As immigration authorities carry out President Donald Trump’s promise of the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, several states have passed laws that would remove children from foster care if the detained parent does not have family or friends to temporarily protect them.
The federal government does not track the number of children placed in foster care due to immigration enforcement actions, and it remains unclear how often that happens. As of February, two children in Oregon were in foster care after being separated from their parents in immigration detention cases, said Jake Sunderland, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Human Services.
“This was never going to happen until the fall of 2025,” Sunderland said.
As of mid-February, nearly 70,000 people were in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. The number of people detained in January was a record high of 73,000, an 84% increase compared to the previous year. According to a report by ProPublica, the parents of 11,000 children who are U.S. citizens have been detained since the start of President Trump’s term in August.
The news agency NOTUS reported in February that at least 32 children of detained or deported parents were in foster care in seven states.
Sandy Santana, executive director of the legal advocacy group Children’s Rights, said she believes the real number is much higher.
“To us, that seems really, really low,” he said.
Separation from parents can be traumatic for children and can lead to a variety of health and psychological problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder. Prolonged and intense stress can lead to increased frequency of infectious diseases and developmental problems in children. According to KFF, that “toxic stress” is also associated with damage to brain regions responsible for learning and memory.
Maryland, New York, Washington, D.C., and Virginia changed existing laws during President Trump’s first term to allow parents to grant temporary custody for immigration enforcement reasons. Now, a surge in enforcement that began after Trump returned to office last year is creating a new wave of states’ responses.
In New Jersey, lawmakers are considering a proposed change to state law that would allow parents to appoint a standby or temporary guardian in the event of death, incapacity, or infirmity. The bill would also add separation due to federal immigration enforcement as an acceptable reason.
Last year, Nevada and California passed laws protecting families separated by immigration enforcement. A California law called the Family Preparedness Planning Act allows parents to appoint a guardian and share custody while they are in custody, rather than being suspended from school. If they are released and reunited with their children, they will regain full custody.
Once a child is placed in state custody, there are significant legal barriers to reunification, said Juan Guzman, director of children’s courts and guardianship for the Los Angeles legal advocacy group Alliance for Children’s Rights.
If a parent’s child is placed in foster care and the parent is unable to participate in necessary court proceedings because he or she is in custody or deported, the chances of being reunited with the child are slim, Guzman said.
An estimated 5.6 million children are U.S. citizens living with parents or family members who do not have legal immigrant status, according to research by the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. Within this group, the parents of 2.6 million children lack legal status.
Santana said he expects the number of family separations to increase and more children to be at risk of being placed in foster care as the Trump administration continues its immigration enforcement campaign.
ICE directives require the agency to make efforts to help detained parents participate in family court, child welfare and guardianship proceedings, but Santana said it is unclear whether ICE is complying with these rules.
ICE officials did not respond to requests for comment on the report.
Before the California law change, the only way a parent could share custody with another parent was if the parent was terminally ill, Guzman said.
Once parents create a preparedness plan and identify an individual to assume guardianship of their child, the state child welfare agency can begin the process of placing the child with that individual without filing a formal foster care complaint, he added.
Last year, the Nevada Legislature expanded existing guardianship laws to include immigration enforcement, but the bill would require parents to submit notarized documents to the Secretary of State’s office, a potentially complicated process, said Cristian Gonzalez Perez, an attorney with Make the Road Nevada, a nonprofit that provides resources to immigrant communities.
Gonzalez-Perez said some immigrants are still hesitant to fill out government forms out of fear that ICE will access their information and target them. He reassures local residents that state documents are safe and can only be accessed by hospitals and courthouses.
The Trump administration has taken unprecedented steps to gain access to sensitive information through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the IRS, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and others.
González Perez and Guzmán said it’s not enough for immigrant parents to understand their rights. Gonzalez Perez said appointing a temporary guardian and creating a plan for the family is one way to prevent feelings of helplessness.
“People don’t want to talk about it, do they?” Guzman said. “It’s frightening for parents to have to talk to their children about the possibility of separation. It’s something no one wants to do.”
