan Consulate, unlike the Mexican Consulate, was able to provide
representation to about half (50 out of 108) of their nationals who were arrested.
In Grand Island, the Mexican-origin population was also large (105 arrestees), and there
was also a significant number of voluntary departures (72). Consular officials were able
to interview more than 80% of the arrested Mexican-origin population, but many had
already signed their deportation papers before these interviews.*** Lawyers seeking to
represent the arrestees were denied access during the first seven to ten days (while the
arrestees were being held on federal property at the National Guard camp in Iowa), and
lawyers had to contact the U.S. Attorney and a U.S. senator for the state to intervene.

*

A handful of those deported during the first 48 hours told ICE that they were from Mexico; however, they were
actually from Peru or Central America, and were mistakenly deported to Mexico.

** Officials from the Guatemalan Consulate had similar difficulty obtaining access to their nationals within the
first two days; however, a much smaller number of Guatemalans were deported right after the raids.
*** Consular officials from Guatemala and other countries did not travel to the ICE processing facility to attempt to
gain access to their nationals in detention.

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

FIGURE 2

Flow of Worksite Arrestees Through ICE Processing, Detention, Release, and Deportation

Source: Adapted by authors of this study from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General, “Detention and Removal of Illegal Aliens.”
OIG-06-03. Washington, DC: April 2006.

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

According to study respondents, some of the arrestees from both Greeley and Grand
Island who signed voluntary deportation orders planned to try to return to the United
States eventually to be reunited with their families. Voluntary departure is a form of
immigration relief allowing undocumented immigrants who are arrested in the United
States to agree to leave the country without being forcibly deported. Voluntary departure
allows noncitizens an opportunity to remain in the United States for a short period of
time to wrap up their affairs, and then to depart without incurring years-long bars on
legal reentry and other penalties that are attached to formal deportation orders. In other
words, immigrants who take voluntary departure may one day be able to apply for legal
admission. By taking voluntary departure, arrested immigrants also avoid lengthy
detention, and the earlier they are released and deported, the earlier they can attempt
illegal reentry – with its numerous risks and dangers.
In New Bedford, there were not very many voluntary deportations within the first few
days because the arrestees there were almost entirely from Guatemala or other Central
American countries. Guatemalan consular staff and lawyers from Catholic Charities and
Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) were able to see some of the arrestees two days after
the raid. Many arrestees, however, were flown to Texas within the first 48 hours before
they were given access to lawyers. Consular staff and nine lawyers went to Texas a few
days later when they were able to gain access to most of these detainees.* Thirty-five
workers from Massachusetts DSS also went to Texas within the first few days to meet
with detainees on a separate trip. The vast majority of New Bedford arrestees were
detained, some for long periods of time. Only 11 of the arrestees had been deported by
the time of the study’s site visit, two months after the raid.
Voluntary deportation is a less desirable and more difficult option for undocumented
immigrants who are not of Mexican origin. Mexicans are the only group who can be
flown to the southwestern border and deported across that border. This involves
domestic U.S. air flights, which are much easier for ICE to schedule. Flying Mexican
deportees to the border puts them in close proximity to the United States, if they choose
to attempt a return border crossing. Arrestees from Guatemala, by contrast, must be flown
internationally, and this requires arranging flights with the Guatemalan government, and
means that arrestees must spend more time in detention before they can leave the
country. It also means that once they return to Guatemala, the deportees will have a more
expensive, perilous, and longer journey – at least a few days – to return to the United

*

Many of the detainees from New Bedford were sent to a facility in Harlingen, Texas. Harlingen is a small city
along the Texas-Mexico border with few immigration attorneys, so legal counsel for this group largely had to be
brought in from Massachusetts.

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

States. Study respondents also said that the economic and social

IMPLICATIONS

conditions in Guatemala were very problematic for migrants’ return,
as there was little work, especially in the rural regions of Maya Kiche.

Mexican immigrants who are

We were also told that Guatemala was very dangerous, and many

arrested in worksite operations

immigrants had already lost relatives due to ongoing crime, violence,

are more likely to choose

and persecution in that country. As a consequence, many

voluntary departure, allowing

Guatemalans did not feel that returning was a viable option, and

them to be released from

some preferred being detained to risking a return to Guatemala.
Thus, Guatemalans were more likely than Mexican arrestees to fight
their deportation cases.

detention quickly and
potentially return to the United
States eventually to rejoin their
families. Family and community
members may not even know

ICE detention. Most of the arrestees who did not sign voluntary

they have been arrested before

deportation orders were detained for significant amounts of time in

they leave the country.

locations far from their homes and families. In Greeley, the last group

Guatemalan, other Central

of about one dozen detainees was being released at the time of the

American, and other non-

study’s site visit, nearly five months after the raid was conducted. In

Mexican immigrants, however,

Grand Island, a handful of arrestees were still in detention nearly six
months after the raid. In New Bedford, just two months after the raid,
about half of the arrestees (191) were still in detention.

are generally detained for
longer periods of time on
average because they are more
reluctant to sign voluntary
departure papers; even if they

In all three sites, large numbers of detainees were moved out of state

do, it takes more time for ICE to

after initial processing. In some cases, this was likely due to lack of

arrange transportation to their

capacity in nearby ICE facilities, as some ICE detention centers are

home countries.

overcrowded.16 In other cases, women were moved to separate
facilities from men. The movement of detainees to remote facilities
made communication with lawyers, family members, and others that much more difficult
for detainees. In Greeley, for instance, 46 out of 94 Guatemalans detained were
transferred to Houston shortly after the raid. Some of the detainees from Grand Island
were moved to Georgia. In New Bedford 90 arrestees were moved to two ICE facilities in
Texas within the first couple of days. It was several days before consular officials,
lawyers, and Massachusetts DSS workers were able to interview them.
Communication by detainees with their legal representatives and loved ones was also
complicated by lack of telephone access in all three sites. In some of the centers,
detainees were only allowed to make outside calls using prepaid telephone cards, and
these cards were only available for purchase – using funds from detention savings
accounts – once per week. In many cases, the only option for detainees was to call their
relatives collect at substantial cost. In one site, consular officials were allowed to lend
detainees their cell phones to call their families. Otherwise, immigration lawyers and

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

IMPLICATIONS

other visitors were generally barred from lending their phones to
detainees during their visits. In addition, the phone systems at the

Long-term detention - up to

detention centers were not always working, as problems with system

several months - without

reliability are widespread in ICE facilities.17

consistent access to legal
representation or working

Release from detention. In all three sites, ICE released some arrestees

telephones is especially

within a day or two after the raids, based on their roles as primary or

problematic for detainees with

sole caregivers for children, or because of family health issues.

families and children. When

However, respondents told us that ICE was not always consistent in its

detainees are moved to remote
facilities, it makes it even more
difficult for attorneys, social

policies regarding release of caregivers, and that they had some
difficulty in obtaining their release. Moreover, many arrested

workers, and others to contact

immigrants did not disclose to ICE that they had children in the

them. The isolation of

United States for fear that their children would be arrested and

detainees and communication

detained or taken into foster care. One arrestee from Grand Island, for

difficulties make it more

instance, did not tell ICE she had children until she was boarding the

difficult for parents to arrange

plane for her final deportation. Lawyers, consulates, social workers,

care for their children, and
more difficult for children to
inquire about their parents.

and other trusted intermediaries were generally more successful in
eliciting information about children than were ICE agents.
In Greeley, the vast majority of arrestees with children were living in
two-parent families, and the other parent was not arrested. In this

site, according to respondents, only a few arrestees were released initially as caregivers.
Just seven Mexican arrestees – two men and five women – were released the same day as
the raid because they were caregivers. Fourteen Guatemalans were released because they
were single parents or actually had work authorization but could not provide it during
the raid.
In Grand Island, a similarly low number of arrestees were released soon after the raids to
take care of their children. Lawyers were able to obtain the release of nine arrestees – all
women; in six cases they were single mothers, and in three cases the husbands were also
arrested. The Mexican consulate obtained the release of two women whose children were
living without parents. Local community leaders took about half a dozen children with
them to an ICE office and were able to obtain the release of their parents.
In New Bedford, 60 detainees were eventually released because they were sole or primary
caregivers,18 and in total 95 were released without bond. Massachusetts DSS workers
traveled to Texas to interview detainees being held there and recommended the release of
21 detainees because they were parents. It was only after the interviews, protest by the
governor, and the intervention of Massachusetts’ two U.S. senators that ICE released 20 of

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

the detainees. These detainees, who were mostly single parents with
young children, spent several days away from their children. In addition,

IMPLICATIONS

a few minor detainees (under age 18) were released into the custody of

Many arrested immigrants do

Massachusetts DSS and placed in foster care; they were all workers at

not disclose to ICE that they

the plant, and one was also the daughter of another arrested worker.

have children because they
fear that their children would

Most of the detainees identified as sole or primary caregivers were

be arrested or taken into foster

released “on their own recognizance,” in other words without paying a

care. They are more likely to

fine or bond. Most of the detainees released over the longer term,

disclose this information to

however, paid significant bonds to be released. ICE detention sets the
minimum bond at $1,500,19 but respondents told us of much higher

trusted intermediaries. When
parents do not disclose that
they have children, it may

bond amounts, up to $10,000 in some cases. The bond amounts and

delay their release and

difficulty getting released on bond varied greatly from ICE district to

prolong family separation, with

district, and as a rule those detainees held out of state had more

especially severe consequences

difficulty getting bond. One immigration judge, for instance, held

for young children whose only

almost everyone for at least four months, releasing only 16% of those

parent is arrested.

who were eligible on bond.* Another immigration judge set bond
amounts at $4,000 or more. Thus, the setting of bond amounts and
bond policies generally were highly dependent on the location of detention and the
particular immigration judge presiding over the case. This resulted in unequal treatment
of detainees – depending on where they were detained – and unequal consequences for
children in terms of prolonged separation from their parents.
Difficulties obtaining legal representation and paying for bonds compounded economic
hardship for the families of many arrestees. In Greeley and Grand Island, following the
loss of their paychecks, arrestees had to pay attorney fees and bonds from other sources.
Respondents told us that some families had sold their automobiles to pay for bonds.
Others had taken up collections among relatives or taken out large loans. One family was
moving from house to house to try to escape repayment of the loan for their bond. In
New Bedford, however, an anonymous donor established a loan fund for portions of bond
payments that released detainees which their families could not cover.
In New Bedford, some of the arrestees were released wearing “Electronic Monitoring
Devices,” or ankle bracelets. This is the most restrictive form of release and monitoring
of arrestees which could potentially add to the stigma associated with arrest and have an
additional psychological impact on parents and children.

*

Only about six of the ICE detainees were ineligible for bond because of criminal charges or other reasons.

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IMPLICATIONS

Overall, by the time of our site visits, most arrestees had been released

Several factors exacerbate and

deported by the time of our visit, five months after the raid. In Grand

prolong economic hardship

Island, a small number – about 25% of those with legal representation

and instability for the families

– were still in ICE detention six months after the raid. In New

of arrested immigrants,

Bedford, which we visited just two months after the raid, 149

including extended periods of

detainees (42%) had been released, but many (191) were still in

arrest, high bond amounts,
and legal fees. Even after they
are released, arrested
immigrants may need to
remain in their communities

or deported. In Greeley, all of the detainees had been released or

detention.
Despite their release from detention, however, the vast majority of all
those arrested and still in the country had to wait to find out if and

without work authorization for

when they would be deported until the final disposition of their cases

several months pending

was determined. Due to backlogs, the waiting period for immigration

adjudication of their cases.

hearings can run into several months. In Greeley, a handful of
arrestees were told they would have to wait up to nine months or a
year before their final court date. During this waiting period, even
when released, the arrestees do not have legal authorization to work

and have been processed into ICE’s list of pending deportations. These immigrants
cannot work or make decisions regarding their children until the final determination
about their status is made.
Referral for criminal charges. In two of the sites – Greeley and Grand Island – ICE
initiated worksite operations to pursue alleged cases of identity theft (e.g., using someone
else’s Social Security number). In these two sites, a substantial number of arrestees faced
criminal charges, and most of these were for either identity theft or for felony reentry into
the United States. In Greeley, 21 immigrants (less than 10% of the total) were originally
arrested by ICE on criminal charges.20 Six Mexican immigrants were sent to a county jail,
but no formal charges were filed, and the group was deported by ICE under
administrative charges, i.e., illegal presence in the United States.
In Grand Island, 26 people (about 10% of the total) were arrested on criminal charges,
and they were all referred to federal authorities for trial.21 The judge gave them a oneyear sentence and denied them bond during their detention. This group was held in
county jails that have ICE contracts. Some of these detainees are parents, and at least one
is a single parent. Despite any caregiving responsibilities, they cannot be released on
bond due to the criminal charges.
In New Bedford, ICE did not commence its worksite operation based on suspicion of
identity theft or other criminal activity by immigrants working at the plant. As a result,
criminal charges were filed against the immigrants arrested there in only a handful of cases.
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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

Relief from deportation. Most of the immigrants arrested in these
raids have been or will be deported and, according to study
respondents, there were very few forms of relief from deportation

One of the identity theft

available to them. In Greeley and Grand Island, most arrestees had

cases involved a single

been deported five to six months after the raids, i.e., by the time of the

mother with a disabled child.

study’s site visits. But in New Bedford, all but 11 remained in ICE

The disabled child was

custody or had been released into the community.

staying with a brother and

The number of arrestees who received legal counsel and had potential

provide enough support for

relief from deportation – for example, those who had a chance of
staying in the United States legally over the long run – was very small

sister-in-law who could not
the child. Because the
mother was arrested for
identity theft, she could not

in all three sites. In Greeley, only about 20 of the arrestees were

be released on bond. As a

eligible for relief from deportation and received legal assistance. In

result, the disabled child was

Grand Island, there were ten cases represented through one of the

being sent to Guatemala. On

consulates – most of whom were expected to be successful in

lawyers’ advice, the arrested

obtaining work permits. There were an additional 15 to17 cases

mother put in a plea to the

represented by a private lawyer – only two or three of which were
expected to succeed. In New Bedford, an order by an immigration

immigration judge not to
fight her deportation case; if
she had fought the

judge staying removal applied to 54 arrested immigrants, and another

deportation, she would have

half dozen immigrants had cases that would possibly result in their

spent at least a year in jail.

ability to stay in the United States legally.

The judge gave her “time
served” as her sentence, and

Study respondents told us that there are four main forms of relief from

she was sent into ICE custody

deportation available to the arrestees. First, and the most likely to

and deported.

succeed, is marriage to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Some
undocumented immigrants married to citizens or residents are eligible
to apply for adjustment of status – e.g., to obtain a green card while in
the United States; however, this relief is limited. Immigrants who entered the country
illegally are ineligible for adjustment, even if married to citizens or residents, with few
exceptions. Second, some of the women who were arrested had viable claims to legal
residency based on the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). To make a VAWA claim,
they must prove that they were abused, specifically by their spouses. Third, some
arrestees could qualify for cancellation of removal, if they could prove ten years or more
of U.S. residency and “extreme hardship” to a U.S. citizen spouse or child. Extreme
hardship typically involves a serious illness or disability of a family member; the woman
with the disabled child in the example in the text box on the page might have been able
to qualify, were it not for the felony identity theft charge. Finally, some immigrants,
particularly those from Guatemala, could file a credible asylum claim. But respondents
told us that the success rate for Guatemalan asylum claims is low.

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

In Greeley and Grand Island, the vast majority of arrestees were deported or would be
deported by the time this report was written (summer 2007). Whether or not they signed
voluntary deportation papers, were detained for several months, or were released into the
community, the arrestees had few avenues of recourse against their eventual removal from
the country. A small share of arrestees – about 10% among the two sites – were
potentially eligible for some form of relief from deportation, but not all of these cases
would succeed. Thus, detention over several months, release into the community, court
dates, and appeals were in most cases simply delaying the inevitable decision – whether
to leave children in the United States and undergo prolonged family separation or to
return children to the deportees’ home countries to face the difficult

IMPLICATIONS
For most immigrants arrested in

economic and social conditions there.
In New Bedford the outcome was less clear, in part because the site

worksite raids, deportation is

visit occurred only two months after the raid, as opposed to five to six

all but certain, even if

months in Greeley and Grand Island. A large number of arrested

departure is delayed by

immigrants (54) were subject to an order staying their removal, but

prolonged detention or

study respondents described only a half dozen cases where some form

appeals in immigration courts.
There are very few avenues of
relief open to undocumented
immigrants under such

of permanent relief from deportation was available. Four arrestees
applied for asylum based on their experiences during the genocide in
Guatemala. Two more applied for residency under VAWA; one was a

circumstances. Prolonged

domestic violence case, and the other had been raped by members of

legal battles delay decisions

the Guatemalan military. There were no cases in New Bedford of

about children’s futures and

marriage to a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident.

can be expensive for
immigrant families if they do
not receive subsidized legal
assistance.

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V. Immediate Impact
on Children

W

hile worksite enforcement operations are aimed primarily at deterring
employment of undocumented adults, they inevitably and negatively affect
numerous children, as shown in the demographic analysis earlier in this

report. The impact of these operations on children can best be understood by exploring
the range of environmental factors that influence children’s well-being. Children develop
within the context of the immediate nexus of parents and other family members, as well
as the broader community and the various social systems they encounter, including child
care settings, schools, community and social networks, and public and private social
service programs. How their family, community, and public networks support or fail to
support children shapes their course of development.22
Many aspects of the public and private systems that are supposed to protect children are
thrown into chaos during and immediately following worksite operations, creating
inevitable disruptions for children. The most important factor for children’s safety and
well-being is how the raids are conducted, including whether decisions are made that are
sensitive to parents’ responsibilities and children’s needs. The roles of extended family
and larger social networks; local leaders; community-based organizations; and public
institutions such as schools, social service agencies, and health departments are also
important in the immediate aftermath of worksite raids. The roles of each of these
institutions in protecting children are the subject of the “Community Responses and
Services to Children” section and Appendix 3 of this report.

