A new study confirms the obvious: It's bad for U.S.-citizen kids when their green-card-holding parents get deported. The study from the University of California Berkely, School of Law and the University of California Davis, School of Law, looks specifically at legal permanent residents convicted of crimes like domestic violence, non-violent drug offenses and non-violent theft offenses. In many cases, they can be sent back to their country of citizenship while their kids remain in the United States.
Nearly 90,000 U.S.-citizen kids were separated from their parents between 1997 and 2007 under the above circumstances, according to the study's authors. They say affected children can suffer mental and physical health problems and see their educational progress retarded.
The study proposes that as immigration reform picks up steam the law is crafted to allow officials more discretion in cases where parents would be separated from their children if deported. It also suggests rules should be softened so legal permanent residents convicted of relatively minor offenses are less likely to be deported.
--> http://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/Human_Rights_report.pdf
Nearly 90,000 U.S.-citizen kids were separated from their parents between 1997 and 2007 under the above circumstances, according to the study's authors. They say affected children can suffer mental and physical health problems and see their educational progress retarded.
The study proposes that as immigration reform picks up steam the law is crafted to allow officials more discretion in cases where parents would be separated from their children if deported. It also suggests rules should be softened so legal permanent residents convicted of relatively minor offenses are less likely to be deported.
--> http://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/Human_Rights_report.pdf