5,000 S-Comm Foster Kids -- 'Intolerable and Outrageous'

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La Opinión, Editorial, Posted: Nov 05, 2011

LOS ANGELES -- Five thousand minors are in foster homes because they were separated from their families when their parents were detained and deported through the Secure Communities (S-Comm) program, according to a recent study by the Applied Research Center. 

"This situation is intolerable and outrageous," an editorial in La Opinión contends. "From its start until today, Secure Communities has set an example of incompetence and irresponsibility in meeting its objective of arresting undocumented immigrants who pose a danger to American society."

Under S-Comm, local police are required to turn over to federal immigration authorities the fingerprint data of anyone they arrest.

Some 39 percent of those detained through the program have U.S.-citizen spouses or children. In Los Angeles, an estimated 1,178 children are in foster homes because their parents were deported or are in deportation proceedings.

"These are the cruel, sad consequences of a poorly planned and even worse executed deportation program," the editorial concludes. "This is another powerful argument to, at the very least, put the Secure Communities program on ice."

 

Comments

 

Anonymous

Posted Nov 7 2011

why in the world are we being demonized for the actions those illegal created by themselves . its quite obvious to anyone with a pea for a brain those people had children knowing they where illegal and could be captured at any time, is it their mindset that by having children they could use them as human shields and not be held accountable for thier actions? god knows the majority of them could not afford to financialy take care of 3- 4 kids in their own home countries so they have their children here and expect sympathy while the taxpayers are left holding the bag there can be only one reason those people abandon their children ,and thats money.

Anonymous

Posted Nov 11 2011

These individuals have not abandoned their children. They have fought for their children to have healthy and viable lives. They have braved constant fear, backbreaking work, and no support just for their children to have the opportunity, not a guarantee, for a better life. People should educate themselves on exactly what is available to immigrants in this country and what it means for a child to grow up in the foster care system before they make ignorant comments. I admit that the answer is more complicated than automatically granting someone citizenship because they have a child in this country. Although, I would question what the child of any American citizen had to do to qualify for their rights in this country - yep, that is right - they were only born here. They were born in a country that invited the tired, the poor, the hungry to come for better opportunities. Funny how some people decide they were worth that invitation and others aren't.

Anonymous

Posted Nov 19 2011

To the last poster, think the key word from your comment is "invited". Immigrants have papers and a sponsor so they will not be a burden to tax-payers. Let's not confuse people coming here illegally with those who have come here through proper channels.

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