undocumented immigrants

Though many states are facing a renewed pressure to recruit caregivers for foster children, few jurisdictions have created licensing requirements to accommodate undocumented immigrants seeking to become foster parents. According to a recent brief from the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, 20 states include immigration requirements before caregivers can become licensed as foster parents.

Fatima Avelica was riding to school in her father’s car when a traffic stop by immigration officers in northeast Los Angeles suddenly turned her world upside down. In the car, 13-year-old Fatima sobbed as she pointed her cell phone camera at the windshield and shot a video that shows Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers handcuffing and detaining her father, Romulo Avelica-Gonzalez.

Between 2000 and 2010, Texas saw its youth population grow by one million. In the same time frame, the state’s youth population went from 40.5 percent Latino to 48.3 percent. Basic logic would suggest that the state’s child welfare system would undergo a similar shift in demographics, and the number of Latino children in the system and up for adoption would swell.