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT (ICE) PROCEDURES
DURING AND FOLLOWING THE RAIDS
The large-scale worksite enforcement actions in the three study sites created crisis
scenarios in terms of the care arrangements for the hundreds of children who temporarily
lost their parents. In all three locations, the sudden and large-scale nature of the raids –
combined with the lack of communication by ICE and lack of community understanding
about what was going on – led to a general sense of chaos and fear. On the day of the
raids, family members, service providers, and the general public did not know whether or
when parents would be released. As knowledge of the raids spread across the
communities, concern grew about how to secure care and protection for the children in
the short term, including who would pick up children after school and after work hours;
provide milk, food, diapers, medicine, and clothes; and feed infants who were
accustomed to breastfeeding. This situation deteriorated further toward outright panic as
rumors – some of which were accurate and others that were not – spread by word of
mouth from family to family during the first 24 to 36 hours after the raids. In addition,
ICE continued to conduct small-scale raids in other workplaces and homes in both
Greeley and Grand Island – further heightening fears and tensions.
As a result of the widespread fear and chaos, many families went into hiding during the
first few days, or in some cases weeks, following the raids. In all three sites, there were
stories of families who hid in their basements or closets for days at a time. People would
leave the house only in small groups on short, focused trips, for instance to buy food.
They kept their shades drawn and houses darkened. Some would not even open the door
for people who came to bring them food or other forms of assistance. This seclusion was
especially common, and lasted for several weeks, in Grand Island, where ICE continued to
conduct door-to-door enforcement operations for several days after the worksite operation.
Many families and nonrelatives scrambled to locate children and arrange care for them on
the day of the raid because arrested parents were not given access to telephones or other
methods to communicate with their families. As a result, the responsibility for children’s
care depended mainly on where they were located – at school, at home, at a babysitter’s
house, or at a child care center.
In Greeley and Grand Island, the vast majority of children lived in two-parent families,
and only one parent – more often the father – was arrested.* In New Bedford, about half

*

Nationally, three-quarters of undocumented immigrant families with children have two parents in the home.

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

of the parents who were arrested were released at various points
because they were the primary caregivers for very young children. In
some cases, responsibility for children was transferred to nonrelative

“My cousin’s husband was

providers – the children’s usual babysitters or others – when no adults

deported. The little boy must

in the family remained to provide supervision.

be only two or three years old.
[The parents] were both

Many parents did not disclose that they had children or provide

arrested. She was in jail for

correct information about their children’s care arrangements. They

six to eight days. They took

feared that ICE agents would detain their children or other relatives, or

her to Port Isabel [Texas]. The

that child welfare workers would take their children into custody.
These fears were especially acute in Grand Island, where there were

son was with the babysitter
during this time. She said that
she had a young son but they

rumors that ICE agents had gone to schools and some children had

[ICE] did not believe her. I

been taken into custody during a previous worksite operation years

don’t approach the topic of

earlier.

how her son held up while
she was in jail. We’ve never

In addition, immigrants in Grand Island were fearful of losing their

talked about it.”

children to foster care based on a high-profile case in which an
undocumented Guatemalan mother had been separated from one of
her children for many months following a child abuse report. Nebraska Department of
Human Services (DHS) had removed the child from the home and reported the mother to
immigration authorities. She was deported before her court date in the child welfare
system and lost custody of the child. After she left the country, she had to fight to get her
child back from foster care.
After the immigration raids, ICE released many parents late in the evening, at night, or
during the days that followed. In some cases, young children spent at least one night
without a parent, often in the care of another relative or babysitter, before the arrested
parent was released
In Grand Island, several parents were released late on the day of the raid, but only after
community leaders took their children along with some of their family members to the
local ICE office. Community leaders claimed that their presence along with the children
at the office helped convince ICE to release the parents.
In New Bedford, an older mother with a toddler was not released until late in the evening
because, she said, it took some time to convince ICE that she was a parent. She called
her cousin, who was living with her and the child at the time, to get diapers and milk for
the little girl. Twenty other parents who had been arrested in New Bedford were flown to
Texas, and it took several days before Massachusetts DSS workers could get there and

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

IMPLICATIONS
The combination of fear, lack

make arrangements with ICE to interview them. These parents were
eventually released, but only after a week or more in detention and
the intervention of the governor and two U.S. senators.

of telephone access, and the
late release of many primary

In Greeley, a mother with an infant was detained by ICE for 17 days.

caregivers makes it difficult to

Her husband had been arrested on charges unrelated to the raid and

arrange care for children when

was held until three days after the raid. During these three days the

both parents are or a single

infant stayed with a babysitter, and the father took over caregiving

parent is arrested. There is a

responsibilities after the third day. The baby did not, however, have

high probability that arrested
parents will not disclose correct
information about children due

access to the mother’s breast milk for about two weeks. The mother
told us that ICE did not ask her whether or not she had children or

to mistrust of ICE and child

where her child was until midnight on the day of the raid. When she

welfare authorities. Remaining

responded that she had an infant, ICE still declined to release her.

family members are likely to
go into hiding, making it even
more difficult to find out
information about the children

FAMILIES

AND

EXTENDED NETWORKS

For the most part, immigrant communities in the three sites were able
to avoid the most dangerous circumstances of young children left

of arrestees.

abandoned, homeless, or without someone to watch over them. In all
three sites, no children became homeless, and in Greeley and Grand
Island no children were taken into state custody. In New Bedford, ICE
referred a few adolescents to state custody; these were minors who were working at the
raided plant.* In all three sites, schools put into place emergency shelters, and teachers
offered to take children home with them. Families in the broader communities also
offered to adopt children temporarily. However, these offers proved unnecessary, as
extended networks of family members, friends, or others in the immigrant communities
took on significant caregiving responsibilities.
Heavy reliance on extended family networks was an effective response to the emergency
needs of children in the context of the raids. This strong family orientation, termed
familismo by anthropologists, social workers, and public health practitioners, is
characteristic among small immigrant communities and Latinos.23 The basic dimensions
of familismo include family-level decision-making, the perception that family members
are reliable providers of help and problem-solvers, and the provision of material and
emotional support to needy family members.24 In the context of the arrest of family

*

One of them was the daughter of another worker who was arrested.

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

members by immigration authorities, familismo was an effective
response to the emergency needs of children. Without this informal
response, parents and community respondents said, a broader crisis

In one study site, a nonrelative

would have been inevitable, especially in cases where primary

babysitter stayed with a 14-

caregivers were held for extended periods of time. Strong extended

month-old baby for four

family networks are characteristic of many immigrant groups besides

months. The baby’s father was

Latinos, and so it is likely that these networks would be able to take

a single parent who had been

on similar functions when non-Latino immigrant communities are
affected by immigration enforcement operations.
In spite of the responsiveness of the immigrant community, many

arrested but not released
quickly after the raid. The
babysitter was unable to benefit
from financial assistance offered
to families affected by the raid

children faced traumatic circumstances and insecure care throughout

since she did not have the

the day and in the period after the raids. In New Bedford, respondents

child’s birth certificate and

mentioned that at least one landlord showed up at an emergency

lacked proof of her relationship

assistance site on the evening of the raid with young children who

to the child. She was a

belonged to tenants who were detained in the raid. In Grand Island,

grandmother and was also

local community leaders took several children to a local ICE office to
demand release of their parents. In Greeley and Grand Island,

responsible for caring for
several grandchildren. The
babysitter picked up food and

respondents knew of adolescents who spent considerable time without

essential supplies at an

adult supervision. In one case a youth spent several days alone

emergency assistance site for

because both parents were arrested in the raid. In one household,

four months until the child’s

three adolescents were left to fend for themselves after both parents

father returned.

were detained; neighbors provided occasional supervision. The
respondents only found out about those cases because the youth
subsequently showed up at food banks to ask for assistance. Another adolescent spent
months in the care of a pastor of a local church where his parents worshipped. And in
one case an adolescent girl with an infant, who was living with her younger sister, visited
a nonprofit social service provider for assistance. The girl, her baby, and her sister were
living together without an adult in the home.
Several young children were also left behind in the care of their relative and nonrelative
babysitters, many of whom struggled to stretch their own limited economic resources to
meet their new responsibilities. In the most critical case mentioned by respondents in
New Bedford, a seven-month-old baby who was being breastfed was left in the care of a
relative babysitter. The infant was unaccustomed to any other feeding method and
refused cow’s milk, then had to be rushed to the hospital due to dehydration on the night
of the raid. The mother was detained for a few days before finally being released to
continue to care for her son. A few days after the raid in another site, a babysitter called
a church hotline set up for affected families hoping to find some way to communicate to a

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

IMPLICATIONS

detained father that she would take good care of the four-month-old
baby left in her care; she knew the mother had already been deported.

Extended family and

The babysitter also said that she had a dire need for food, milk,

community networks provide

diapers, and clothes, which were subsequently delivered to her by the

the most important safety net

hotline operator.

for caregiving and emergency
needs of children, making it
unlikely that large numbers of

PUBLIC SCHOOL CHILDREN

children would be left

Public schools served an important role in protecting the children of

unsupervised following a raid.

arrested immigrants on the day of the raids in two of the study sites.

However, the economic

In Greeley and Grand Island, the majority of children were in school

resources of these families and

on the day of the raids, so school systems’ responses affected a large

communities are often strained

number of children. School administrators and teachers in these two

to meet children’s needs, and
there is no guarantee that they
can meet all the needs of the
affected children.

school districts said that they felt a heavy burden when dealing with
instructional goals and normal daily routines while also managing a
broad range of unanticipated issues that arose following the raids.
In New Bedford, however, 71% of the children were ages five and
under and, therefore, most were not in school. In the case of these

younger children, respondents said that most were in informal care settings, often with
relatives or other Central American neighbors.25 Many New Bedford families were either
not informed about or averse to more formal child care settings because they believed that
their citizen children were not eligible due to parental undocumented status, or they were
fearful of any formal contact with public agencies.
The schools in Grand Island had developed a central plan for dealing with a workplace
raid, following their experience with another large raid in 1992. The schools there had a
database which included information about the parents’ employers, and so the school was
able to contact all children whose parents were working at the raid site. Teachers and
other staff conducted one-on-one sessions with children of arrestees to ensure that each
child knew what to do and whom to call if they found themselves alone without a
caregiver. Bus drivers were instructed not to drop children off at homes where their
parents or other trusted adults were not present. School officials hoped to prevent
children from learning about the details of the raids and the potential loss of a parent or
loved one while they were still at school. In Greeley, without prior experience of a raid
or knowledge of which children might be affected, school administrators and staff
improvised and developed many of the same strategies as those in Grand Island.
The impact of the raids played out very differently across as well as within the school
systems in the three study sites. In Greeley, between a third and half of the student body

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

were picked up early in the schools with the highest proportions of Latino students.
The other two school systems had a small number of schools that experienced only a few
early pick-ups on the day of the raids. In some of these schools, some of the adults
picking up the children had not been previously authorized to do so, and these cases
were resolved with some improvisation by principals and teachers.* The schools either
allowed students to identify their relationships with the individuals attempting to pick
them up, or called other persons listed as authorized or emergency contacts to verify the
identities of these individuals. In some cases authorized persons called to notify the
schools that someone new would be coming that day to pick up the children.
The school systems in all three sites also scrambled to put in place emergency measures
to ensure that children had adult supervision by the end of the day. In all three sites, the
school administrators directed bus drivers to ensure that every child was dropped off
with a caretaker. One or a few schools were designated emergency “shelters” so that
students could return if no one was home. Those students who typically were picked up
after school stayed with teachers or staff until someone (a parent, relative, or friend)
retrieved them. In Grand Island it was late in the evening, 8:30 p.m., by the time the last
middle school student was picked up by her mother who had been detained and just
released that evening. In Grand Island, teachers offered to take children home with them
overnight, but all of the children were picked up by the end of the day.
In all three sites, school officials and community respondents reported that they were
able to avoid having any child left stranded at school or dropped off by a bus to an empty
home. On the other hand, in Greeley and Grand Island, some elementary and middle
school children who usually walked home spent a few hours alone, or with a cousin or
sibling, on the day of the raids. According to parents and other caregivers we
interviewed, these children did not know where their parents were. Some of the children
were visited by neighbors or friends, or went to their houses to find out what was going
on and ask for assistance.
While it was easier to prevent elementary and middle school students from learning about
the raids, high school students had more access to communication with the outside
community. Students with mobile phones and radios quickly learned about the raids. This
contributed to unruly classrooms and an emotionally charged day. Some students left early

*

Public school systems are allowed to release students only to persons listed in forms pre-submitted by a
primary caretaker or with some other form of approval by a primary caretaker.

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

IMPLICATIONS
School systems have a

on their own to rush to the raid sites, meet up with relatives, pick up
siblings from school, or babysit younger siblings at home. In Greeley,
a group of youth protested outside the plant on the day of the raid.

responsibility to ensure the
safety of all children in their

As part of the overall climate of fear on the day of the raids, rumors

care, and they play a major

began to spread that immigration agents might show up at schools to

role in child protection

arrest undocumented children and parents. In all three sites, teachers

following a raid, at least in

and principals received calls from distraught parents throughout the

places where the majority of

day to check on the status of their children. Some parents and other

arrestees’ children are of
school age. Proactive
responses by schools help

relatives stopped by during the day to see their children to make sure
they had not been picked up by ICE. Community leaders traveled

ensure that children are not left

between the schools and the raided worksites in the hopes of

without adult supervision, and

informing the family members of arrestees outside the plant that their

can also lead to better

children were safe and not at risk of being detained. The

attendance and fewer

administration of the Grand Island schools made repeated public

disruptions for children.

statements that the schools were safe and that ICE would not be allowed

Head Start, Early Head Start,
state-sponsored prekindergarten, and other formal
child care settings could be

on the premises. These public assurances helped assuage immigrants’
fears about keeping their children in school, and helped Grand
Island’s school attendance rebound within a few days after the raid.

important resources for families
affected by raids by offering
safe havens, helping to meet
children’s nutritional needs,
and providing connections to
social supports. The very low
enrollment of immigrants’
children, however, severely
limits the reach of formal child
care settings in helping
families respond to
immigration raids.

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VI. Longer-Term Impact
on Children

C

hildren of undocumented parents already faced a challenging journey even before
the immigration raids. Many children of undocumented immigrants were already
at risk for a number of disadvantages, including low income or poverty, low

parental education, and limited English proficiency. Overall, among children of
immigrants, poverty rates are significantly higher, as are other rates of economic
hardship, for instance food insecurity, crowded housing, and high housing cost burdens
for families.26 Studies have established links between family income and children’s
health, cognitive development, and educational achievement.27 They have shown that
lower income puts immigrants’ children at risk of poorer health and developmental
delays.28
On the other hand, studies of immigrants’ children have also shown that their families
have important strengths, including a higher prevalence of two-parent families, extended
families, and more working adults in the household.29 The relative strength of immigrant
families protects children from the adverse consequences often associated with growing
up with single parents.
Worksite enforcement operations, by removing both a parent and a breadwinner from the
home, have multiple consequences for children. First, the removal of a breadwinner
substantially lowers family income and thereby further increases families’ material
hardship. Second, the loss of a parent creates a more unstable home environment and
removes one of the main strengths in immigrant families – the presence of two parents.

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

In addition, the fear and stigma associated with a raid can isolate immigrant families and
have a direct psychological impact on children. All of these factors, individually or
combined, have a profound impact on child development and well-being.

FAMILY FRAGMENTATION
The most destabilizing impact on the children of arrestees following worksite
enforcement actions came from the separation and fragmentation of families. In most
cases, children were living with both parents and only one parent was arrested. But there
were also cases in which both parents were arrested. In Grand Island, according to
school district data, 25 of the 151 affected children (or about 17%), experienced the arrest
of both parents.* In addition, there were cases of single parents being arrested. In New
Bedford, for instance, approximately half of arrested parents were released at various
points in time because they were single parents or primary caregivers of young children.
Family structure prior to the raid significantly affected the extent of family fragility
following the raid. In all cases except those in which parents were released on the day of
the raid, children lost at least one parent for an extended period of time. In the case of
two-parent families, ICE seldom released the second parent on the day of the raid, and so
two-parent families temporarily became one-parent families. As a result of
communication difficulties in detention centers and lack of attorney and consular access,
many families did not know the location of the arrested parent for several days. This was
especially true in Greeley, where almost 100 arrestees were deported before any contact
with attorneys or consulates; the first word from these deportees came via phone calls
after their deportation. But in all three sites, a significant number of parents were
detained for weeks and even months without regular and consistent contact with their
family members.
During this time period the remaining parent often had significant difficulty coping with
the economic and psychological stress caused by the arrest of their spouse or partner.
Study respondents said that the remaining parent – usually the mother – was often less
integrated into U.S. society and less familiar with the means to cope with daily life than
the spouse or partner. This was especially true among Guatemalan families. For
instance, in Grand Island, study respondents said that many of the Guatemalan women

*

Data were not obtained on the share of children with both parents arrested in Greeley.

