Migrant kids could end up in already strained foster system
Source: Associated Press
Jesse J. Holland, Associated Press
Updated 10:56 am, Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Foster care advocates say the government won't likely be able to reunite thousands of children separated from parents who crossed the border illegally, and some will end up in an American foster care system that is stacked against Latinos and other minorities.
With few Spanish-speaking caseworkers, it's a challenge tracking down family members of the children who live south of the U.S.-Mexico border, and other relatives living in the states might be afraid to step forward to claim them because of fears of being detained or deported themselves.
Many complications have arisen for these separated families since the Trump administration adopted its "zero-tolerance" policy on entering the country illegally. As many as 2,300 children have been taken from their migrant parents at the border and long-term treatment of them is a concern.
"Because they are Latino and because their relatives are living, not in Europe, not in Asia, but down south of the border, they are going to be discriminated against," said Richard Villasana, founder of Forever Homes for Foster Kids, who concentrates on locating relatives of foster children. "That's exactly what's going to happen to these migrant kids. The probability they are going to get better treatment than our U.S.-born Latino children? It's not going to happen."
Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/texas/article/Migrant-kids-could-end-up-in-already-strained-13025873.php