U.S. immigration crisis: Kids left behind when parents are deported

World Today

The images of undocumented children apprehended by U.S authorities living in sub-standard conditions in federal facilities created national uproar. What happens to the kids left in the U.S without parents or relatives to take care of them?

CCTV’s Nitza Soledad Perez reports on the other side of the immigration crisis in the U.S.

Follow Nitza Soledad Perez on Twitter: @NitzaSoledad

 

U.S. immigration crisis: Kids left behind when parents are deported

They are images that caused a national uproar. Undocumented children apprehended by U.S immigration authorities and others living in sub-standard conditions in federal facilities. What happens the kids left in the U.S "without" parents or relatives to take care of them? CCTV's Nitza Soledad Perez reports on the other side of the immigration crisis in the U.S.

The immigration crisis is not only a matter for border states. In the heart of Miami’s South Beach, families live with the fear of the adults being deported — meaning the children who play today could tomorrow wake up as orphans in the U.S.

According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, more than 72,000 parents of American-born children were deported last year, despite an Obama administration policy that allows judges to exercise prosecutorial discretion during deportation hearings.

Judges can choose not to deport an undocumented parent of a child with U.S. citizenship if the parent is the primary care taker.