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

did not have driver’s licenses and did not know how to drive. They were unaccustomed
to making basic financial decisions and did not have access to husbands’ bank accounts.
Some women rarely left the house, even before the raids. For these women, the loss of
their husbands represented not only the loss of a partner and breadwinner, but also a loss
of direction and increased isolation. Following the raid, some of these Guatemalan
mothers were left isolated, afraid, and unable to make the basic decisions about daily life
that their husbands had often made before the raid.
By the time of the study interviews in Greeley and Grand Island – some
five to six months after the raids – almost all of the arrestees had been
deported or released from detention. In some of these cases, the second
parent had been released and reunited with the family temporarily. In
cases where the parent was deported, some families hoped that the

IMPLICATIONS
Single-parent families are the
most vulnerable following

deported parent might be able to return illegally or were in the process

immigration enforcement

of moving to rejoin the parent abroad. In New Bedford, a majority of

operations that result in arrests.

arrestees remained in detention at the time of the study visit, about two

Often, these families are

months after the raid. Thus, family separation caused by detention and

already fragile, and the loss of

deportation generally lasted for a period of months for most two-parent

the single parent can lead to
immediate hardship for the

families.

child and chaotic living

Family fragility was more acute but the period of separation was much
shorter in families where a single parent or both parents were arrested.

arrangements for a period of
time, even when extended
family and community

In these cases, during the period of parents’ detention, extended family

members provide support and

members and others in the community took in their children.

care. If parents are released

Respondents described the responsibility of the immigrant community to

quickly, however, the impact

“take care of our own” children. In all three sites, community leaders

on children can be mitigated.

and other respondents said that preventing any children from being

On the other hand, family

taken into the custody of the state was one of their major
accomplishments following the raids. However, as described earlier, the

separation and fragility last
longer in two-parent families
following arrests because the

arrangements for these children were in some cases ad hoc and

second parent is less likely to

unreliable. In Greeley and Grand Island, there was a handful of cases in

be released quickly. If the

which very young children were moved from home to home over a

remaining parent – usually the

period of weeks because temporary caregivers were unable to meet their

mother – is unaccustomed to

needs. There were also cases in which babysitters stayed with children

making major decisions

for extended periods of time – up to four months in one case in Grand
Island.

regarding finances and other
issues, the family may become
immobilized and isolated

For the most part, however, family separation lasted only a few days or
at most a few weeks in single-parent families. In New Bedford, 60

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following the raids.

Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

primary caregivers (some of whom were single parents) of young children – a majority of
the parents arrested – were released without bail and within a period of a few days. In
Grand Island only about a dozen parents were released as single caregivers, and in
Greeley this number was under ten. However, the share of arrestees who were single
parents was very low in both of these sites.

FAMILY ECONOMIC HARDSHIP

AND INSTABILITY

The families who lost breadwinners as a result of the raids faced enormous economic
challenges. Most of these families already had few resources and were living “paycheck
to paycheck” before the raids. Exceptions were the more established families in Grand
Island and Greeley, some of whom had worked in the plants for several years. In some
cases these families had established credit histories and owned homes and automobiles.
But most immigrant families in the three study sites rented their homes and had few
assets or savings.
Impact on extended families and multifamily households. Economic hardship and
instability extended beyond the families whose members were arrested in the raids.
Following the raids, the plants in Greeley and Grand Island conducted reviews of the
documentation of their employees to weed out other undocumented workers. The raids
in both plants took place during daytime shifts, and workers in evening shifts were not
arrested. In the weeks following the raids, as the plants conducted their documentation
reviews, some undocumented workers were fired and others quit their jobs. Even though
fewer undocumented workers subsequently left their jobs than were
arrested in the raids, they added to the growing pool of families who
lost breadwinners.
“My 17-year-old son skipped
school because his 17-year-old

Extended family members and others who took in the children of

friend was at home watching

arrested parents also experienced increased economic hardship. In

his younger brother and sister;

some cases, affected children were already living in extended

his parents had been arrested.
He was scared to leave his
house to go over to his aunt’s

multifamily households, and these households lost one or more earners.
In other cases, families who lost a breadwinner moved in with other

house. So my son called me,

families so that they could pool resources. As previously mentioned, a

and I went and took him and

babysitter who took care of a child for four months also had several

his younger brother and sister

grandchildren of her own to support. These multifamily households

to his aunt’s house. There were

often became increasingly crowded and their resources became strained

four adults and 12 children

following the raids. The familismo of these extended households – in

living in this house.”

other words, their strong reliance on mutual support and decisionmaking – meant that hardship was spread among larger units of adults
and children.
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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

In Grand Island, study respondents told us that most of the affected
Mexican families were able to make contact with relatives or friends
who were documented or citizens. By moving in with citizens or

One family in Grand Island
moved away to a small town

legal immigrants, they were able to ensure that at least some

in another part of Nebraska

household members would retain their jobs. But in the Guatemalan

following the raid. The wife had

community, there were very few citizens or legal immigrants. As a

permanent residency and had

result, most of the affected families were unable to find households

been in the United States since

where the other adults were safe from losing their jobs or being swept
up in ongoing household raids.
Reliance on savings, last paychecks, and assets. Families who lost
breadwinners as a result of the raids and subsequent job losses relied

she was less than two years old.
Her husband was undocumented.
She worked days at the plant
and was at work when the raid
occurred; he worked on the night
shift. She had not yet applied to

on a combination of savings and last paychecks; support from

renew her green card, which

extended family and community members; increased work among

had expired. Even so, she was

remaining members; and financial and other assistance, mostly from

not arrested. However, one

private community sources. Savings dwindled quickly because most

week later she lost her job when

families had only about one or two weeks’ cash on hand. In Greeley
and Grand Island, workers were paid weekly, and paychecks were
generally spent by the end of the week. In both of these sites, workers

the company checked her
paperwork and discovered that
her green card was expired.*
They moved out of town, and the

were arrested early in the week, so they did not get their last

husband worked for a rancher

paycheck. Swift & Company, with help from consulates and the

who was verbally and physically

union, was able to get last paychecks to many families within the first

abusive. He left that job, and

couple of weeks. But within the first month, these sources of income

they both started working at
another ranch. They had a 12-

had virtually dried up.

year-old daughter with bad

A number of families in Greeley and Grand Island owned their own
homes and automobiles and were able to sell their assets or obtain
loans based on their credit history to help cover short-term costs.

asthma; she had been seeing a
specialist in Grand Island who
accepted their insurance. They
lost their insurance with their

Some families in these sites also had savings accounts, although in

jobs and lost access to the

some cases the parent who was not arrested did not have access to the

specialist when they moved. The

accounts. However, the majority of families in Greeley and Grand

child’s asthma worsened

Island, along with virtually all affected families in New Bedford, did

dramatically, and the family had

not have sufficient resources to help them through the initial period of
economic instability following the raids.
Supplemental employment in affected families. Some of the parents
who were arrested and released were able to find work. Generally, the
jobs they found were informal because the arrested parents were all

NCLR ◆ Page 45

no choice but to turn to a migrant
health clinic for assistance.
* In this case, it may have been
technically illegal for the company to
terminate her because of an expired
green card; she most likely did have
legal authorization to work since work
authorization and legal permanent
residency do not expire simply because
a green card expires. However, she
may have decided not to protest her
termination or pursue a legal claim
against the company because she
needed to move on account of her
undocumented husband.

Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

undocumented and had to be very careful about seeking further illegal employment.
Most of the spouses and partners of arrestees were also undocumented, but some were
already working and extended their work hours. Some parents in Greeley and Grand
Island were able to find agricultural work. Some of the women in all three sites began
taking care of children at home for pay, and others started cooking meals for people or
selling items informally. All of these types of jobs paid substantially less than the
manufacturing jobs in Greeley and Grand Island, which were among the best-paying jobs
available to immigrants in those communities. In addition, it was often difficult for
released arrestees or their spouses to find full-time work.
Some families moved out of town altogether to avoid future scrutiny from ICE and to find
secure employment. But these families often faced much greater economic insecurity
than they had before the raid, and their children sometimes suffered as a consequence.
Dependence on assistance from private sources. Each of the 30 parents and other
caregivers interviewed for the study became heavily dependent on various forms of
assistance offered by community groups and religious institutions following the raids.
They all received financial assistance to help cover rent and other housing expenses for a
period of one to three months. The majority were helped with utility bills. All of the
families interviewed had visited a food bank or other food distribution site to pick up
groceries and diapers, or used charity grocery cards to purchase basic necessities such as
soap and shampoo and perishable items such as milk for their children. But very few
families relied on public assistance, since the undocumented family members were
generally not eligible for such assistance and families were fearful of seeking relief from
public agencies. The lack of public assistance is described in more detail in the section
of the report on “Community Responses and Services to Children.”
Pooling of resources through families and extended networks. The parents and other
caretakers interviewed relied heavily on extended family and community networks for
financial and other assistance over the longer term, as they did immediately following the
raids. The material form of familismo was a central element in long-term responses to the
raids, as three-quarters of the caregivers interviewed said that they had received cash
assistance or substantial loans from friends or family members. Extended families and
multifamily households also pooled resources to manage living costs. In these cases,
workers who had not been arrested (but typically were undocumented) became fully
responsible for household maintenance. For example, a single parent who was arrested
lived with two young daughters in a small two-bedroom apartment and shared this
apartment with a single cousin who had recently arrived from Guatemala. Following the
mother’s arrest, a second single cousin who was renting an apartment with a friend joined

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

the household to help support the girls. The two single men, both

IMPLICATIONS

undocumented workers, were paying the $600 rent and other bills at the
time of our interview.

Many families lose
breadwinners when parents

Another example involves a household of three adults and three

are arrested, and even more

children, in which two of the adults lost their jobs in one of the

families may lose

worksite raids. The household was composed of a single mother, her

breadwinners if parents leave

high-school-age daughter, and her older son along with his wife and

jobs or are terminated

two daughters. The mother and her daughter-in-law were both

following raids. Families often

arrested and then released; they lost their jobs. For three months
following the raid, the six-person household relied on the son’s

have limited resources such as
savings, last paychecks, and
cash on hand that can help

income of about $400 per month plus rent, utility, and food assistance

them survive during the first

offered by churches and relief agencies.

few weeks following a parent’s
arrest or job loss.

Housing cost burdens and food insecurity. The combination of

Extended families, informal

privately offered assistance by community groups and extended family

networks, and community

networks prevented the families included in our study from facing the

social service providers are

worst hardships such as homelessness. But these sources of support

also able to help affected

dwindled over time, and by the time of the study visits – a few
months after the raids – families were facing increasing economic

families with basic forms of
assistance – food, shelter, and
other necessities – for a short

insecurity and material hardship. One of the study respondents, a

period of time. These

single father with two children, said, “The people in our community

resources are often

opened their hearts and helped us so much. Now, though, I just live

inadequate, however, to meet

day to day, because looking ahead I just don’t see how I will be able to

the longer-term needs of

make it.”

affected families, and after a
few months many families

A number of the caregivers interviewed had their utilities or phone
service cut off, though generally for just a short period of time. In one
of the sites, two of the ten respondents were several weeks late with

begin to experience significant
economic insecurity and
hardship.

their rent payments; others had been late with past payments. Some
families moved due to inability to pay housing costs. One family
interviewed for the study had moved twice in the six months since the raid, and their
daughter had changed schools both times. Three families had moved to a smaller
apartment or house where they paid less in rent.
Three-quarters of the parents and other caretakers interviewed said that their families
faced some degree of food insecurity after the raids. They told us that they generally ate
less than before the raids and sometimes skipped meals to leave more food for the
children. Some respondents said that the children also ate less, and they attributed this

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

to stress as well as difficulties adjusting to the kinds of foods the parents could afford to
feed them after the raid. For example, many children were not accustomed to the canned
foods given out at the food banks. In Greeley, some of the community respondents said
that the food banks were not stocked with foods that Latinos were accustomed to eating.
Therefore, some families preferred food donations from the Latino community because
they more closely matched their diet. Customary treats for children, such as going out for
pizza or fast food, were no longer feasible after the raids. In the words of one mother
with two children whose husband was arrested, “The kids are kids. They keep asking for
things we can’t provide now. They just don’t know why we can’t buy them the stuff that
they like and are used to, so they just eat less now.”

INTERRUPTIONS

TO

SCHOOLING

Although the study was not in the field long enough to observe behaviors in school,
respondents did provide some evidence suggesting that many children missed days of
school, and that stress related to the raids may have sapped the attention of some
children and affected their academic performance. The most obvious impact on
children’s schooling was the increase in absences reported in all three study sites.
Declines in attendance following the raids were uneven across the sites, but in all three
the schools with the highest proportion of Latino students saw the largest declines in
attendance. In Greeley, school officials estimated that attendance declined by one-third
to one-half on the week of the raid at two schools located in areas with high immigrant
populations, and somewhat less at other nearby schools. Many families went into hiding
out of fear of ongoing household raids and kept their children out of school for the first
few days. In Grand Island, school district respondents reported that absences increased
by ten or more children at some schools, and by about 20 at one school, on the days after
the raid. Attendance steadily increased following the raids, and within two to three
weeks had returned to normal in all three sites.
Parents, teachers, counselors, and school officials all recounted that some of the children
were shaken up for days or weeks after the raid, making it difficult to hold their attention
and for them to stay on track with academic plans and goals. The scene on the morning
after was described as very emotional, especially at the elementary schools. Children saw
the fear on the faces of their parents and relatives; some even witnessed the arrest of
parents in their homes. One child told a teacher, “My daddy was arrested for working.”
A first-grade teacher relayed that, “The next day a lot of the kids were very emotionally
upset, crying, and shaking. They were telling each other stories that they were told or
overheard – about parents’ hands tied; they took their phones; they couldn’t come home;
they just left.” A second-grade teacher emotionally told the story of a little girl, a “dream

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student,” who always came to school well-coiffed and impeccably dressed, but showed
up the morning after the raid disheveled and fatigued.
The emotional distress was most evident among children whose parents were arrested,
but fear spread to many other children following the raids, as they learned details from
conversations at home and with other students. The students empathized with each
other, and “all of them were upset because they felt bad for the kids whose relatives that
had happened to.” They also built up fears that it would happen to them. There was
pervasive insecurity about whose parents would be “taken” next. One teacher said, “I
think the hardest [for them] is their not knowing [what is going to happen] at the
beginning. The little girl [six years old] was afraid they would come get her mother and
father. A lot of the others said the same.” Children tended to get most emotional at
“story time,” when teachers led open-ended conversations with the children together.
One teacher said that raid-related comments were “constantly surfacing” during story time.
The absences and distractions posed challenges for teachers’ lesson plans and students’
academic performance. A second-grade teacher said, “That next day you couldn’t really
teach them. You tried to but ended up doing something else because their minds were not
there. They were pretty distraught all day, agitated, very concerned. Some of them had
been up until very late [the previous night].” Two of the elementary school teachers said
that they had children who turned in homework late in the weeks after the raid, but both
teachers allowed the students to catch up or make up the work.
The raids also appeared to have had some impact on the attention and

IMPLICATIONS

academic performance of some of the older children. A pastor who

In the short term, worksite raids

counseled many adolescent children of undocumented parents said

may distract children’s

that raid concerns drained much of their attention. “Because of

attention from their schoolwork

confusion and the problems of their parents or their own status,” he

and lead to severe disruptions

warned, “we are losing the energy these kids [have to offer] society.
They are bright, intelligent, creative young kids who have a lot to
offer. But immigration just dominates their thoughts. Their energy is
just going elsewhere.”* One 17-year-old senior high school honors

in attendance, homework, and
behavior. In the longer term,
however, the implications for
children’s academic
performance are unclear.

student missed two weeks of school while her mother was detained

*

Nationally in 2005, 85% of children of undocumented immigrants under six years old were U.S.-born citizens.
But among children over age ten, i.e., those in middle and high school, more than half (56%) were
undocumented.

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and ended up missing several assignments and grades. Only some of her teachers
allowed her to make up the work. Another high school student had good attendance and
grades prior to the raid, but afterward his academic performance deteriorated. This
student was eventually arrested for shoplifting groceries in an apparent attempt to help
his mother feed the family.
Respondents in the schools told us that the majority of children recovered academically a
few months after the raid. However, due to the study’s short time frame (just two to six
months following the raids), the longer-term impact on children’s behavior and schooling
could not be assessed.

EMOTIONAL TRAUMA
HEALTH ISSUES

AND

PSYCHOLOGICAL

Although children can be resilient under difficult and unstable circumstances, the severe
disruptions caused by the raids in the three study sites led to behavioral problems and
psychological distress for some children. Separation from arrested parents caused
emotional trauma in some children, especially because it happened suddenly and
unexpectedly. The trauma of separation was greater when it continued for an extended
period of time. Community-wide fear and social isolation accentuated the psychological
impact on children. Yet, few parents sought or received mental health care for
themselves or their children.
Psychological impact of separation. Perhaps the greatest impact on children was the
emotional trauma that followed separation from one or both parents. One of the major
challenges for the parents who were not arrested was how to explain to their children the
separation of a missing parent and manage their emotions. For children, especially very
young children, the sudden loss of a parent played out like a “disappearance” and
threatened their sense of security. The parents left behind struggled over whether and
how to explain the disappearance, as well as how much hope to offer for a resolution.
Most of the older children were either told what happened by the remaining parent or
heard about it from other sources. In a number of cases, though, parents told their
children other stories, which often seemed unsatisfactory to the children. Some parents
or caregivers said that the missing parent had to stay away at work for a long period of
time; others said that the missing parent was visiting family in their country of origin.

