By: Abigail Sanchez, Child Welfare Fellow
DISCLAIMER: All policies, statistics, and information cited in this blog are current as of September 3rd, 2025. Future changes in law or policy may alter the accuracy of this content.
Immigration Enforcement Meets Child Welfare
The intersection of immigration enforcement and child welfare has long created challenges for families, children, and caseworkers. The release of the 2025 ICE Detained Parents Directive (Directive 11064.4) is the latest example of how federal immigration policy collides with state child welfare systems. While its stated goal is to recognize parental rights, the directive scales back protections established under the 2022 Parental Interests Directive by narrowing its scope and removing obligations for ICE to actively support detained parents in child welfare proceedings (Women’s Refugee Commission, 2025).
This rollback disproportionately affects families who are already vulnerable to instability. Child welfare agencies often step in when parents are detained, but without strong coordination between ICE and local systems, children can slip into foster care or face permanent separation.
Detention, Separation, and Foster Care Entry
The numbers show how immigration enforcement disrupts caregiving. As of June 1, 2025, more than 51,000 individuals were detained by ICE, with nearly 44% lacking any criminal record (TRAC Reports, 2025). For many detained parents, their children suddenly lose primary caregivers. In 2011, an estimated 5,000 children in foster care had a detained or deported parent (American Immigration Council, 2021).
Research in the child welfare field underscores the consequences of these separations. Children in foster care with incarcerated or detained parents often struggle to maintain contact, yet consistent visitation is strongly associated with improved mental health and permanency outcomes (Casey Family Programs, 2021). The rollback of ICE’s obligations under the 2025 directive makes it even harder for caseworkers to coordinate visits, court appearances, or reunification planning.
The Human Cost of Family Separation
Behind the statistics are children experiencing profound emotional and developmental harm. Nationally, nearly 4% of U.S. children have an incarcerated parent, and the effects on education and well-being are stark. Graduation rates for children with incarcerated fathers can fall to 15%, and to as low as 2% when mothers are incarcerated (National Center for Victims of Crime, 2025). Among immigrant children specifically, one study found that 17% of detained youth met criteria for probable PTSD, more than three times the national adolescent average (Mental Health Consequences of Immigration Detention, 2025).
For child welfare agencies, this means working with children who present higher rates of anxiety, depression, and trauma symptoms directly tied to immigration enforcement.
Policy vs. Practice: A Growing Gap
While ICE asserts that the new directive protects parental rights, the reality is that its reduction in obligations to keep detained parents engaged with their children and their child welfare case weakens parental rights. Advocacy organizations, including the Women’s Refugee Commission, warn that the directive will “increase family separations and erode parental rights” (WRC, 2025). Policies can shift quickly, leaving families without consistent support.
This disconnects forces child welfare professionals to navigate two systems immigration enforcement and child protection that often work at cross-purposes. Caseworkers must manage placement decisions, court appearances, and permanency planning with a goal of reunifying parents and children, while ICE effectively controls whether parents can participate at all. The practice advisory issued in August 2025 by the Center on Immigration and Child Welfare notes that this lack of coordination leaves children at heightened risk of foster care drift and long-term separation (CIMMCW, 2025).
Building Walls, Not Futures: ICE Expansion in Nebraska
The new large scale detainment camp, a 280-bed ICE detention facility planned for McCook, Nebraska was announced in August 2025, expanding enforcement infrastructure in the state. This new facility raises concerns about increased detentions and family separation.
Moreover, an executive order issued by Governor Pillen directs state agencies to “support federal immigration laws to the fullest extent permitted by law.” The ACLU and immigrant advocacy groups warn these risks undermine trust between families and institutions, potentially driving fear and underreporting among impacted communities.
Why This Intersection Matters
The intersection of child welfare and immigration exposes families to double vulnerability: one system prioritizes enforcement by separation, while the other emphasizes family preservation. When federal immigration policies roll back protections for detained parents, state child welfare systems bear the consequences.
Families in Nebraska are caught at the crossroads of immigration enforcement and child well-being. Policies like the new large scale detainment camp and statewide directives risk amplifying instability. With less parental protection and cross-system coordination, more children may face long-term separation, trauma, and the loss of parental relationships.
What We Can Do: Locally and Nationally
While the 2025 directive diminishes protections, both national and local strategies can mitigate harm:
- National Advocacy: Push for increased rights for detained parents, enforcement of existing ones, expanded access to legal representation, and federal mandates for ICE coordination with child welfare systems.
- Local Action in Nebraska:
- Coalition Building: Follow the lead immigrants’ rights organizations, child welfare agencies, legal clinics, and community organizations to shape local policies.
- Data and Training: Document how many children in local foster care systems have detained or deported parents. Equip caseworkers with tools to navigate immigration complexities.
- Community Preparedness: Schools and agencies can help families prepare for enforcement by offering safe spaces, legal aid, and mental health support. Resources like CIRA’s Know Your Rights guide empower families to plan ahead and protect themselves.
- Policy Reform: Oppose measures that force local agencies to act as extension of federal enforcement. Uphold due process in family court and guard against misuse of child welfare systems in immigration cases.
- Community Engagement: Volunteer with or fund local nonprofits offering supervised visitation, court transportation, or trauma-informed care. Amplify personal stories to galvanize public empathy and drive change.
references
CICW | Child Welfare and Immigration Advocacy, Research, & Resources | Helping Immigrant Youth. (n.d.). CICW. https://cimmcw.org/
Know Your Rights – CIRA. (2025, March 24). CIRA. https://ciraconnect.org/know-your-rights/
Maskolounas, K., Murden, T., Gray, R., Reed, L., Gonzalez-Munera, B., & Braxton, J. (n.d.). Mitigating the Impact of Incarceration on Children and Families Mitigating The Imapact of Incarceration on Children and Families 2 INFOGRAPHIC! Retrieved September 30, 2025, from https://victimsofcrime.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/MCARTHUR_Mitigating-the-Impact-of-Incarceration-on-Children-and-Families.pdf?
Mental health consequences of immigration detention. (2025, August 18). Mental health consequences of immigration detention. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_health_consequences_of_immigration_detention?
The 2025 ICE Detained Parents Directive Vs. the 2022 ICE Parental Interests Directive. (n.d.).The 2025 ICE Detained Parents Directive Vs. the 2022 ICE Parental Interests Directive | Women’s Refugee Commission. (2025, August 28). Women’s Refugee Commission. https://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/research-resources/the-2025-ice-detained-parents-directive-vs-the-2022-ice-parental-interests-directive/