A new independent report by the University of California (UC) finds that the United States government deported lawful immigrant parents of 88,000 citizen children during the period 1997 and 2007, most for relatively minor crimes. The report also found that, more often than not, deportation of parents resulted in psychological harm, behavioral changes and problems in school for the children who remained in the U.S.
A major overhaul to the U.S. immigration laws in 1996 brought about significant deportation in lawful permanent residents, who now make up nearly 10 percent of immigrants deported from the U.S. As Congress reviews immigration law the authors argue, it is appropriate that the impact of these deportations on families be given due consideration.
“It is often the children in these families who suffer the most,” said Raha Jorjani, a clinical professor of law at UC Davis and supervising attorney for the UC Davis Immigration Law Clinic. “This nation should take into consideration the impact on families of uprooting individuals with such strong ties to the U.S.”
The report, “In the Child’s Best Interest?” is based on analysis of data provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, interviews with affected families and comparisons of U.S. and international human rights standards.
“In the Child’s Best Interest?” makes a number of recommendations to U.S. policymakers, including:
- restoring judicial discretion in cases involving the deportation of lawful permanent residents who have U.S. citizen children
- establishing clear judicial guidelines in these family deportation cases
- reverting to the pre-1996 definition of “aggravated felony”
- collecting data on U.S. citizen children of deported lawful immigrant parents to gain fuller understanding of impact of deportation laws.
The study was a joint project of the Immigration Law Clinic at the University of California Davis School of Law, and the International Human Rights Law Clinic and the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity and Diversity at the University of California Berkeley School of Law.