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Even if the parent returned within a day or soon thereafter, the period of separation
remained current in the child’s memory and created ongoing anxiety in many cases.
Psychologists interviewed for the study associated this pervasive sense of insecurity and
the anxiety it produced in children with conditions ranging from separation anxiety to
attachment disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. Children – as well as some
parents – felt “the ongoing stress that any day things can change, [that there is a] constant
chance of separation.” One mother interviewed for the study said, “One morning we
were a tight family, and the next day it is all trauma and tension.” Some parents said
that, months after the raids, their children still cried in the morning when getting
dropped off at school or day care, something that they rarely used to do. Children were
said to obsess over whether their parents were going to pick them up from school or if –
like on the day of the raid – someone else would show up. Even children whose parents
were not arrested developed many of these same fears.
Some children said things to parents, other caregivers, or teachers which revealed how
they had begun to personalize the cause of the separation. Especially among very young
children, who could not understand the concept of parents not having “papers,” sudden
separation was considered personal abandonment. In some cases, separation triggered
sadness; in others, it led to anger toward the parent who left or the one who remained.
One child retorted, “So papi doesn’t want to spend time with us?” A mother relayed that
her eight-year-old was more volatile and said, "[He acts] now like he hates us." She
added, "And he's aggressive; he hits other kids and hardly listens to me." Another chided
the parent for “loving money more than he loves me.” One child complained that the
parent might be in the home country and asked, “Didn’t we come here to be together?
Why does he have to leave now?” Psychologists were concerned that these kinds of
statements could indicate the onset of depression and other mental health challenges for
children.
Fear and social isolation. Immigrant communities in all three sites experienced
widespread fear following the raids, and this more general fear increased psychological
duress for children. Two key threats propelled ongoing community fear. First, in two of
the communities, immigration agents continued to pursue suspected undocumented
immigrants with follow-up operations in private homes and other locations. In Grand
Island, these operations continued for longer than a week, extending the environment of
chaos and fear. Second, all three study sites experienced some degree of polarization
between Latino immigrants and other community residents. According to study
respondents, community tensions appeared highest in Greeley – where some anti-

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immigrant activists had been protesting in favor of establishing an ICE office prior to the
raid, and there had been counter protests in the Latino community. Also in Greeley, some
teachers and students derided children whose parents were arrested. But there were also
community tensions in the other two sites. For instance in Grand Island, one of the
respondents – who is a naturalized citizen – was fearful after the raids of going to stores
where non-Hispanics shopped because she felt she would be stereotyped as an
undocumented immigrant.
Ongoing fears about ICE operations and community tensions led to widespread social
isolation among immigrant families, which manifested itself most clearly in familiy
seclusion.
In the most extreme cases, families and children hid in their homes for days or weeks at a
time – sometimes staying in the basement or with their lights turned down so that no one
would know they were home. Many families would not open the door for strangers or
even acquaintances who brought them food and other forms of assistance, especially in
Grand Island where these fears were most acute. Some families stayed at other safe
havens such as in friends’ basements or in local churches. In the words of one
community leader we interviewed, “Families folded into themselves. People stopped
going out in the street. People are living even more in the shadows.”
Psychologists and other mental health professionals interviewed for the study suggested
that social exclusion and isolation following the raids might induce depression and
accentuate psychological distress among some parents and children. Many children
absorbed the feeling of being outcasts from the broader community, even from their own
previous social networks. Some children were warned not to identify who their parents
were to anyone. Children’s social networks in some cases exacerbated social exclusion,
for instance, when they were harassed by other children or branded as criminals because
their parents were arrested.
Changes in children’s behavior. Parents, teachers, other caregivers, and mental health
professionals who work with children reported changes in behavior which raised
concerns about the children’s vulnerability to emotional and psychological problems
following the raids. Many children exhibited outward signs of stress. For instance, some
lost their appetites, ate less, and lost weight. Others became more aggressive or
increasingly displayed “acting out” behaviors. Some children also had more trouble than
usual falling asleep or sleeping through the night. While impossible to evaluate in the

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context of this study, mental health professionals suggested that many

IMPLICATIONS

of these symptoms can lead to or are consistent with depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, or separation anxiety. One ten-year-old boy

Children, especially younger

whose mother was briefly detained was diagnosed with major

children, are unlikely to

depression.

understand why parents
disappeared on the day of the

For one eight-year-old boy, stress associated with his mother’s arrest

raid, and may personalize

manifested in health problems. Although his mother was released on

their disappearance. Their

the evening of the raid, he was unexpectedly picked up from school

anger at their parents and

by a friend. While in the friend’s care, the boy overheard a
conversation about the raid and cried for a couple of hours until his

other symptoms may continue
long after the parents return.
Children may experience

mother arrived home. Following his mother’s return, he found out

ongoing fears that they will be

about her possible deportation and experienced major separation

separated from their parents

anxiety. He was described as nervous and clingy after the raid, even

again.

though he had never displayed such symptoms before. He

Community-wide fears and

experienced repeated nightmares from which he sometimes awoke

tensions can increase the

with uncontrollable shaking and loss of breath. He was taken to the
hospital twice, and doctors diagnosed him with major anxiety disorder
resulting from post-raid stress.

social isolation of affected
families and children following
the raids. Children face the
stigma of having “illegal”
parents. Other children with

These outward behavioral changes provided only partial portraits of

friends whose parents were

children’s psychological health following the raids. Mental health

arrested may have similar

professionals interviewed for the study emphasized that children’s

experiences.

outward behaviors only offer glimpses of their true emotional states.

Most mental health conditions

They also said that children of different ages and developmental stages

are likely to go unnoticed and

display symptoms differently, and that they have many different
coping mechanisms. In the words of one teacher, “You see the two

unaddressed following
immigration enforcement
worksite operations because

extremes, the loud kids who talk about it a lot or the quieter kids who

Latino immigrants are often

clam up and don’t say anything, so you don’t even find out they’ve

reluctant to seek mental health

been affected for months.”

care.

Cultural barriers to obtaining mental health care. Mental health
professionals interviewed for the study noted that it is not customary
for low-income Latino immigrants to consider the stresses associated with migration and
family separation as evidence of psychological trauma or a mental health disorder. The
general reluctance of Latino immigrants to seek mental health care, combined with access
issues such as cost of services and difficulties with interpretation and cultural

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competence, meant that children’s and parents’ mental health needs following the raids
were seldom addressed. In fact, from all of our site work, we heard about only one parent
who saw a psychologist regularly and only one child and two parents receiving
prescription medications for mental health conditions. One health care provider said,
“Typically in Latin American culture you don’t think of depression, and you don’t see a
mental health therapist; you just think you’re sad.” Another provider said, “I don’t think
people think about this as a resource; they didn’t associate the raid with any of the issues
we deal with.”

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VII. Community Responses
and Services to Children

I

n all three study sites, community leaders and institutions initiated intensive and
broad response efforts to assist immigrant families after the raids. They mobilized
quickly to bring immediate relief that helped many immigrants meet at least some of

their basic, short-term needs. Due to the large-scale nature of the raids and the large
number of families affected, relief efforts in all three sites took on community-wide
dimensions. Community respondents from each site said that they approached the
immediate aftermath of the raid as “disaster relief,” even though few had experience
providing emergency relief to hundreds of families simultaneously. One community
leader said, “It seemed as if everybody was really in disaster response mode; all agencies,
all staff came to help out.”
Several common elements in the response strategies across all three sites were noted. All
featured heavy involvement by churches and other faith-based organizations. Another
commonality was some level of cooperation of various service providers to coordinate
services. All shared a focus on immediate needs and short-term relief – especially
housing, utilities, food, and clothing.
There were also significant differences in how assistance was delivered. There was
variation in the centralization of leadership, coordination of service provision, and the
roles played by the many groups providing assistance. The sites also varied in
participation of state and local social service agencies. New Bedford was the only one of
the three sites where a public agency, Massachusetts DSS, played a prominent and visible
role in service delivery following the raids, though public health and social service
agencies in Grand Island played supportive roles there. Finally, there were also

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differences in the service delivery points established to assist families and in the cultural
competency of service providers.
Overall, service delivery efforts in the sites involved a multitude of organizations and
leaders, including faith-based providers and churches, state and local public institutions,
community-based organizations, economic development organizations, business
associations, informal cultural groups, and in some cases unions and the employers of the
raided plants. Their various roles in fundraising, donating resources, coordinating
services, managing and organizing service delivery, direct service provision, and
advocacy are described in Appendix 3, including some of the details of service delivery
that are not captured in the thematic discussion in this section of the report.

THE CENTRAL ROLE OF RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS
HAVENS AND DISTRIBUTION POINTS

AS

SAFE

A common element in all three study sites was the central role that churches and faithbased groups played in the provision of emergency relief. On the day of or within days of
the raids, churches emerged as the places where many families converged and from
which assistance was first delivered. In the longer term, churches used their many
resources to support the families affected and ultimately absorbed a large portion of the
impact of the economic, psychological, and spiritual crises that engulfed many families.
The key role of churches in the response efforts reflects the important role of religious
institutions in Latino communities – especially among immigrant populations. Many
Latinos traditionally gravitate toward the church for both communal life and as a spiritual
venue. Especially in times of hardship, they first turn inward to their families, then
toward trusted religious institutions and leaders, and lastly toward the government.
Hence, it seems natural that churches emerged as safe havens where families could seek
refuge and retain respect for their culture and values.
Aside from providing a safe environment, churches have certain characteristics that made
them ideally suited for the responses required to reach undocumented immigrant
families. The churches that were most involved in the study sites – Our Lady of Peace in
Greeley, St. Mary’s in Grand Island, and St. James and Our Lady of Guadalupe in New
Bedford – have flexible hours and large gathering spaces that could hold hundreds of
families during meetings and aid distribution. Because they did not compete with social
service providers and other community organizations for funding, churches for the most
part did not threaten other organizations and therefore were able to work with them
easily. Unlike public agencies and many formal nonprofit service providers, churches did

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not need to collect data on immigration status or verify other information on people
seeking assistance – although other service providers based at the churches did require
such verification. Churches provided a natural outreach and information mechanism, as
many families regularly attend Mass on Sundays and during the week. Priests, pastors,
and other church staff conducted considerable outreach, providing transportation for
affected families and going door to door to deliver services. Finally, churches were able
to raise substantial resources for relief efforts, both within their own
parishes and from other churches and affiliated religious

IMPLICATIONS

organizations. Respondents from all three sites expressed that
identifying a church or a few churches from which to base their initial
activities was one of their biggest successes.

Churches and other religious
organizations can play key

Limitations of church-based assistance. At the same time, churches
faced some limitations in providing assistance to affected families. In

roles as safe havens, central
distribution points, and
avenues for outreach because

the longer run, they faced infrastructure and staff limitations that

immigrant communities tend to

made it difficult to sustain the relief efforts. For instance, in Greeley

trust and find comfort in

almost all assistance was provided through Our Lady of Peace, and

religious communities that

church staff there were soon overwhelmed. Even with one or two staff

embrace their culture.

from Catholic Charities and other agencies based there, it was difficult
for all families who needed assistance to get it in a timely fashion,
given the extensive demand. While churches did not need to verify

Churches and other religious
institutions, however, may have
significant infrastructure, staff,
and other capacity limitations

information about people seeking assistance, they worked with formal

when compared with better-

service providers that did require such verification – especially when

funded public and private

using support from funders demanding accountability. Churches

service providers.

themselves then became embroiled in controversies over verification
requirements, and this to some extent eroded their trust with the
community.

THE IMPORTANCE

OF

COORDINATION

OF

SERVICES

In all three sites, the providers interviewed for the study reported that coordination
among responding agencies was a greater challenge than lack of resources. A community
leader in Greeley said, “Resources were adequate; there was a good response from the
community. But the process of allocating the money, sending it through [to
organizations], and handing it out took most of the time.” The director of a community
group involved in the response effort in New Bedford added, “If anything, the money and
donations came in almost too much, too fast.” Coordination emerged as the top concern
because of the immediate needs of families, and because decisions about financial
allocations had to be made swiftly as the money began to flow in within days after the

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IMPLICATIONS

raid took place. Donors required accountability, and this slowed
down the process of aid distribution. Some degree of coordination

Disaster relief efforts benefit

and centralization of resources as well as information (e.g., the names

from centralized decision-

of arrested immigrants) was necessary before assistance could be

making and a clear

dispersed on a large scale and with proper accountability.

communications structure. The
disaster relief model, which

Respondents felt that service provision and allocation of assistance

also applies to responses to

was more effective in New Bedford – where there was strong

large-scale immigration raids,

coordination organized by MIRA, the church, Catholic Charities, and

reduces friction and
competition among responding
groups, improves

Maya Kiche – than in the other two sites where an overall
coordinating structure was lacking. Respondents also said that is was

accountability, and increases

important to have regular meetings with a core group of organizations

the efficiency and speed of

and providers to decide how to channel funds and develop service

service delivery.

priorities. Such meetings were better attended and more effective in
New Bedford, due in part to MIRA’s facilitation, and in Grand Island
through the Multicultural Coalition, than in Greeley where no such
centralized leadership group existed. New Bedford and Grand Island,
which experienced greater coordination and collaboration across agencies, both began
service delivery much more quickly than in Greeley, which had a more fractious service
delivery structure and did not begin disbursing financial assistance for nearly two
months.

THE CHALLENGES OF LEADERSHIP, CAPACITY,
CULTURAL COMPETENCE

AND

Coordination alone appeared to be insufficient to planning effective response efforts in
the study sites. In the period immediately following the raids, local leadership, service
delivery capacity, and cultural competence emerged as critical factors in enhancing
community responses. In the study sites, leadership and capacity concerns included
whether community-based organizations had adequate staff and funding, established
networks of organizational relationships, experience in distributing assistance, and an
adequate infrastructure on which to build a service delivery system. In all three sites
there was a great deal of uncertainty about the capacity of the few small Latino CBOs
playing leading roles in relief efforts. Another important consideration was whether
these organizations had adequate cultural competence – the ability to communicate with,
garner the trust of, and ultimately reach the affected communities.
Leadership. Several characteristics inherent to the membership organizations facilitated
their role in the overall response effort. First, the membership coalitions by their very

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nature sought to promote partnerships among groups, which served to lessen turf issues
among other organizations competing for resources to help their constituency after the
raids. Second, these organizations had long-standing relationships with several of the
community groups involved in the response effort. Because of these features, the
organizations were naturally poised to serve a convening role and to become the main
communications forum.
In Grand Island and Greeley, leadership was largely developed from local organizations
and community leaders. In Grand Island, the Multicultural Coalition formed a natural
though informal umbrella under which community leaders from various organizations –
public, nonprofit, and informal – were able to come together. In Greeley, local leadership
emerged more informally and in a less coordinated (and occasionally fractious) fashion,
for instance through Our Lady of Peace Parish, Catholic Charities, and Al Frente. Local
leaders stepped forward not only to deliver services, but also to advocate for better
service delivery and bring media attention to the plight of arrested immigrants.
In New Bedford, the local leadership of the clergy, Catholic Charities, and the New
Bedford Office of the Mayor was expanded by MIRA, although MIRA was located nearly
two hours away. The local community was able to draw on its resources when MIRA
temporarily stationed staff locally to help coordinate the relief effort in the weeks
following the raid. MIRA helped coordinate the initial local response effort including
fundraising activities to create the Niños Fund, although their involvement waned in the
few months after the raid. In New Bedford, the grassroots group best poised to serve the
largest affected community, Maya Kiche, required a considerable influx of resources and
technical assistance to build its capacity.
Service delivery capacity. In all three sites, most food and other basic assistance was
provided outside the framework of formal public and private social service delivery
systems. Churches and small community-based organizations grappled with the pressure
to bring assistance to immigrants affected by the raids in their communities, but had very
limited resources to dedicate to delivering assistance. The churches had very few staff,
and so they relied heavily on volunteers and donations. Staff at churches, public social
service agencies, and formal service providers also donated substantial amounts of
personal time to helping families. All of this made it difficult to sustain relief activities
over the longer run.
Latino CBOs such as Al Frente in Greeley and Maya Kiche in New Bedford were essential
to the response efforts there. These smaller organizations scrambled to expand their
capacity very quickly after the raids to meet the immediate needs of the local immigrant

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communities they represented. Although greatly underfunded, these organizations
provided the most effective outreach to arrested immigrants and their families; they were
trusted organizations which the immigrant community often turned to for leadership and
assistance. An influx of private donations, and in some cases money, from the larger
organized effort helped these organizations scale up their capacity to assist families very
quickly after the raid. Technical assistance and material support from other organizations
with greater expertise and resources (e.g., MIRA in New Bedford) were crucial to helping
the smaller organizations that lacked adequate staff and infrastructure.
Finally, in the short term at least, involvement in raid response activities required a great
investment of resources, especially for organizations leading the effort or delivering key
services. Several staff and directors from community groups said that their organizations
turned exclusively to coordinating or delivering services in the days and weeks after the
raid, but their involvement waned drastically over time. MIRA, for instance, estimated
that almost 100% of its time was focused on relief efforts for about three weeks after the
raid. After transferring the organizational leadership to the

IMPLICATIONS

foundation and the response effort’s coordinating committee, its
contribution dwindled to about 30% within two months. The

While it is rare for immigrant

coordinating committee structure was said to help diffuse the pressure

communities to be optimally

on individual organizations to take on more than they could handle,

situated with respect to

although regular weekly meetings and other coordination efforts also

leadership, service delivery

took a toll on their staffing resources.

capacity, and cultural
competence, the more that
these factors can be nurtured,
the stronger and more effective
the response model will be for
assisting families.

Culturally competent leadership. Because the Latino immigrant
community is set in culturally specific language, traditions, and
values, it was especially important to have providers who have
garnered the trust of the community and can communicate with
immigrant families in a culturally relevant fashion. Several small,
locally based organizations and community leaders in each city
brought valuable culturally sensitive perspectives to the response

approaches in each city, steering organizational leaders to more effective strategies.

