A directive has been issued by the Obama administration that states that federal authorities need to give special consideration to parents when it comes to deciding whether or not to deport them. The policy also allows some deportees to be able to come to the United States in order to attend court hearings in regards to their parental rights.
The policy has been blasted by some critics as a move by the White House to soften immigration policy, but supporters claim that the decision is more humane and will prevent children from ending up traumatized and being put into taxpayer-funded foster care. The policy came into effect last month, although it is still unclear exactly how many people are likely to be effected by it.
More than 204,800 people who claim to have children that were born in the United States have been removed from the country by the government just in the last three years since 2010, the Applied Research Centre think tank claims. The Obama administration has been slowly softening its attitude towards immigrant parents and those who arrived in the US as children, while shifting its enforcement focus toward criminals.
The new directive, which was issued on August 23rd, intends to prevent the unnecessary disruption of parental rights and says that alternatives to detention for parents should be considered “particuarly when the detention of a non-criminal alien would result in a child being left without an appropriate parental caregiver.”