MIAMI, FL — On Wednesday, the Miami Herald reported that Florida child welfare authorities improperly reported a 17-year-old foster child to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), violating a 30-year-old agency rule that prohibits Florida child welfare workers from attempting to place an undocumented child in immigration custody. The article contains numerous troubling details – including that the young person and his mother experienced serious trauma during their immigration journey, that the teen was found staying in a shed and was homeless, that he may have been the victim of labor trafficking, and that ICE went to the youth’s foster home and forcibly removed him, placing him in handcuffs and leg shackles.
In response Kelly Albinak Kribs, Co-Director, Technical Assistance Program for the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, released the following statement:
“We are appalled by the treatment of this young person by a state child welfare agency whose legal obligation and duty are to act in the best interests of children. Rather than protect this young person and keep him safe from harm, the state of Florida did the opposite by calling ICE, who then cruelly removed him from his foster home in handcuffs and shackles and placed him in immigration detention. Child protection agencies, both in Florida and across the country, must not engage in immigration enforcement. Doing so jeopardizes the immediate safety and well-being of children and will create a chilling effect on the reporting of children in need of protection. All children should be treated as children. All children deserve to be safe and protected.”