THE LIMITED ROLE

OF

PUBLIC AGENCIES

State and local public health and social service agencies had varying levels of
involvement from site to site. Social service staff played a lead role in terms of
coordination and referrals to services for families in Grand Island and a supportive role in
creating access to services in New Bedford. In both sites, senior staff assisted in the

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organization of emergency meetings after the raid to establish links between intervening
organizations and to initiate services to families and outreach strategies. In all three
study sites, social service agencies sent staff to churches shortly after the raid to assist
affected families, and they stationed staff at churches and other service delivery locations
temporarily.* In New Bedford, the Mayor’s Office was closely involved, and
Massachusetts DSS sent 35 Spanish-speaking social workers to Texas to interview
detainees from New Bedford about their families and their assistance needs.
Variation in public assistance receipt from site to site. Few families sought public
assistance in any of the three sites following the raids. In spite of outreach efforts, only
about 25 families affected by the raid (or about 10% of families with arrested members)
sought services from Nebraska DHS. Between 20 and 25 families, again about 10% of
those affected by the raids, sought public assistance in Greeley. Similarly low numbers
received some form of public assistance in New Bedford.
The local public health department in Grand Island undertook outreach efforts and
provided coordination and service referrals. For example, health agency staff offered onetime free immunizations to immigrant children at a local church one weekend, while
other staff distributed flyers which listed service locations and answered questions about
eligibility for public programs.
Public agencies sought to extend services to U.S.-born citizen children even though their
ability to provide direct assistance to undocumented parents and children was limited by
federal and, in Colorado, state law.30 Citizen children were mainly helped through the
Food Stamp Program, which gives monthly food benefits to households, and were
enrolled in Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). A few
families received one-time special economic assistance to cover rent or house payments
through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Some families also qualified
for utility help through the Low-Income Housing Assistance Program.
State and local agencies also offered some services and benefits that were available to all
those who needed assistance, regardless of citizenship and legal status. Women, Infants,
and Children (WIC) offered food, milk, and other basic nutritional items for pregnant
women and women with infants and toddlers. In fact, there was nearly universal receipt

*

In Greeley there was criticism of the social service agency for sending staff to the church only on the weekends,
and on fewer than six occasions.

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of WIC for the youngest children of families who were interviewed in all three sites.
Some state and local funds were available in all three sites for emergency assistance to
help with rent, food, and transportation.*
Very few of the respondents had ever applied for or received cash assistance for their
children, and only a small number of families applied for and received food stamps. For
instance, according to the county social service office, only about five families with
children were enrolled to receive food stamps in Greeley.
The major difference among the three sites was in the rate of enrollment of children in
public health insurance programs. All but one of the young children of immigrants in
New Bedford were enrolled in Medicaid or SCHIP, followed by about half of the children
in Grand Island and fewer than 15 children (less than 10%) in Greeley.** Several of the
parents whose children did not have health coverage said that they registered their children
for health insurance for a short period after their birth, but subsequently declined further
assistance. Overall, the majority of the undocumented immigrants interviewed for this study
felt great reluctance to apply for or receive most types of public assistance.
Deterrents to seeking assistance from public agencies. Several factors influenced
whether families sought or accepted assistance from public service agencies. Foremost
among these was the fear that use of public benefits would result in being reported to
immigration officials or otherwise damaging their chances of remaining in the United
States.31 In Greeley, most affected families stayed away from the county social service
office because of a sign posted there stating that any immigrant who presented false
documents would be reported to the authorities. At the time the raid occurred, Colorado
had just implemented a new state law requiring adults to provide identification and proof
of citizenship or legal status when applying for public services. The law also established
criminal penalties for anyone providing false or fraudulent identification.32
Previous negative experiences in seeking public assistance may have also deterred
affected families from seeking assistance. In general, undocumented and other immigrant

*

For instance, in Greeley, support for emergency services for families was drawn from federal and state child
welfare funds designated to prevent out-of-home placement of children.

** Two-thirds of the children (about 130) served by nonprofit providers in Greeley were U.S.-born citizens, and
lack of citizenship was not a barrier to Medicaid or SCHIP enrollment for these children.

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

families may face hurdles when applying for assistance, such as language barriers,
difficult application procedures, and questions about the legal status of household
members.33 Although the present study focused on Latino immigrants arrested in raids, it
is likely that immigrants from non-Spanish-speaking countries would face even greater
language hurdles when requesting assistance.
Another factor was absence of knowledge that U.S.-citizen children and other household
members might be eligible to receive services and benefits. The undocumented parents
who were arrested in all three sites were accustomed to relying on work income to
support their children, and none of the parents were eligible for federal or state-funded
assistance themselves. For many families, the raids represented the
first time they needed to ask the government for assistance.
Familismo may also have deterred families from seeking assistance

IMPLICATIONS
Public social service agencies

and limited their eligibility for some means-tested programs. In

can provide critical resources

general, reliance on family networks has been found to deter Latino

and assistance in relief efforts,

immigrants from seeking health care.34 In addition, by moving into

and most affected children are

larger extended households with greater resources, affected families

eligible for federal and state-

may have inadvertently made themselves ineligible for means-tested

funded benefits because they

public programs such as food stamps or general assistance.
Finally, a pervasive perception that child welfare agencies would take
their children away also accounted for immigrants’ avoidance of

are U.S. citizens.
Undocumented immigrants,
however, are generally afraid
of seeking public assistance for
their children due to fears that

public agencies after the raids. In Grand Island, as described earlier in

they will be arrested when

the report, a recent public scandal over a child welfare case increased

seeking services and that child

community concerns that child welfare authorities could not be

welfare authorities will take

trusted.

their children.
Public agency administrators

Community fears about the child welfare system created a difficult

and staff are often unclear

situation for the public agencies in all three sites following the raids.

about what the implications

On the one hand, these agencies were charged with protecting
children, and this meant that they had an obligation to ensure that the

are for the child welfare system
and how staff and
administrators can provide

children had adult supervision, lived in a safe home environment,

relevant services to immigrant

were adequately cared for, and had adequate basic necessities. On the

families which are both

other hand, fear prevented most affected families from engaging with

responsive and culturally

or revealing any information to child welfare authorities, and so it was

sensitive.

difficult for public agencies to know about the conditions in which

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affected children were living. In addition, public agencies were not accustomed to
dealing with undocumented immigrants – who seldom if ever approached them for
assistance even prior to the raids – and so lacked knowledge or preparation to deal with
some of the newer local immigrant populations such as the Maya Kiche. Child welfare
agencies also faced uncertainty around the legal issues of working with undocumented
parents and children.*

BARRIERS DUE TO SERVICE LOCATIONS
REQUIREMENTS

AND INFORMATION

The distribution location of the major forms of assistance affected take-up of services
following the raids. The more centralized system in New Bedford was effective in
reaching more families more quickly than in the other two sites where service delivery
had to be moved (first to churches and later, in the case of Grand Island, out into the
community). In New Bedford, although the organization of services was highly
centralized, resource distribution occurred through multiple familiar and trusted sites
such as churches, CBOs, and informal grassroots groups such as Maya Kiche. In Greeley,
service delivery was much less centralized, offered primarily through a telephone hotline,
the local Catholic Charities office, the food bank, and Our Lady of Peace Church. Most
assistance was delivered at the church, because the other locations were not familiar or
trusted sites for the local immigrant community. Informal grassroots organizations such
as Al Frente were not part of the larger and better funded system of community response
in Greeley. Service delivery was highly centralized in Grand Island, where the bulk of
the resources were distributed through Central Nebraska Community Services (CNCS),
which was not well-known to either the local Mexican or Guatemalan communities. Staff
from CNCS were stationed at St. Mary’s Cathedral following Mass, and offered some
assistance there as well. When few families showed up at the church or CNCS the first
week after the raid, service providers and community leaders began going door to door
asking for families of arrested immigrants. In many cases, families did not open their
doors for these leaders, even though they were known and trusted by the immigrant
community. Food boxes and other assistance were often left on front steps of homes for
these families.

*

For more information, see Nebraska Appleseed, “Foster Care Reform Update,” April 5, 2007, available at
http://www.neappleseed.org/lrc/040507.html.

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The amount and type of information requirements also posed hurdles
for many families who sought assistance. Personal information

IMPLICATIONS

requirements and documents proving that a relative or household

The typical centralized delivery

member lost employment as a result of the raids were common at the

model (“build it and they will

service locations. Such information requirements were very important

come”) for providing services

to ensure accountability and that assistance went to the families who

is generally not effective

needed it because of the raids. This was also a condition of service

following immigration raids,

delivery from funders such as Swift & Company in Greeley and Grand
Island, and the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts,

when cultural barriers,
limitations on eligibility for
publicly funded services, and

in New Bedford. Service providers used forms, sometimes several

ongoing fears of arrest may

pages long, which asked for detailed information about the identities

increase the reluctance of

of arrestees, their addresses, telephone numbers, household incomes,

immigrant families to seek

and number of children. In Greeley and Grand Island, service

assistance.

providers often had to match the real names of arrested immigrants
(provided by ICE or the affected families) against aliases that they used
for employment (provided by Swift).* To receive rent, mortgage, and utility assistance –
the big-ticket items in all three sites – applicants had to provide bills in their own names
or prove that they paid some or all of these bills; this was not always easy in multiplefamily households. In some cases, landlords were contacted to verify addresses and
rents. All of these verification requirements significantly slowed down the application
process, and some providers, for instance Al Frente in Greeley, preferred to distribute aid
without any verification.

*

Service providers in Greeley were unable to obtain full lists of arrested immigrants from ICE or Swift until
about two weeks after the raid, and this delay considerably slowed assistance delivery.

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NCLR ◆ Page 66

VIII. Conclusions and
Recommendations

F

ollowing the collapse of comprehensive immigration reform proposals in early
2007, Congress has failed to achieve consensus on the future of undocumented
immigrants in the United States. This leaves approximately 11 million

undocumented immigrants in the country at risk of arrest and deportation, and about five
million children – more than three million of whom are U.S. citizens – at risk of
separation from their undocumented parents. The debate in Congress and in the public
over the fate of undocumented immigrants – whether they should be legalized and
allowed to stay in the country or denied employment and eventually forced to leave – has
largely excluded any consideration for their children.
In the meantime, Congress has turned its focus to immigration enforcement and devoted
additional resources to DHS for this purpose. The Administration and DHS have adopted
a policy of vigorous enforcement which includes elements such as increased Border
Patrol staffing and resources; increased capacity for detention and immigration courts;
deportation of immigrants who have committed a wide range of crimes; pursuit of
undocumented immigrants with outstanding deportation orders; and arrests of
undocumented immigrants in workplaces.
Since the raid on Michael Bianco, Inc. in New Bedford in March, there have been
worksite enforcement actions in at least nine states, with more than 700 immigrants
arrested.35 At the end of August 2007, for instance, ICE agents arrested more than 160

undocumented immigrants on administrative charges at a food processing plant in Ohio.36
In July 2007, ICE arrested 20 more immigrants at the same Swift plants, including in
Greeley and Grand Island, which were raided in December 2006.37

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Workplace arrests are an important item in ICE’s arsenal of enforcement strategies;
without access to employment, there is less incentive for undocumented migration. But
as the aftermath of the recent worksite enforcement raids shows, workplace arrests
inevitably affect large numbers of children. For every two adults arrested, there is on
average at least one child affected. Two-thirds of these children are U.S.-born citizens;
most are young children and many are the youngest and most vulnerable in our society –
infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
Immigration raids are intended to deter undocumented adults from working, not to
punish children; however, as our research shows, raids have a wide range of adverse
consequences for the entire family. Parents are separated from children for long periods
of time, and children – especially younger children – cannot understand why this
separation occurred. They are suddenly thrown into poverty, and their families are afraid
to ask the government or other institutions for support. Some children witness the arrest
of their parents, and others are stigmatized by being associated with “illegal” immigrants.
Whole communities experience fear, and this fear leads to trauma for children, who
experience symptoms of depression, separation anxiety and, in extreme cases, posttraumatic stress disorder.
Local immigrant communities and the state, local, and private institutions that serve them
are ill-equipped to deal with the fallout of worksite raids, especially when they are large
in scale. They do not have the resources, leadership, infrastructure, and cultural
competence to meet the needs of all affected families, even those who overcome their
fears and come forward to seek assistance. This report offers many factors to consider,
strategies for support, and recommendations for state, local, and private institutions in
the event of future raids. Yet, even if all of these recommendations were followed during
every raid, it would only slightly alleviate the hardship and trauma experienced by
immigrant families and their children.
States and local communities have borne the responsibility for children of immigrants
arrested in worksite raids, just as they bear the consequences of many other U.S.
immigration policies. They have paid the fiscal, social, and humanitarian costs in the
aftermath of the raids. The federal government has largely been silent about the impact of
these raids on children, and ICE has yet to fully acknowledge that worksite enforcement
operations have harmful and long-lasting consequences for families. In fact, ICE has not
issued public guidelines or regulations concerning the treatment of parents during their
arrest, detention, and deportation.

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Children are the most vulnerable members of society, and so the United States, like most
other nations, has developed systems to protect them. These systems are designed to
meet children’s basic needs such as food, shelter, and health care, and to keep them safe
from psychological and physical harm. Yet, these systems cannot replace parents when
they are taken away from their children. Current U.S. immigration policy mandates the
arrest of undocumented parents, and by extension causes separation of parents from
children. Millions of U.S. children will continue to be at substantial risk of separation
from their parents, economic hardship, and psychological duress until federal policymakers recognize the impact of immigration policies on children and change those
policies accordingly.
Beyond the broad concern about the lack of protection for children following worksite
enforcement operations, the research also raised many concrete concerns about how
worksite raids are conducted and community responses to them. The following
recommendations address some of these.

RECOMMENDATIONS
■

FOR

CONGRESS

Congress should provide oversight of immigration enforcement activities to ensure
that children are protected during worksite and other operations.

■

Congress should revise the rules concerning release, deportation, and banishment of
noncitizens charged with nonviolent offenses such as identity theft, so that arrested
parents can be reunited with their children in cases where children face hardship.

RECOMMENDATIONS
ENFORCEMENT
■

FOR

U.S. IMMIGRATION

AND

CUSTOMS

ICE should assume that there will be children, and likely very young children,
affected whenever adults are arrested in worksite enforcement operations. ICE should
not assume that there are no children involved just because arrestees do not divulge
this information to immigration agents.

■

ICE should consider how the show of force and treatment of arrestees affect children
psychologically – including older children who may witness enforcement activities –
and plan operations accordingly.

■

ICE should allow attorneys, consular staff, and other intermediaries speedy access to
all arrested immigrants before they sign any legal documents. ICE should inform

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detainees of their right to counsel and to home country consular officials.* All
arrested immigrants should be given lists of pro bono attorneys and other legal
resources. Those charged with nonimmigration offenses should be notified of their
rights and given access to legal representation.
■

ICE should allow arrestees access to telephones within a short time after arrest, and
ensure confidentiality of telephone conversations. ICE should also take into
consideration whether or not arrestees have children and whether or not arrestees
have strong community connections when determining the location of their detention.

■

ICE should develop a consistent policy for release of parents arrested in enforcement
operations. Single parents and primary caregivers of young children should be
released early enough in the day so that school children and children in child care do
not experience disruptions in care; they should not be held overnight. Parents should
be released quickly even when there are two parents in the home because the second
parent often cannot function alone.

■

ICE and the immigration court system should allow for a speedy resolution of arrested
immigrants’ disposition, to allow families to make final decisions concerning the care
and well-being of their children.

■

ICE should notify community institutions as soon as possible after enforcement
operations so that the institutions can prepare responses, and should provide
information on arrested immigrants – including the location of their detention – to
these institutions in a timely fashion.

RECOMMENDATIONS
■

FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Schools should develop systems to help ensure that children have a safe place to go in
the event of a raid, and to reduce the risk that children will be left without adult
supervision when the school day ends.

■

Children may need academic and other counseling for an extended period of time
following a raid, just as they would after any other major disruptive event.

■

Schools, churches, and other community institutions should have forums to discuss
the aftermath of the raids and to reduce community fears and tensions. Ongoing work
to help heal communities and bridge immigrant with nonimmigrant communities may
be necessary to reduce these fears and tensions.

*

Article 36(1)(b) of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (United Nations, Treaty Series, Vol. 596, 1963, p.
261) provides that if a person detained by a foreign country “so requests, the competent authorities of the
receiving state shall, without delay, inform the consular post of the sending state” of such detention and
“inform the person concerned without delay of his rights” to consular representation. Available at
http://untreaty.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/9_2_1963.pdf.
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RECOMMENDATIONS

FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND

NONPROFIT SERVICE PROVIDERS
■

Social service and other public agencies should prepare plans to respond to
immigration raids and develop outreach strategies to assure parents and other
caregivers that it is safe to seek emergency assistance and benefits for children under
such circumstances. States and local governments should develop policies that ensure
the confidentiality of undocumented parents seeking assistance for U.S.-citizen
children, instead of policies that put parents at risk of arrest if they seek services.

■

Relationships with various immigrant networks within a community must be
established, nurtured, and grown well in advance and should be part of any
community response plan.

■

Organizations involved in relief efforts should develop centralized systems for
coordination and communication which involve representation from a broad range of
key groups, including public officials and agencies, nonprofit service providers,
religious institutions, community-based groups, and immigrant community leaders.
National, regional, and state-level organizations should develop programs to help local
communities develop rapid responses to immigration raids.

■

Outreach to families as well as efforts to contact arrested parents who are in detention
may be necessary to gain information about the living situations of children and
overcome parents’ and other caregivers’ fears about revealing such information.
Additional outreach to children who are staying with babysitters or nonrelatives or
living with other children – especially in the case of adolescents – may be necessary
to determine children’s needs and whether their living conditions are safe.

■

Churches and other religious institutions should be considered as central points of
communication, distribution of assistance, and outreach to families affected by
immigration enforcement operations because they are trusted institutions that can
serve families confidentially. Additional support from outside sources and
coordination among several churches may be needed to raise funds and provide the
infrastructure necessary for a large-scale response.

■

Resources for social services and economic assistance will likely be needed over a
prolonged period of time, often many months, until parents are released from
detention and their immigration cases are resolved. During this time efforts should be
made to help families find longer-term sources of support, obtain employment for
adults who were not arrested, or potentially relocate.

