Franken Bill Protects Children of Families Captured in ICE Raids

By Tiana Pugh

The bill, the Humane Enforcement and Legal Protections (HELP) for Separated Children Act requires Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to take adequate steps in protecting the children’s best interests during raids and the placement of their parents in detention centers.

Their proposal specifically states that ICE must “keep state and local authorities in the know, … allow parents to arrange for care of their children, protect the kids during interrogations… (and) allow parents to participate in family court proceedings.”

His determination to keep children “safe, informed and accounted for” stems from raids such as the December 2006 sweeping of Swift &Company meatpacking plant in Worthington, Minn. During the raid, a second-grade child came home from school to find his parents missing and his two-year-old brother sitting alone. The children were neglected for a week until their grandmother was informed and came to their care.

Another sweep in June 2007 of Jackson Heights Manufactured Home Park in Shakopee, Minn., left a seven-year-old girl wandering in a park in search of her parents. A neighbor called the authorities and learned the girl’s parents had been detained.

“Four million U.S. citizen-children have at least one undocumented immigrant parent,” said Franken. “Forty thousand of those children live in Minnesota.”

Kohl said, “It is essential that children are protected and cared for when their parents are detained.”

The bill is endorsed by several Minnesota groups, faith and community leaders.