The First Focus Campaign for Children submitted this testimony for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's March 18, 2013, hearing on “How Comprehensive Immigration Reform Should Address the Needs of Women and Families.”

• Related: Press Release on Principles for Immigration Reform that Works for Children

On March 14, 2013, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the separation of nuclear families under U.S. immigration law. The FFCC submitted this statement urging congress to reform both the family-based immigration system as well as immigration enforcement policies to better protect the best interests of children and keep families together.

• Related Press Release

On February 13, 2013, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on immigration reform. FFCC submitted this testimony, explaining that children have historically been disregarded or intentionally excluded from U.S. immigration policy decisions, which, combined with increased immigration enforcement, has had devastating results for children and their families. FFCC urged the committee to include consideration and protection of children and their best interests into account in immigration reform to address these issues.

Washington — Más de 200 organizaciones que representan a los niños, inmigrantes, académicos, tradiciones de fe y derechos civiles publicaron este martes pasado un conjunto de principios para la legislación de una reforma de inmigración que cumpla las necesidades de los niños. La organización bipartidaria de defensa de los niños First Focus y la Women’s Refugee Commission lideraron los esfuerzos para desarrollar estos principios, que también han sido apoyados por el National Latino Children’s Institute, Southern Poverty Law Center, la Conferencia Católica de Obispos de los EE.UU., MomsRising, el Centro de Leyes Nacionales de Inmigración y un total de 205 organizaciones. La Campaña por los Niños de First Focus instó a los miembros del Comité Judicial de la Casa de Representantes de los EE.UU. a tomar estas consideraciones en cuenta durante la audiencia sobre la política de inmigración del día de martes el 6 de febrero.

“Los hijos de inmigrantes representan un cuarto de los niños en América, así que completar una reforma significa hacerlo bien por los niños”, dijo el Presidente de First Focus Bruce Lesley.

“Las prioridades de los niños deben ser incluidas en la reforma de inmigración – no podemos, una vez más, comprometer sus derechos básicos al proceso debido y protección,” dijo Michelle Brané, Director del Programa de Justicia y Derechos de los Migrantes en la Women’s Refugee Commission.

Los principios para la reforma de inmigración del grupo incluyen:

1. Un camino a la ciudadanía que sea directo, claro, alcanzable y razonable;

2. Protecciones para los derechos básicos de los niños, incluyendo el acceso a los servicios públicos para los niños y las familias;

3. Reformas en el cumplimiento que protejan la seguridad y bienestar de los niños; y,

4. Un compromiso de mantener a las familias juntas, a través de una reforma de las políticas de inmigración para las familias y su cumplimiento.

La ley actual de inmigración ignora y frecuentemente descarta de manera explícita los intereses de los niños. Por ejemplo, los inmigrantes que busquen exenciones de penas sobre las restricciones de admisibilidad pueden buscar ayuda con base en el daño a un ciudadano americano cercano, hijo o hija, pero no si estos hijos son menores de 21 años. Y mientras que los gobiernos estatales reconocen las diferencias fundamentales entre los niños y los adultos en materia de cumplimiento de la ley, los niños no acompañados que son puestos bajo custodia por las Aduanas federales y los oficiales de Protección de Fronteras son tratados en la misma forma que los adultos. Décadas de dichas elecciones de política han producido un sistema de inmigración que sujeta rutinariamente a los niños a daños y penas. Por ejemplo:

• 5.5 millones de niños en familias con estatus mixto están en riesgo de ser separados de alguno de sus padres en cualquier momento;

• 1 millón de niños indocumentados que no tienen una forma práctica de obtener una educación y contribuir en sus comunidades

• Más de 200,000 padres de niños con ciudadanía americana fueron deportados entre julio de 2010 y septiembre de 2012;

• Hay un estimado de 5,100 niños en los sistemas estatales de bienestar infantil debido a que las autoridades de federales de inmigración han deportado a sus padres; y

• Los niños extranjeros no acompañados y los niños aprehendidos internamente aun no obtuvieron las protecciones del debido proceso básico que le proporcionamos a otros en riesgo de perder un derecho fundamental.

“Nuestros valores nacionales reconocen las necesidades únicas de los niños, y muchas de nuestras leyes le dan a los niños protecciones especiales”, dijo Lesley, “es hora de que nuestra política de inmigración se ponga al día y trabaje en el mejor interés de los niños.”

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First Focus Campaign for Children es una organización 501(c)(4), sin fines de lucro afiliada con First Focus, una organización bipartidista que promueve la defensa de los niños. Campaign for Children aboga directamente por el cambio legislativo en el Congreso para asegurar que los niños y las familias sean una prioridad en la política federal y las decisiones presupuestarias. Para obtener más información, visite www.ffcampaignforchildren.org.

La Women's Refugee Commission trabaja para mejorar las vidas y proteger los derechos de mujeres, niños y jóvenes desplazados por conflictos y crisis. Está afiliada con y es legalmente parte del Comité Internacional de Rescate, una organización sin fines de lucro 501(c)(3). Para más información, visite www.womensrefugeecommission.org.