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■

Mental health services should be a key component of and tied to other response
efforts. Services should include outreach to affected families – potentially through
schools, churches, and other trusted institutions – to reduce reluctance to seek care
and to help overcome language, cultural, and other access barriers.

■

Legal services should also be made available to arrested immigrants; for instance,
through lists of pro bono lawyers or nonprofit legal services organizations.

RECOMMENDATIONS

FOR IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS

AND LEADERS
■

Communities should prepare networks to obtain and disseminate information on
children whose parents are arrested, and conduct outreach to find children whose
families are in hiding. Such planning should be conducted well in advance of any
ICE enforcement activity to increase its effectiveness.

■

Communities should focus on providing support and assistance to the extended
families of arrested immigrants, along with other caregivers in extended community
networks. Backup plans should be in place for situations in which informal family
and social networks prove insufficient.

■

Relatives, friends, community leaders, and service providers should develop plans for
single-parent immigrant families in the event of a parent’s arrest and be ready to
provide ICE with necessary documentation for the parent’s release. They may also
need to provide extra psychological support to some mothers in two-parent families
while their husbands are detained to prevent the mothers from becoming isolated.

■

Immigrant families should prepare legal documents that would enable them to transfer
custody or guardianship of their children in the event of arrest.

■

Immigration lawyers, advocates, community leaders, and others should be honest with
arrested immigrants about their chances of remaining in the United States, and
strategic in choosing which cases to fight. Arrested immigrants should not have to
pay large legal fees for cases with low probabilities of success, especially when they
are already facing substantial economic hardship.

■

A national clearinghouse of information about responses to raids should be developed.
Such a clearinghouse could be a repository for stories about raids, a conduit for
sharing information, and a setting for developing best practices in service delivery.

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IX. Appendices

APPENDIX 1
Methodology
Site selection. A large sample of children whose parents were arrested in worksite raids
was needed to conduct the analysis in this study. To this end, three sites were chosen
based on the number of people arrested in recent raids. The bulk of the arrests in all
three sites occurred at large manufacturing plants, but a small numbers of arrests
occurred in other locations at the same time in all three sites. Two sites had about 275
arrestees each, and the third had about 360 arrestees.*
The site visits took place within a short period of time, but not immediately, after the
worksite enforcement actions. In one of the sites, the raid took place about two months
before the first site visit and three months before the second. In the other two sites,
where only one site visit was conducted, the raids took place between five and six
months before the visit.
Sites were chosen to represent geographic diversity. Although all are cities with a
population of 50,000 to 100,000, one is located in the West, one in the Midwest, and the
third in the Northeast.

*

The exact number of arrestees depends on whether data were obtained from ICE, immigration lawyers, service
providers, or other sources. Related raids occurred at other employers and within the community on the same
day as the main raids that we studied.
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Sites were also chosen based on the National Council of La Raza’s (NCLR) field contacts.
NCLR funded intermediary organizations, generally immigrant CBOs and coalitions, to
provide connections to local-level contacts and help schedule site visits. Given the tight
time frame of the study (all site work was conducted in May and June 2007) the
assistance of these intermediary organizations was essential to conducting the work. The
organizations also helped gain the trust of community leaders and CBOs, which was
essential to completing the research.
Finally, it was critical that the sites include a broad mix of public officials, public and
private service providers, community leaders, and other study respondents who would be
willing to talk to us. Most important among these were the arrestees and their immediate
family members who were very generous in granting us their time and their trust as we
conducted the field research.
Respondents in the sites. There were four types of study respondents. First, community
respondents were chosen from among the following institutions and locations within
each of the three sites:
■

Employers (in two of the sites)

■

State and local public agencies providing services to families affected by the raids

■

Nonprofit service providers

■

Churches and faith-based organizations

■

Public schools

■

Grassroots organizations and local community leaders

■

Immigration lawyers

■

Consulates for countries with nationals arrested in the raids.

Community respondents were interviewed individually or in groups of three or less.
Interviews were conducted in person in most cases. A small number of introductory and
follow-up interviews were conducted by telephone, and they lasted between 60 and 90
minutes. A total of 72 interviews were conducted with 91 community respondents for
the study.
Second, 30 caregivers were interviewed individually (28 in person and two over the
phone) among the three sites. Caregivers included mostly parents who had been arrested
and released, as well as spouses of parents who had been detained or deported. Some

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caregivers were also relatives such as aunts or uncles.* Caregivers were recruited by
local immigrant community leaders, faith-based organizations, CBOs, and other
community leaders. These interviews, which were held in people’s homes or other safe
locations such as churches, also lasted between 60 and 90 minutes.
Third, in two of the sites focus groups were conducted with social workers who had
direct contact with arrestees and their children.** These focus groups also lasted
between 60 and 90 minutes.
Finally, a small number of national-level experts on immigration raids, arrests, and
deportations were interviewed prior to the site work.
Structure of interviews and focus groups. Semi-structured discussion guides were used
for all of the interviews and focus groups. These guides were designed to collect
information in a standardized fashion for different sites and types of respondents. They
were designed to elicit both detailed answers to specific questions (e.g., How many
children had parents who were arrested in the raids?) as well as open-ended responses to
broader questions (e.g., What were the strengths and weaknesses of community responses
to the raids?). The guides included components for different areas of inquiry, which
mostly follow the flow of this report. The guides were designed so that different
respondents could answer different groups of questions; respondents were not expected
to have expertise on all areas of inquiry. The main components of the discussion guides
were:
■

Background on the interviewee(s) and the community where the raid took place

■

Number of immigrants arrested and children affected, along with their characteristics

■

Details of what happened on the day of the raid

■

Details of what happened to arrestees in terms of detention, release from detention,
and deportation

■

Discussion of the immediate impact on children and families

■

Discussion of longer-term impact on children and families

■

Community responses to the raids

■

Insights and recommendations

*

We did not interview any parents in detention or any who had been deported.

** One of these groups included five people, and the second included 12 people.

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Fieldwork approach. Discussions with intermediary organizations and a first set of
contacts guided us toward diverse community leaders, service providers, and other key
respondents. In each site we also attempted to contact everyone who had been quoted in
the media, and in most cases we were successful. Focus groups of social service, child
protective, and mental health case workers were organized through local community
respondents.
Caregivers were contacted through formal and informal networks, both through
intermediary organizations and some of our local community respondents. In each site, a
snowball sampling technique was used, starting from at least two different points of
contact, to ensure that respondents did not all originate from the same source. Caregiver
interviews took place in safe settings such as churches, community-based organizations,
and, in some cases, people’s homes. A small number of interviews were also conducted
over the phone.
Confidentiality of respondents and study sites. Study respondents were very candid in
their interviews with us, and strict measures have been taken to protect their
confidentiality. All respondents were guaranteed anonymity, and their responses were
rephrased in many cases to protect their confidentiality. The Urban Institute’s
Institutional Review Board reviewed the study methodology, interview discussion guides,
and data collection and storage techniques for confidentiality and protection of human
subjects.
Data obtained and analyses conducted. For each site, we collected as much data as
possible on the number of children affected and their characteristics (age, citizenship
status, etc.) from different sources. Data were also collected on the number of arrestees,
their countries of origin, and their status (e.g., detained locally, detained in another state,
released on bond, deported) both immediately following the raids and at the time of the
site visits. Complete data on the number of arrestees with children, along with the
number of children and their characteristics, were only available for one site based on a
list of all arrestees. For the other two sites, there was no such comprehensive list of
arrestees combined with data on children, so the report relies on counts of families with
children and their characteristics, where available, from multiple sources: schools,
service providers, and lawyers. For these two sites, the number of children included in
the report are incomplete and therefore represent an undercount.
The number of arrestees with children; number of children; and their age, citizenship
status, and other characteristics are compared with national data based on the 2005

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March Current Population Survey (CPS) augmented with Urban Institute assignments of
legal status to noncitizens. The methods for assigning legal status generally involved
adding up all of the noncitizens in the CPS data and subtracting the number of known
legal immigrants based on DHS admissions data; the difference between the total number
of noncitizens and number of legal noncitizens was roughly equal to the number of
undocumented immigrants. Once the total number of undocumented immigrants was
obtained, then the undocumented were differentiated from legal noncitizens using a
probabilistic procedure based on data from the 1990-92 Legalized Population Survey.38
The purpose of the national data comparison was to provide a framework for
understanding the potential scope and impact of raids conducted thus far and future raids
on children.
Key themes, details of events, and individual stories were selected from our three primary
sources of information: community respondents, focus group participants, and parents
and other caregivers. Findings were grouped based on the immediate impact on children,
potential longer-term impact, and local service respondents which appear as sections in
this report. Cross-cutting themes across sites and types of respondents and categories of
questions were described where possible.
Respondents were asked for their specific recommendations regarding policy changes and
planning for future community responses to worksite raids. Their suggestions are
included in the “Conclusions and Recommendations” section of the report.
Also incorporated into this report was information from media reports on the raids in the
three study communities and academic literature on immigration enforcement, children
with incarcerated parents, and the impact of parent-child separation on child
development and well-being.
Study limitations. The study was exploratory in nature, and field work was completed
within the short time frame of only two months. In many cases the research uncovered
more questions than answers.
Respondents were not selected randomly, but through intermediary organizations and key
contacts on the ground in each site. Thus, despite snowball sampling starting from more
than one origin in each site, the sample of caregivers included in the report is not
representative of the arrestees’ population or of the population of spouses or other
relatives. The sources of our connection to individual interviewees may introduce bias,
but in each site we used more than one initial point of contact. Focus groups do not

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allow for statistical representation of findings either. However, rich themes and
compelling stories were uncovered from our site visits.
The findings rely on respondents’ memories of what occurred during that time because
site visits were conducted between two and six months after the raids. Conversely,
because the site visits occurred within six months of the raids, only limited pictures of
longer-term consequences for children were captured. Further research into long-term
impact will be necessary over a longer time frame.

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APPENDIX 2
Profiles of the Study Sites
SITE 1:

Greeley, Colorado. Greeley is a small city located approximately 100 miles

northeast of Denver, with a 2005 population of between 75,000 and 90,000, of whom
about one-third were Latinos.39 The city is a manufacturing, banking, and services center
for a large agricultural area. It is also a bedroom community for Denver and has
experienced very rapid population growth of middle-class commuters in recent years. The
rapid growth in the commuter population led to an explosion in the housing market
followed by a steep decline in housing prices and a high foreclosure rate within the past
year.
According to study respondents, the Mexican-origin community dates back more than 100
years to migrants from New Mexico and Texas. More recently, former braceros –
temporary agricultural workers in the United States during the 1940s through the 1960s –
and migrants from northern Mexico have moved into the community. Most recently,
within the past eight to ten years, migrants from Central and Southern Mexico, along with
Guatemalans, have come in large numbers. Salvadorans, Peruvians, and other Central
and South Americans also have small populations in the area.
The Latino population remains highly segregated in the area near the plant that was
raided and surrounding agricultural areas. Long-standing segregation persists because of
restrictive covenants that limited where Latinos could live until the 1960s. More
recently, there have been tensions between immigrants and others in the community over
immigrant integration and competition for employment opportunities.
This city has a strong but uneven economy with unemployment averaging between 4.5%
and 5% in 2006.40 The raid occurred at a meatpacking plant owned by Swift & Company
at the time. The plant is the largest employer in town and has been in operation under
various owners since the 1950s. Other manufacturing facilities, banking and insurance
businesses, and a university are also major employers. Most of these employers require
its employees to possess substantially more education than that of the average
undocumented Latino worker. Latino immigrants work primarily in lower-skilled
manufacturing, agriculture, construction, landscaping, and service positions.
Assembly-line jobs at the manufacturing plant paid $10-$15 per hour before the raid. The
jobs were full-time, unionized, and included inexpensive family health insurance along
with other benefits. Many immigrants worked double shifts, earning substantial overtime
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wages. But the extent of overtime varied seasonably with product demand. Respondents
told us that families with two workers at this wage could achieve a decent standard of
living. Wages are slightly higher in construction but lower in other major industries of
immigrant employment.
Plant turnover was only about a quarter before the raids, meaning that the average worker
was there for about four years. Some of the arrested workers had been working at the
plant ten years or more. According to respondents, many Latinos owned their own
homes and automobiles before the raid. Among the arrested immigrants, those from
Mexico had been in the community the longest – or had relatives or acquaintances in
town the longest – and they tended to be well integrated. Guatemalans tended to be more
recent arrivals, although they too had been in town for many years on average.
Guatemalans were less likely than Mexicans to have large, extended family networks or
own their own homes or other assets.

SITE 2:

Grand Island, Nebraska. The second community visited for the study, Grand

Island, is a small city in Central Nebraska – about 100 miles west of Omaha – with a 2005
population of between 65,000 and 70,000, about one-sixth of whom were Latino.41 This
city is also a manufacturing, banking, and services center for a large agricultural area, but
unlike Greeley, it does not include a large bedroom community of commuters. The Swift
plant there had experienced an immigration raid in 1992.
Grand Island has been experiencing slow population growth, but substantial economic
prosperity with 3% unemployment in recent years.42 Many of the surrounding smaller
communities in Central Nebraska also have manufacturing plants with large numbers of
Latino workers.
Although the Mexican-origin population is larger, Guatemalan immigrants have a
significant presence in the town and surrounding region. Some families can trace roots
back 75 years, and a substantial number of Guatemalan immigrants arrived during the 1980s
and 1990s. The largest wave of migration, however, occurred within the past five years,
with the Maya Kiche moving to the area; they speak neither English nor standard Spanish.
The Latino community in Grand Island is relatively dispersed with less residential
segregation than in Greeley, and there is a strong Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. There
are also strong connections to other Latino communities throughout the state.

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As in Greeley, the raid site was a Swift & Company meatpacking plant and the largest
employer in town. Other manufacturing plants in the area also employ a substantial
number of workers. Assembly-line jobs at the plant paid $10-$15 per hour before the
raid. Six months after the raid, jobs at the plant were paying up to $17 per hour to start
and offering large signing bonuses. Respondents told us that families with two workers at
this wage could achieve a decent standard of living. Wages are slightly higher in
construction but lower in the other major industries of Latino immigrant employment,
such as services and agriculture.
The plant jobs are full-time, unionized, and include inexpensive health insurance, along
with other benefits. Some immigrants work Saturdays to earn overtime. In conjunction
with the local community college, the plant offers adult education programs – including
English courses – for employees.
The Swift plant had about a 30% turnover before the raids, meaning that the average
worker had been there a little longer than three years. Some of the arrested workers had
been there ten years or more. Some of the immigrants who were arrested owned their
own homes, but the majority were renters. Homeownership among Latinos appeared to
be lower than in Greeley, at least according to study respondents.

SITE 3:

New Bedford, Massachusetts. The third community, New Bedford, is a small

city in Massachusetts, with a 2006 population of between 90,000 and 105,000; Latinos
composed about one-eighth of this population.43 It is a major seaport with an old
industrial base and high unemployment in recent years due in part to manufacturing job
losses. The major industries are textile and other manufacturing, maritime, fishing,
transportation, wholesale trade, and others associated with the port. Unemployment
averaged between 6.5% and 7% during 2006, much higher than the two other sites and
well above the national average.44
The longer-term immigrant community is of Portuguese and Portuguese-colonial descent
(mostly from Cape Verde and Brazil), but more recently large numbers of Central
American immigrants have moved into the area. El Salvador and Guatemala are the
largest countries of origin for the workers of the raided plant; many Guatemalans are
Maya Kiche who have difficulty speaking and understanding both English and Spanish.
There is also a significant Honduran community, and a small number of immigrants from
Mexico. The Central American immigration flow started with refugees from the civil war
in Guatemala during the 1980s, but most of the population growth is recent, occurring
within the last ten years.

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Michael Bianco, Inc., the raided plant, was one of the 15 largest employers in New
Bedford. It is a textile operation and was making backpacks for the military at the time of
the raid. Wages are low (just $7 to $9) relative to the cost of living – which is high in the
city and surrounding area – and few immigrants can afford their own houses. Most live
in crowded apartment settings.
According to study respondents, Latino immigrants live in the poorer areas of New
Bedford, but are divided with the Maya Kiche living on one side of town and the
Spanish-speaking Central Americans on the other. Most of these immigrants are renters.

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APPENDIX 3
Overview of Service Delivery in the Sites
Service delivery efforts in the sites involved a multitude of organizations and leaders,
including faith-based providers and churches, state and local public institutions, CBOs,
economic development organizations, business associations, informal cultural groups,
and in some cases unions and the employers of the raided plants. Their various roles
included fundraising, donating resources, coordinating services, and managing and
organizing service delivery, direct service provision, and advocacy. Due to the limited,
exploratory nature of our study, the following general descriptions of service delivery in
the three sites include the major relief efforts undertaken but do not include all forms of
assistance delivered.
New Bedford, Massachusetts. The response effort in New Bedford featured relatively
strong centralized leadership and coordination of providers and key elements of service
delivery, centralized resource inflows and allocation of funds, and a strong supportive
role by the public social service system. New Bedford benefited by its proximity to
Boston and the substantial legal, social service, and advocacy resources based there.
The response effort was initially facilitated by MIRA. MIRA stepped in to fill a local
vacuum, as there was no single organization in New Bedford which represented the
affected immigrant groups (predominantly Hondurans and Maya Kiche from Guatemala)
and had the capacity to organize a large-scale response. MIRA had greater resources than
local groups, including staff to coordinate the response effort. One respondent said,
“[MIRA] took an all-hands-on-deck model to the response, and this is what will be
required in similar raids of this scale and scope.”
On the day of the raid, MIRA launched the first communications efforts and began
networking with the key groups that would eventually work together on the response
effort. As word of the raid spread, several conference calls were initiated with key local
community and faith-based groups. The groups acted swiftly to convene a multitude of
service providers and community organizers with the families More than 400 families
and individuals affected by the raid attended this convening, which was held in the
basement of a large church on the evening of the raid. Various service providers and
community organizations set up booths on one side of the room to collect information on
the identities of the families, and referrals to services were set up on the other side.

