Workplace raids ensnare kids in net, too
Saturday, November 3, 2007
USA Today

For every two illegal immigrants arrested in a workplace raid, at least one child feels the effect, according to a study released Wednesday.

In some cases, children spend at least one night without a parent and are handed off in a mad scramble to babysitters or relatives, says the study, conducted by the Urban Institute on behalf of the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights organization.

The study focuses on three large workplace raids: Two on Dec. 12, 2006, at Swift & Company meat-packing plants in Greeley, Colo., and Grand Island, Neb.; and one on March 6, 2007, at the Michael Bianco leather goods plant in New Bedford, Mass.

In those raids, 506 children had at least one parent arrested, the study says. At the Colorado site, two-thirds of the children were U.S. citizens. In all, 912 workers were arrested.

“We don’t question the fact that our laws need to be enforced. We do question how we enforce those laws,â€