Washington — More than 200 organizations representing children, immigrants, academia, faith traditions, and civil rights today released a set of principles for immigration reform legislation that meets the needs of children. The bipartisan children’s advocacy organization First Focus and the Women’s Refugee Commission led the effort to develop these principles, which have also been endorsed by the National Latino Children’s Institute, Southern Poverty Law Center, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, MomsRising, the National Immigration Law Center, and a total of 205 organizations. The First Focus Campaign for Children urged U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee members to take these concerns into consideration during today’s immigration policy hearing.

“Children of immigrants are one-fourth of the kids in America, so getting reform done means getting it right for kids,” said First Focus President Bruce Lesley.

“The priorities of children need to be included in immigration reform—we cannot, yet again, compromise their basic rights to due process and protection,” said Michelle Brané, Director of the Migrant Rights and Justice Program at the Women’s Refugee Commission.

The groups’ immigration reform principles include:

1. a roadmap to citizenship that is direct, clear, affordable, and reasonable;
2. protections for children’s basic rights, including access to public services for children and families;
3. enforcement reforms that protect children’s safety and well-being; and,
4. a commitment to keeping families together, through reform of family-sponsored immigration policy and enforcement.

Current immigration law largely ignores and often explicitly disregards the interests of children. For example, immigrants seeking hardship waivers of admissibility restrictions can seek relief based on harm to a close U.S. citizen son or daughter, but not if that son or daughter is under age 21. And whereas state governments acknowledge the fundamental differences between children and adults in matters of law enforcement, unaccompanied children taken into custody by federal Customs and Border Protection officers are treated the same as adults. Decades of such policy choices have produced an immigration system that routinely subjects children to harm and hardship. For example:

• 5.5 million children in mixed-status families are at risk of being separated from a parent at any time;
• 1 million undocumented children have no practical way to pursue education and contribute to their communities
• more than 200,000 parents of U.S. citizen children were deported between July 2010 and September 2012;
• an estimated 5,100 children are in state child welfare systems because federal immigration authorities have deported their parents; and
• unaccompanied alien children and children apprehended internally still are not afforded basic due process protections that we provide to others at risk of losing a fundamental right.

“Our national values recognize the unique needs of children, and many of our laws give children special protections,” said Lesley, “It’s time for our immigration policy to catch up and work in the best interest of children.”

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The First Focus Campaign for Children is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization affiliated with First Focus, a bipartisan children’s advocacy organization. The Campaign for Children advocates directly for legislative change in Congress to ensure children and families are a priority in federal policy and budget decisions. For more information, visit www.ffcampaignforchildren.org.

The Women's Refugee Commission works to improve the lives and protect the rights of women, children and youth displaced by conflict and crisis. It is affiliated with and is legally part of the International Rescue Committee, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. For more information, visit www.womensrefugeecommission.org.

On February 5, 2013, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on immigration reform. FFCC submitted this testimony, explaining that children have historically been disregarded or intentionally excluded from U.S. immigration policy decisions, which, combined with increased immigration enforcement, has had devastating results for children and their families. FFCC urged the committee to include consideration and protection of children and their best interests into account in immigration reform to address these issues.

This letter from First Focus Campaign for Children (FFCC) president Bruce Lesley was sent to Congressman Steve King (R-IA) on January 23, 2013 to express our opposition to King’s Birthright Citizenship Act (HR140). The letter details how this bill would punish all children born in this country by, among other outcomes, denying children immediate access to critical services for babies, which would potentially increase our already high infant mortality rate, and increasing the number of undocumented and stateless children in the U.S.

• Read our fact sheet

One of the first bills (H.R.140) of the 113th Congress, introduced by Rep. Steve King (R-IA), is a tired idea that would make children of undocumented immigrant parents ineligible for “birthright citizenship,” the provision in the Fourteenth Amendment that grants all babies born in this country U.S. citizenship. A similar bill was introduced by King in the 112th Congress, and First Focus released a comprehensive fact sheet on the negative effects such proposals would have on children and the nation. The new bill, like the old one, is still extremely harmful for children, unconstitutional, and represents a major step backwards on civil rights. The bill also does nothing to advance the interests of children or the nation as a whole, and completely disregards pressing issues facing children, such as immigration reform, gun control, child poverty, child health, child hunger, and improving the education system.

HR 140 hurts kids. All babies born here have a right to and deserve to be citizens because every child should have the chance to grow, thrive, and contribute to our country. This is such an integral American value that it has been enshrined in the Constitution since 1868. Birthright citizenship is a fundamental requirement for equality, and it ensures that children have access to important health care, food assistance and other basic services that are essential to healthy development in the early years of a child’s life. Taking birthright citizenship away would also increase the number of undocumented individuals in the U.S. and likely create an underclass of stateless children. Taking away U.S. citizenship for certain children does not guarantee that a different country will grant those babies citizenship, putting many children in legal limbo without a country to legally call home. This would cause a major step backward for the country by creating a problem that countries around the world are struggling to solve, primarily in underdeveloped countries. Stateless children around the world already face homelessness and poverty, lack access to education, and are at great risk of becoming victims of human trafficking. This is not what we want for any child, and we should not encourage it for our own kids with harmful bills like HR 140.

