Immigration crackdown could strand children

By Eunice Moscoso / Cox News Service
El Paso Times

WASHINGTON -- Last year, immigration officers raided a poultry plant near Arkadelphia, Ark., and arrested 119 undocumented immigrants. Thirty children were left stranded without parents, many at day-care centers or in schools.

After much confusion, some spent the night with relatives or friends, and nine others -- including a 1-month-old baby -- took shelter at La Primera Iglesia Bau tista, a Baptist church that served as a refuge for the children while their parents were being deported.

Because many states are passing bills to crack down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants and the federal government is considering a strong House-passed enforcement bill, thousands of children across the country could be facing a similar fate, according to immigrant advocates and legal experts.

"This is not a situation É we want to be promoting, There are infants left without formula, without diapers," said Flavia Jimenez, immigration policy analyst at the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil-rights organization.

"Enforcement only" legislation without a chance for undocumented workers to gain legal residency will lead to more families being torn apart and children left without parents, she added.

But critics of illegal immigration say the parents made the decision to come to the U.S. illegally and endanger their own children.