February 23, 2012

Immigration crackdown creates burden for foster care system

As part of a crackdown on illegal immigration, the US government has deported 397,000 individuals this year. But what happens to the families and children of those who have been returned to their countries of origin? The San Antonio Current reports that the children left behind as natural born citizens must be absorbed by the foster care system.

More than 5,000 children of illegal immigrants sit in foster care across the country according to the Applied Research Center (ARC), a  New York-based advocacy group. That number could triple if an expanding web of immigration enforcement doesn’t make provisions to keep families intact.

"As long as there's this commitment to deporting record numbers of people, there are going to be collateral effects, and this is one of the most disturbing ones we've found," said Seth Freed Wessler, ARC’s chief researcher.

The repercussions of the immigration enforcement in Texas are more apparent than in other parts of the country.  Along the Rio Grande Valley border, nearly one of every 10 children in the foster care system have lost their parents to immigration enforcement. Nearly a quarter of those deported leave a child behind.

To view the original article in the Current visit: http://sacurrent.com/news/ice-policies-leave-overburdened-foster-care-system-in-their-wake-1.1233014

For more on the ARC’s Shattered Families report visit: http://www.arc.org/content/view/2287/180/

 

November 30, 2011

News

City officials respond to Occupy Austin at Public Safety Commission meeting

Assistant City Manager Michael McDonald attended the Public Safety Commission’s December 5th meeting to address ongoing questions over city officials’ handling of the Occupy Austin movement.

Police enforce jaywalking law to curb fatalities

A sharp increase of pedestrian-related fatalities this year has led police to ramp-up enforcement to keep Austinites safe -- even if it's just a matter of crossing the street.

more News

From Twitter

twitter.com/gacc97

Police evict protesters at Occupy Austin encampment http://t.co/HbZ7Cd7T

on Sat, Feb 04 from gacc97

COA Public Safety Commission meets tomorrow at City Hall from 4:00 until 6:00 p.m.

on Thu, Jan 12 from gacc97

See all tweets from gacc97

twitter.com/401k9

Join the GACC 401 K-9 group at Dogtoberfest at the Domain on Oct 23rd. Watch police dogs in action. Info at www.dogtoberfestaustin.org.

on Tue, Aug 17 from 401k9

See all tweets from 401k9

twitter.com/txcafd

Texan (and Admiral) William McRaven is a Time Person of the Year runner-up. http://t.co/j4C9Q1G3

on Wed, Dec 14 from txcafd

See all tweets from txcafd