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Within days, the core group of first-responders created a new superstructure which
included a formal leadership committee to serve as the central organizing body for
coordinating service delivery for the response effort. The Niños Fund was established to
receive donations. The Southeastern Massachusetts Community Foundation was chosen
as the fiscal agent and overall administrator. The decision-making committee included
representatives from the main service providers, thus helping them become involved in
the allocation of resources. The committee included staff from MIRA, the Mayor’s Office
of New Bedford, several churches and other faith-based institutions, and various
community-based organizations, including a nonprofit immigrant assistance and referral
center and an economic development organization. The weekly committee meetings also
served as the key communications system. While this superstructure at times produced
some tension and conflict among participants, nearly all of the study respondents had a
positive opinion of the basic approach.
The Niños Fund, which had collected $145,000 by the time of our visit two months after
the raid, provided a comprehensive range of direct assistance to families with children.
A portion of the fund was also used to build capacity among the organizations providing
direct assistance. Most of the direct assistance funds went toward emergency needs
including housing assistance, food assistance, utilities, and transportation. Distribution
of aid began just three days after the raid. Three organizations distributed about $25,000
in food assistance in the form of grocery store gift cards and vouchers. About $60,000 in
vouchers went toward rent payments for up to two months. Another portion of funds
went to a nonprofit community action agency to help families pay for utilities. A local
CBO and several churches offered transportation assistance (e.g., to take arrestees to and
from their court appointments).
Multiple service distribution sites were chosen, each familiar to the immigrant families
targeted for assistance: Catholic Charities; the Community Economic Development
Corporation (CEDC); the Immigrant Assistance Center, a long-standing immigrant
assistance and referral center; and Maya Kiche. Maya Kiche was a key organization
because it was the only group that had the language capacity, cultural competency, and
trust to work with the Mayan immigrants from Guatemala who composed the singlelargest ethnic group arrested in the raid.
The State of Massachusetts also took a proactive, unique role in assisting the immigrants
arrested in the raid. Under the governor’s orders, Massachusetts DSS arranged for child
welfare workers to meet with detained immigrants within three days of the raid to assess
and make recommendations for release based on their family circumstances.

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Massachusetts DSS workers helped obtain the release of 20 parents and other caregivers
without bond within a few days after the raid. DSS staff were also present at service
provider meetings and community events.
New Bedford also had access to substantial nonprofit legal resources, mostly provided out
of Boston offices. Legal aid was offered by both Greater Boston Legal Services and a
lawyer from Catholic Charities who specializes in immigration issues.
Grand Island, Nebraska. The response effort in Grand Island was less centralized than in
New Bedford, but was coordinated informally and funded primarily by the employer (at
that time, Swift & Company), the union (United Food and Commercial Workers), and
other private sources. Community leaders in Grand Island were ready to respond when
the raid happened because of experience with a previous raid at the same plant in the late
1990s. But Grand Island could not draw on the same level of resources from nearby
cities, as was the case in New Bedford and Greeley, because the community is relatively
isolated, located about 100 miles west of Omaha.
Several community leaders and institutions came together under the umbrella of the
Grand Island Multicultural Coalition, a preexisting independent nonprofit membership
organization dedicated to networking and coalition-building to better serve the needs of
the area’s Latino and other minority ethnic populations. The coalition, which already
had participation from broad sectors of the community (including Swift, Nebraska DHS,
public schools, nonprofit service providers, and local churches), facilitated connections
among responding organizations and sponsored and provided the space for numerous
meetings.
Out of concern for the school children, the Grand Island school district played a lead role
in coordinating and providing assistance to families, starting on the day of the raid. The
district had developed plans in the event of a raid at the Swift plant, based on the
experience with the previous raid there. The superintendent held several press
conferences throughout the day reassuring immigrant families that their children were
safe at school. English as a second language program staff took the lead in convening
meetings of community leaders, delivering assistance directly to families’ homes, and
referring immigrant parents to available services. The public schools became safe havens
for children and an information pipeline for the community in the days and weeks after
the raid. The district had developed a database of parents’ employers, and used this
database to contact all children whose parents might have been arrested at Swift.
The Swift plant had a history of strong, positive relations with the Latino community –

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the source of most of its employees – and had been providing services such as adult
education and English as a second language to some of its employees. Following the raid,
Swift provided about $60,000 in funding to the local United Way for assistance to
families of employees arrested at the plant. United Way disbursed the funds mostly
through CNCS, an established nonprofit service provider, although assistance was
provided at other locations. Swift provided a list of employees who had been arrested
and stipulated that the funds be spent on assistance to families of employees. CNCS
verified that recipients of assistance were in fact relatives or housemates with arrested
employees. CNCS assisted affected families with a range of basic needs including
housing, food, utilities, medical expenses, and other daily living expenses. CNCS served
more than 100 families with almost 200 children. Families were allocated about $200
each during the first month following the raid, but assistance payments rose in value to
$700 in subsequent months. Assistance lasted through about the fourth month after the
raid.
Beginning on the Sunday after the raid, churches conducted impromptu food and cash
drives and were able to start disbursing mostly one-time cash allocations and gift cards
funded by Swift. They also arranged for meetings with the Mexican Consulate and
offered transportation assistance. St. Mary’s Cathedral, in downtown Grand Island,
became a central point of distribution. The Omaha Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
raised funds and donations from the Latino community there and brought food, toys,
clothes, and other items to Grand Island.
Much of the distribution of food and other basic items was done in the community during
the first few weeks after the raid with volunteers going door to door. Because so many
families were in hiding and afraid of ongoing ICE raids, they did not go anywhere – not
even to the church – to seek assistance.
Nebraska DHS and the city health department also anchored much of the response effort
in Grand Island, although the role of public agencies was more limited than in New
Bedford and families were afraid to go to these agencies. Agency staff assisted mainly
with service coordination, setting up avenues of assistance and offering referrals. Staff
from both the health department and social service agency assisted with assembling
service points throughout the community (e.g., at CNCS, the Salvation Army, and St.
Mary’s); staffed the delivery of services at various sites; and referred immigrant families
to specific agencies and organizations for food, financial assistance, and other services.
Nebraska DHS was limited in the forms of assistance it could provide because

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undocumented immigrants are ineligible for most federal and state-funded programs –
such as the Food Stamp Program and TANF. In many families, U.S.-born citizen children
were eligible for public assistance, but families were afraid to ask for assistance from
Nebraska DHS for fear of losing their children to the child welfare system.
The Mexican Consulate in Omaha was involved in coordinating and delivering some of
the services. Consular officials were the first to interview arrestees detained in Iowa the
day after the raid, and the first to get detailed information about children of arrestees.
Consular officials linked detainees and family members via phone and also set up
connections with immigration attorneys, as attorneys had difficulty gaining access to the
Iowa detainees for several days. The Consulate provided a small amount – about one
week’s worth of cash assistance – to Mexican families following the raid. The Mexican
Consulate also put some detainees from other countries of origin in contact with their
families and with lawyers. However, arrested immigrants from other countries of origin
did not receive a similar level of consular services because they did not have consulates
in the area. For instance, the nearest Guatemalan consulate was in Chicago.
The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) represented most of the workers
arrested at the plant and provided some cash assistance and relief as well. The union
hired an attorney out of Omaha to help with about a dozen immigration cases. UFCW
also provided assistance to families in obtaining the arrested workers’ last paychecks and
receiving compensation for unused vacation and other leave.
Nebraska Appleseed, based out of Lincoln, and another nonprofit in Omaha offered some
free legal assistance as well. However, Grand Island itself had no trustworthy
immigration attorneys or accredited Board of Immigration Appeals representatives, i.e.,
people who could represent clients before immigration judges. St. Mary’s Cathedral was
in the process of training two people to become accredited representatives and setting up
a legal assistance program at the time of the raid. The lack of legal resources in Grand
Island and generally across Nebraska limited avenues for arrested immigrants to appeal
their deportation, and in some cases they used untrustworthy lawyers or legal consultants
and lost substantial sums of money for legal fees.
Greeley, Colorado. The response effort in Greeley was the least centralized of the three
sites, and public agencies played the smallest role there. There was no single coalition or
organizational structure that formally coordinated relief, although efforts were informally
coordinated through Our Lady of Peace, a local Catholic Church that served as the central
distribution point for most assistance. Congregations Building Communities (CBC), a

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church-based organizing group, facilitated the first meeting at Our Lady of Peace and
continued to work with the church to provide services to affected families. CBC also
connected the media with affected families so that they could tell their stories.
Greeley benefited from its proximity to the Denver area, where immigration lawyers, two
consulates (Mexico and Guatemala), a large Latino community, and other resources are
located. Greeley did not have experience with a prior raid, however, and the community
was deeply divided over county government plans to petition ICE to open an office in
town. Moreover, one of the worst snowstorms in years hit the area about one week
following the raid, which greatly complicated service provision during this critical
period.
The Swift plant’s donation and United Way coordination drove most of the relief efforts
in Greeley. As in Grand Island, Swift donated about $60,000 to United Way, predicated
on the condition that the money be spent only on families with arrested employees.
Swift also forwarded a list of arrested immigrants to United Way, which in turn
coordinated the relief effort through a local nonprofit service provider – in this case,
Catholic Charities. United Way provided another $25,000 raised through other sources.
Catholic Charities branches in the Denver area provided additional sources of funding. In
total, about $200,000 was raised; $140,000 in excess of the Swift seed grant and far above
the total amount available in Grand Island. Catholic Charities served 96 families and
more than 200 children. Families were allocated $500 each at the start of the process, but
the cap was raised by several hundred dollars as families came back during the second,
third, and fourth months after the raid for assistance. Some families received assistance
with rent and mortgage payments as high as $1,200. Rent and mortgage assistance was
the single-largest item; more than $70,000 was spent on assisting 90 families during the
four months following the raids. More than $7,000 of the United Way funding was spent
on food, coordinated through the local food bank. Our Lady of Peace distributed more
than $12,000 in gift cards for use at local grocery stores, some of which were funded out
of the United Way/Catholic Charities pool and some of which were donated by the stores.
Immediately following the raid, United Way organized services through Catholic
Charities, the local food bank, and a toll-free (211) number. They used the 211 system
which had been effective in previous disaster assistance efforts, for instance the response
to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Following the workplace raid in Greeley, however,
this system was not as effective. There were not that many calls to the toll-free number,
and not very much assistance was disbursed during the first month following the raid.

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Also, very few people went to the offices of the food bank or the Catholic Charities office
to seek assistance. As in Grand Island, families were too frightened following the raids to
go to formal service providers, either public or private.
Our Lady of Peace held a meeting the evening after the raid and another later in the week.
Weld County Department of Social Services (Weld DSS), Catholic Charities, and other
major service providers in town, the union, the Guatemalan and Mexican Consulates, and
community leaders came to these initial meetings. Meetings of the service providers
continued on a weekly basis for several months. Moreover, many families attended the
first meeting held in the basement of the church – informal estimates of attendance ran as
high as 400. In fact, a large number of families were already in the church celebrating
Our Lady of Guadalupe, a major Latin American festival, at the time the raid happened.
Some of these families remained in the church in hiding the day of the raid. Our Lady of
Peace is located in the heart of the Latino community in Greeley, only a few blocks from
the raided plant. Due to its location and trust within the community, Our Lady of Peace
became a safe haven and central distribution point following the raid.
Many families came to Our Lady of Peace seeking assistance in the days following the
raid. The priests and other staff at the church raised some funding and received
donations of food and other items from the Latino community in Greeley and other
churches nearby. However, the large number of families seeking assistance quickly
overwhelmed their capacity. In addition, the staff at the church did not have the capacity
to manage the large pool of resources offered by United Way. As a result of these
difficulties, the group of community leaders and service providers that was meeting
regularly decided to base staff from Catholic Charities and the food bank at Our Lady of
Peace to distribute assistance, track recipients, and verify their connections to arrested
immigrants. It took almost one month to get this system set up because of difficulties in
coordinating assistance and a two-week delay in getting the list of arrested immigrants
from ICE via Swift. Thus, distribution of the major component of assistance – rent and
mortgage payments – did not begin until the second month after the raid. Assistance
continued for about three months, but this operation had largely closed down and the
funding had all been spent by the time of our site visit, five months after the raid.
Al Frente, a community-based organization located just a few blocks from Our Lady of
Peace and the Swift plant, also provided significant assistance, though mostly through
informal support. Al Frente was not included in the formal distribution system set up by
United Way and Catholic Charities which was housed at the church. Most of the support
for their efforts came from the local Latino community, as well as Latino communities in

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the Denver area. Al Frente distributed about 560 food boxes to more than 180 families;
they did not ask for verification that families were directly connected to immigrants
arrested at the plant. Al Frente also distributed clothing, diapers, infant formula, and
other necessities over the first four months following the raid.
The UFCW represented most of the arrested immigrants, as in Grand Island – both Swift
plants were unionized. The union hired a lawyer in Boulder to represent immigrants in
detention, and the legal team grew to four lawyers and a Spanish-speaking clerk. The
legal team represented more than 100 union members who were detained, but they were
unable to represent about 20 workers who were not unionized. In addition, almost 100
arrestees – mostly Mexicans – had been deported before any lawyers were able to contact
them. Although most of the immigrants who were held in detention received
representation through the union’s law firm, there were some who – as in Grand Island –
received improper representation and lost substantial sums in legal fees. As in Grand
Island, the UFCW in Greeley provided assistance with paychecks and compensation for
leave.
Mexico and Guatemala both have consulates in Denver, which were very active in service
provision following the raids. Although the Mexican Consulate was unable to meet with
about 90 of their nationals before they were deported, they were able to meet with about
20 arrestees in detention and put them in contact with their families. The Guatemalan
Consulate, however, was able to meet almost all of its 108 nationals in detention.
Consular staff gained the release of 14 Guatemalans just after the raid and represented 50
more during hearings later on in the process. Both consulates also sent staff to Greeley to
meet with community leaders and affected families at Our Lady of Peace on the day of
the raid and at subsequent meetings. At those meetings, consular staff spoke to families
to obtain information about who was arrested, made sure that children were not left alone
(especially on the day of the raid), and helped refer families to services.* In this way
they worked from both ends to put detainees in contact with their families. The Mexican
Consulate did not provide direct assistance to families remaining in Greeley, but offered
relocation assistance for two families to go back to Mexico; both of these families in the
end, however, decided not to relocate.

*

For the entire first week after the raid everyone was in the dark about who had actually been arrested. Consular
staff had to go to detention facilities and to Greeley to try to obtain information. ICE did not provide them with
a complete and accurate list of who had been arrested until two weeks after the raid.
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APPENDIX 4
National Estimates of Undocumented Adults
and Their Children
A number of key factors influence the number of children potentially affected by ICE’s
enforcement activities. Primary among these are the industry of parental employment,
geographic region of the United States, and parents’ country or region of origin. These
factors explain the relatively large number of children affected in Greeley and Grand
Island compared with New Bedford.
Overall, in 2005 there were 9.3 million unauthorized working-age adults (18-64) and 4.9
million children (ages 0-17) living with these unauthorized adults (Appendix Table).45
About half (48%) of these working-age adults had children. They had 1.1 children on
average, but more than 80% lived in two-parent families, so there were 2.0 children on
average per undocumented family. The ratio of children to undocumented working-age
adults was 53% – suggesting that on average there was one child for every two adults.
When only those adults who were actually working are included in the analysis, the
share of adults with children drops to 44%, but the average number of children per adult
rises to 1.4 because in many immigrant families there are two parents, but only the father
works. The number of children per family was also 2.0 on average. Among workers ages
18 to 64, the ratio of children to undocumented adults rises to 63% – suggesting there
were almost two children for every three undocumented workers.
Variation in the number of children by parental industry of employment. Most of the
largest worksite enforcement actions undertaken by ICE within the past year or so have
been in manufacturing plants. Undocumented immigrants working in manufacturing –
the industry for all three raid sites included in this study – were more likely to have
children than undocumented workers in other major sectors of the economy. Thus, where
enforcement activities are focused on manufacturing, there are likely to be more children
affected than when enforcement focuses elsewhere.
In 2005, across the major industries of employment for undocumented immigrants, the
share of undocumented workers with children ranged from a high of 55% in
manufacturing to a low of 38% in construction. Agricultural workers had the most
children on average (2.0), followed by construction (1.8); manufacturing workers had 1.6
children on average. The high share of workers with children in manufacturing and the

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large number of children per worker on average in agriculture gave these two sectors the
highest ratio of children overall per working adult (89%).
Almost two-thirds (63%) of children with undocumented parents working in
manufacturing were U.S.-born citizens. Citizen shares of children were similar across all
the other major industries except for agriculture where only 43% of children were
citizens. Children of undocumented parents working in manufacturing and agriculture
were slightly older on average than children of parents in other industries, and the
children whose parents worked in construction were slightly younger.
The manufacturing jobs taken by undocumented immigrants tend to be stable, wellpaying jobs, at least in contrast to agricultural and service-sector jobs. As a result, as it
appears from the 2005 data, undocumented immigrants in manufacturing are more likely
than workers in other sectors to have families, and these families are well-established
with high shares of U.S.-citizen children as well as older children. Based on the national
data, we would expect more than half of undocumented workers in our study sites to
have children and for the ratio of children to adults to exceed 80%.
Variations in the number of children by geographic region of the United States. The
sites selected for the study were located in three of the nation’s four major Census
geographic regions: the West, Midwest, and Northeast. The West, with its proximity to
the southwestern border with Mexico, has the largest and most well-established
undocumented immigrant populations. Undocumented communities in other regions of
the country tend to be newer and less well established. The Northeast is the region
farthest from the border and has the lowest number of undocumented immigrants, who
tend to be more recent arrivals to the region.46 Thus, one would expect ICE enforcement
activities in the West to affect more children, and those in the Northeast to affect fewer
children.
Across the three study regions, undocumented immigrants in the West were the most
likely to have children in 2005 (56%), followed by those in the Midwest (46%) and those
in the Northeast (42%). The West also had the largest average number of children per
worker (1.2) and per family (2.2). The ratio of children to undocumented working-age
adults was far higher in the West (65%) than in the other regions. The Northeast had the
lowest ratio (41%). In both the Midwest and West, two-thirds of children with
undocumented parents were U.S.-born citizens, compared with 56% in the Northeast.
Based on these data, we would expect that the workers arrested at the Northeast study
site (New Bedford) would have fewer children on average than those arrested in the West
and Midwest sites (Greeley and Grand Island).