Additionally, if babies born here are not automatically citizens there would have to be a process in place for families to apply for or register their children as citizens, adding unnecessary complexity and bureaucracy when a family needs to be focused on raising their newborn. During this process, children would be unable to access the basic services above when they need them most. This would negatively impact all children, including children in native-born families, and it would have the largest negative effect on children in low-income families, exactly those babies who need and would benefit most from this assistance.

Furthermore, limiting birthright citizenship does not address any of the real and pressing problems with our immigration system. In fact, this bill would increase the number of undocumented individuals in this country and is based on the false premise that undocumented immigrants come to the U.S. and have children here so they can become U.S. citizens. Our immigration system does not work like that. On the contrary, our immigration law often separates families through deportation because it ignores or completely disregards the unique needs of children, as Michigan State University College of Law professor David B. Thronson points out in a paper in the forthcoming anthology Children in harm’s way: Criminal Justice, Immigration Enforcement, and Child Welfare, jointly published by The Sentencing Project and First Focus.

While an individual can apply for citizenship based on a petition from their U.S. citizen family members (a process that also needs reform), a U.S. citizen child cannot file a petition for their undocumented parents to obtain lawful immigration status until the child is over 21-years-old, meaning that parents would have to wait over two decades before their U.S. citizen could impact their immigration status. Additionally, undocumented parents who face deportation can hardly rely on their U.S. citizen children to put a stop to their deportation. When seeking a cancellation of removal, an individual must prove “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” to a U.S. citizen spouse, parent or child. If that hardship is on children, it must be “substantially different from, or beyond that which would normally be expected from the deportation of an alien with close family members here.” This means that children are expected to suffer vastly more hardship than a U.S. citizen spouse or parent for the child’s parent to be granted a cancellation of removal. Combined with increased immigration enforcement, this complete disregard for children’s best interest in immigration policy has had a devastating effect on families: nearly 205,000 parents of U.S. citizen children were deported in the 26 months between July 1, 2010 and September 31, 2012. Children impacted by immigration enforcement must face the threat of permanent family separation, with terrible results for children, communities, and our country.

U.S. immigration law needs reasonable, comprehensive reform that adequately addresses the needs of children in the U.S. and all mixed status families. Unfortunately, Representative King’s bill takes us a step back rather than moving us forward. It is an old idea that distracts from the serious matters at hand and would increase the number of undocumented individuals in the U.S. while making the immigration system more complex, harder to navigate, and more harmful for children and families.

Washington — The First Focus Campaign for Children commented today on a new analysis by First Focus, comparing the Assisting Children and Helping them Improve their Educational Value for Employment (ACHIEVE) Act (S. 3639) with the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act (S. 952, H.R. 1842). The analysis finds that, compared to the DREAM Act, the ACHIEVE Act imposes several bureaucratic obstacles to educational success and immigration relief, indicating that the DREAM Act serves as a more child-friendly model for inclusion in future comprehensive immigration reform legislation.

“The ACHIEVE Act doesn’t deliver what kids need, and the DREAM Act provides a much better model for comprehensive immigration reform that improves children’s lives,” said First Focus Campaign for Children president Bruce Lesley.

Both proposals would address the severe limitations imposed by current law on children and young adults who were brought to the United States by their parents outside official immigration channels and, because of their immigration status, are practically unable to obtain higher education or contribute to America’s economy. The First Focus Campaign for Children has endorsed the DREAM Act, which enjoys bipartisan support in the House of Representatives. The ACHIEVE Act, introduced Tuesday by Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), John Kyl (R-AZ), and John McCain (R-AZ), has been publicized as a Republican alternative to the DREAM Act. The First Focus analysis finds that, compared to the DREAM Act, the ACHIEVE Act:

• Denies eligibility to some students, based on age, arbitrary educational timelines, and a more restrictive conduct provision;
• Makes education less affordable, by denying students guaranteed loans and work-study, and by failing to eliminate a federal penalty on states that offer in-state tuition to qualifying students;
• Raises a significant barrier to immigration relief, by requiring more than $3,000 in out-of-pocket fees;
• Creates a complex system for immigration relief , establishing new bureaucratic requirements for each of several new immigration statuses, resulting in longer and more convoluted paths to citizenship for qualifying students;
• Imposes a new periodic immigration status reporting requirement, resulting in additional administrative burdens for students and federal agencies; and
• Denies qualifying students assistance with needs that directly impact educational success, like health care and nutrition

“America needs a comprehensive immigration solution that works for kids, not more restrictions, paperwork, and bureaucracy,” said Lesley.

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Associated Press

The First Focus Campaign for Children, a Washington D.C.-based advocacy group, used Montes' situation this year to push for two new laws in California aimed at preventing family separations triggered by deportation. Spokeswoman Yali Lincroft predicted Tuesday's ruling in North Carolina will set a legal precedent other courts will pay attention to.

"Hopefully, this case will make the child welfare system aware of due process, so that this sort of thing doesn't happen again," Lincroft said.

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