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Variations in the number of children by parental country/region of origin. The two
predominant countries of origin for workers arrested at the three study sites were Mexico
and Guatemala. Mexico accounts for more than half of all undocumented immigrants,
while Guatemala is a much less common country of origin nationally. Mexican
immigrants have a long history of undocumented migration to the United States, dating
back to the 1960s when the bracero temporary agricultural worker program ended.
Mexican immigrants legalized in large numbers in the late 1980s and early 1990s,
following the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.47 Guatemalans are a much
more recent immigrant group, with the migration stream beginning in earnest during
Guatemala’s civil war of the 1980s, and increasing in size substantially during the 1990s.
The migration of undocumented immigrants from other Central American countries such
as Honduras and El Salvador followed a similar pattern, starting in the 1980s and
increasing rapidly during the 1990s. As a result of their relative longevity in the United
States, one would expect undocumented Mexican immigrants to be more established and
therefore more likely to have children than Guatemalans and other Central Americans.
As a result, ICE enforcement actions that focus on worksites or communities where there
are more Mexican immigrants are likely to affect more children, while those focusing on
Central American or other populations are likely to affect fewer children.
In 2005, more than half (53%) of undocumented Mexican immigrants had children,
compared with just 41% of Guatemalans. There was little variation in the average
number of children per parent by origin, but the overall ratio of children to adults was
considerably higher for Mexicans than Guatemalans and other Central Americans (62%
compared with 51% and 52%, respectively). A relatively low share of undocumented
adults from regions of the world other than Central America had children, and they had
fewer children on average, and so their ratio of children to adults was the lowest (41%).
Despite higher shares with children, Mexican immigrant families actually had a lower
share of U.S.-citizen children than Guatemalan or other Central American families.
About two-thirds (68%) of children with undocumented Mexican parents were citizens,
compared with three-quarters (74%-75%) for children with Guatemalan and other Central
American parents. Guatemalans also had a relatively high share of children over age ten
(43%), but otherwise age distributions were similar across parental origin groups.
Based on the national data, we would expect Mexican immigrants arrested in the study
sites to be more likely to have children than Guatemalan and other immigrants, and those
sites with higher shares of Mexican immigrants to have more children affected by the

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Appendix Table
National Estimates of Undocumented Working-Age Adults and Their Children by Work Status,
Industry of Employment, Geographic Region of the United States, and Country/Region of Origin, 2005

Industry of Employment
Total

Working

Number of adults
(ages 18-64)*

9,281

6,724

974

1,317

246

767

494

1,164

Number of adults with
children (ages 0-17)*

4,483

2,992

532

498

109

329

251

477

Percentage of adults
with children

48%

44%

55%

38%

44%

43%

51%

41%

Average children
per parent

1.1

1.4

1.6

1.8

2.0

1.6

1.7

1.5

Average children
per family

2.0

2.0

2.1

2.1

2.4

1.9

2.0

1.9

4,925

4,251

870

912

219

526

418

730

53%

63%

89%

69%

89%

69%

85%

63%

U.S.-born citizens

64%

62%

63%

63%

43%

61%

63%

66%

Ages 0 to 5

37%

37%

33%

41%

31%

38%

32%

40%

Ages 6 to 10

28%

28%

25%

28%

25%

24%

32%

29%

Ages 11 to 17

35%

35%

42%

31%

45%

38%

36%

31%

Total number of
children (ages 0-17)*
Ratio of children
to adults

Manufacturing Construction Agriculture

Retail
Trade

Services

Entertainment
and Leisure

Percentage of children:

Geographic Region of the
United States

Number of adults (ages 18-64)*

Country or Region of Origin

Northeast

Midwest

South

West

Mexico

Guatemala

1,262

980

3,651

3,389

5,133

282

Other Central
America
Other
921

2,945

532

446

1,611

1,895

2,731

115

414

1,222

42%

46%

44%

56%

53%

41%

45%

42%

Average children per parent

1.0

1.0

1.1

1.2

1.2

1.3

1.2

1.0

Average children per family

1.8

2.1

2.0

2.2

2.2

1.9

1.9

1.7

516

450

1,763

2,197

3,207

145

480

1,217

41%

46%

48%

65%

62%

51%

52%

41%

U.S.-born citizens

56%

66%

63%

66%

68%

74%

75%

50%

Ages 0 to 5

38%

42%

38%

36%

39%

38%

37%

35%

Ages 6 to 10

28%

26%

27%

28%

27%

19%

25%

30%

Ages 11 to 17

34%

32%

34%

37%

34%

43%

38%

35%

Number of adults with children (ages 0-17)*
Percentage of adults with children

Total number of children (ages 0-17)*
Ratio of children to adults
Percentage of children:

*Note: Whole number values expressed in thousands
Source: Urban Institute analysis of March 2005 U.S. Current Population Survey data, augmented with assignments of legal status to noncitizens.

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

raids. The share of U.S.-born citizen children might be higher in those sites with more
Guatemalan and other Central American immigrants.
Reasons for variations in the number of children across the sites. There are several
reasons why the shares of arrestees with children and total number of children affected
are much lower in New Bedford than in Greeley or Grand Island. First, New Bedford is
in the Northeast – the region with the lowest share of undocumented adults with children
in the national data discussed earlier. Second, the arrested population in New Bedford is
composed almost entirely of Guatemalans and other Central Americans, while arrestees in
the other two sites were a mixture of Mexicans and Guatemalans. In the national data,
undocumented Mexican immigrants were substantially more likely than Guatemalans and
other Central Americans to have children. Third, the workers arrested in New Bedford
were much younger than those in the other sites. In New Bedford, 80% of the workers
were under age 35, and 42% were under age 25. In fact, four of the arrestees in New
Bedford were under the age of 18, and therefore children themselves. Respondents in
Greeley and Grand Island told us that the predominant age range for workers was 25 to
45, and that very few workers were under age 25.* Fourth, respondents told us that a
substantial share of workers in New Bedford were not married – which is not surprising
given their relatively young age – and that among those with children, a high share were
single parents. By contrast, virtually all of the families with children in Greeley and
Grand Island were two-parent families. Taken together, these three factors suggest that
the arrested immigrants in New Bedford were younger, less established, and therefore less
likely to have formed families than the arrestees in the other two sites.
Another factor that could influence the share of children is the relatively low wages paid
in New Bedford. The average hourly wage at Michael Bianco ($7-$9) was much lower
than in the Swift plants in the other two sites ($10-$15). Moreover, the cost of living is
higher in New Bedford than in Greeley or Grand Island, and so the wages at Michael
Bianco would make it difficult for an employee to raise a family, especially given that so
many were single parents.

*

Age data for New Bedford are based on analysis of the list provided by advocates and service providers; age was
provided for 349 arrestees. In the other two sites, no such data were available, and the age-range estimates are
based on discussions with employers, lawyers, and service providers.

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Endnotes
1.

Passel, Jeffrey S., The Size and Characteristics of the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U.S.:
Estimates Based on the March 2005 Current Population Survey. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic
Center, 2006.

2.

Ibid.

3.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “Detention and Removal Operations: Alternatives to
Detention.” Fact Sheet. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, March 2007.
Available at http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/factsheets/061704detFS2.htm.

4.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “Worksite Enforcement Overview.” Fact Sheet.
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, August 2007. Available at
http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/factsheets/worksite.htm.

5.

“Forced Apart: Families Separated and Immigrants Harmed by United States Deportation Policy,”
19:3(G). Washington, DC: Human Rights Watch, July 2007.

6.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “Fiscal Year 2007 Budget.” Fact Sheet. Washington,
DC: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, February 2007. Available at
http://www.ice.gov/doclib/pi/news/factsheets/FactSheet2007Budget020507a.pdf.

7.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “Worksite Enforcement Overview,” op. cit.

8.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “Worksite Enforcement: Operation Wagon Train.”
Fact Sheet. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, March 2007. Available at
http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/factsheets/wse_ou_070301.htm.

9.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “Worksite Enforcement Overview,” op. cit.

10. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE: Fiscal Year 2006 Annual Report. Washington,
DC: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2007. Available at
http://www.ice.gov/doclib/about/ICE-06AR.pdf.
11. Nationally about 22% of all undocumented immigrants come from regions other than Latin
America. For more see Passel, Jeffrey S., The Size and Characteristics of the Unauthorized Migrant
Population in the U.S., op. cit.
12. Over the years, Urban Institute and other researchers have developed estimates of the number of
undocumented immigrants in the United States based on survey data, comparisons with official
DHS admissions data, and assumptions about the characteristics of undocumented immigrants
versus legal noncitizens. The latest of these estimates – for 2005 – suggest there are just over 11
million undocumented immigrants in the country in total. See Passel, Jeffrey S., The Size and
Characteristics of the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U.S., op. cit.; Passel, Jeffrey S. and
Rebecca Clark, Immigrants in New York: Their Legal Status, Incomes, and Taxes. Washington, DC:
Urban Institute, 1998; and Capps, Randy, Jeffrey S. Passel, Dan Perez-Lopez, and Michael E. Fix,
The New Neighbors: A User’s Guide to Data on Immigrants in U.S. Communities. Washington,
DC: Urban Institute, 2003.

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13. Children in undocumented families are substantially younger than children overall in the United
States. In 2005, only one-quarter of children in the United States overall were under age five, and
only 50% were under age ten. See U.S. Census Bureau, “General Demographic Characteristics:
2005,” American Community Survey. Washington, DC: 2007. Available at
http://factfinder.census.gov.
14. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “Worksite Enforcement: Operation Wagon Train,”
op. cit.
15. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “Worksite Enforcement Operation at MBI, Inc.” Fact
Sheet. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, March 2007. Available at
http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/factsheets/worksite_enforcement_070312.htm.
16. A recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office concludes that detainee populations
exceeded rated capacity in four out of 23 facilities visited for the study. See U.S. Government
Accountability Office, Alien Detention Standards: Telephone Access Problems Were Pervasive at
Detention Facilities; Other Deficiencies Did Not Show a Pattern of Noncompliance. GAO-07-875.
Washington, DC: July 2007.
17. A report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found problems with phone systems in 16
out of the 23 facilities visited. The phone systems in these facilities were reliable less than 75% of
the time for outgoing calls. Ibid.
18. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “Worksite Enforcement Overview,” op. cit.
19. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “Detention and Removal Operations: Alternatives to
Detention,” op. cit.
20. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “Worksite Enforcement Overview,” op. cit.
21. Ibid.
22. Bronfenbrenner, Urie, The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1979.
23. Flores, Glenn, “Culture and the Patient-Physician Relationship: Achieving Cultural Competency in
Health Care,” The Journal of Pediatrics, 2000, 136(1):14-23; and Holleran, Lori K. and Margaret A.
Waller, “Sources of Resilience among Chicano/a Youth: Forging Identities in the Borderlands,”
Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 2003, 20(5): 335-350.
24. Sabogal, Fabio, Gerardo Marín, Regina Otero-Sabogal, Barbara Vanoss Marín, and Eliseo J. PerezStable, “Hispanic Familism and Acculturation: What Changes and What Doesn’t?” Hispanic
Journal of Behavioral Science, 1987, 9(4):397-412.
25. This pattern of informal care is consistent with studies showing lower enrollment in prekindergarten, Head Start, and other formal child care settings among U.S. children of immigrants
overall. See Capps, Randy, Michael Fix, Jason Ost, Jane Reardon Anderson, and Jeffrey S. Passel,
The Health and Well-Being of Young Children of Immigrants. Washington, DC: Urban Institute,
2004; and Hernandez, Donald J., “Demographic Change and the Life Circumstances of Immigrant
Families,” The Future of Children, 2004, 14(2):16-47.

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

26. Capps, Randy, “Hardship among Children of Immigrants: Findings from the 1999 National Survey
of America’s Families,” Assessing the New Federalism, Series B, No. B-29. Washington, DC:
Urban Institute, February 2001; and Hernandez, Donald J., “Demographic Change and the Life
Circumstances of Immigrant Families,” op. cit.
27. Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne, Greg J. Duncan, and Nancy Maritato, “Poor Families, Poor Outcomes: The
Well-Being of Children and Youth,” Consequences of Growing Up Poor. Edited by Greg J. Duncan
and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn. New York: Russell Sage, 1997; and Hanson, T. L., Sarah McLanahan,
and Elizabeth Thomson, “Economic Resources, Parental Practices, and Children’s Well-Being,” In
Consequences of Growing Up Poor, Edited by Greg J. Duncan and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn. New York:
Russell Sage, 1997.
28. Capps, Randy, Michael Fix, Jason Ost, Jane Reardon Anderson, and Jeffrey S. Passel, The Health
and Well-Being of Young Children of Immigrants. Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2004;
Hernandez, Donald J., “Children of Immigrants: Health, Adjustment, and Public Assistance,” In
Children of Immigrants: Health, Adjustment, and Public Assistance. Edited by Donald J.
Hernandez, National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, Board on Children, Youth and
Families, Committee on the Health and Adjustment of Immigrant Children and Families.
Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1999; and Hernandez, Donald J., “Demographic Change
and the Life Circumstances of Immigrant Families,” op. cit.
29. Ibid.
30. Zimmermann, Wendy and Karen C. Tumlin, Patchwork Policies: State Assistance for Immigrants
under Welfare Reform. Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 1999.
31. Rodriguez, Nestor, Jacqueline Hagan, and Randy Capps, “The Effects of Recent Welfare and
Immigration Reforms on Immigrants’ Access to Health Care,” International Migration Review, 2004,
38(2).
32. Colorado House Bill 1020, enacted at the end of July 2007, restricts undocumented immigrants
from accessing services such as retirement, welfare, health, disability, public or assisted housing,
postsecondary education, food assistance, and unemployment. Adult applicants (ages 18 and
older) must show a valid form of identification, such as a Colorado driver’s license. Applicants
presenting false information or fraudulent documents face penalties including up to a year and a
half in jail and a $5,000 fine. See National Conference of State Legislatures, “2006 State
Legislation Related to Immigration: Enacted and Vetoed,” October 31, 2006. Available at
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/immig/.
33. Holcomb, Pamela, Robin Koralek, Karen Tumlin, Randy Capps, and Anita Zuberi, The Application
Process for TANF, Food Stamps, Medicaid and SCHIP: Issues for Agencies and Applicants,
Including Immigrants and Limited English Speakers. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, Assistant Secretary for Policy Evaluation, 2003.
34. Flores, Glenn, “Culture and the Patient-Physician Relationship: Achieving Cultural Competency in
Health Care,” op. cit.
35. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “Worksite Enforcement Overview,” op. cit.

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Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children

36. “ICE executes federal criminal search warrants at Koch Foods and arrests more than 160 on
immigration charges,” Press Release, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department
of Homeland Security, Washington, DC, August 28, 2007. Available at
http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/070828cincinnati.htm.
37. “ICE makes additional criminal arrests at Swift & Company plants,” Press Release, U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC,
July 11, 2007. Available at
http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/070711washingtondc.htm.
38. Passel, Jeffrey S. and Rebecca Clark, Immigrants in New York: Their Legal Status, Incomes, and
Taxes, op. cit.
39. U.S. Census Bureau, “General Demographic Characteristics: 2005,” op. cit.
40. “Local Area Unemployment Statistics,” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Washington, DC: 2007.
Available at http://www.bls.gov/lau/home.htm#data.
41. “General Demographic Characteristics: 2005,” Table B01001I. Sex by Age (Hispanic or Latino).”
American Community Survey. U.S. Census Bureau, 2007. Available at http://factfinder.census.gov.
42. Statewide unemployment averaged about 3% in 2006; see “Local Area Unemployment Statistics.”
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2007. Available at http://www.bls.gov/lau/home.htm#data.
43. “General Demographic Characteristics: 2006,” American Community Survey. U.S. Census Bureau.
2007. Available at http://factfinder.census.gov.
44. “Local Area Unemployment Statistics,” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, op.cit.
45. Over the years, Urban Institute and other researchers have developed estimates of the number of
undocumented immigrants in the United States based on survey data, comparisons with official
DHS admissions data, and assumptions about the characteristics of undocumented immigrants
versus legal noncitizens. The latest of these estimates – for 2005 – suggest there are just over 11
million undocumented immigrants in the country in total. See Passel, Jeffrey S., The Size and
Characteristics of the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U.S., op. cit.; Passel, Jeffrey S. and
Rebecca Clark, Immigrants in New York: Their Legal Status, Incomes, and Taxes, op. cit; and
Capps, Randy, Jeffrey S. Passel, Dan Perez-Lopez, and Michael E. Fix, The New Neighbors: A
User’s Guide to Data on Immigrants in U.S. Communities, op. cit.
46. Passel, Jeffrey S., “Estimates of the Unauthorized Migrant Population for the States.” Fact Sheet.
Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center, 2006.
47. Baker, Susan Gonzalez, The Cautious Welcome: The Legalization Programs of the Immigration
Reform and Control Act. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press, 1990.

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