Report: Over 100,000 deportees had children in US

Immigration officials are reviewing whether to gather more information about parents they deport whose children may be U.S. citizens and are left behind.

An investigation by the Homeland Security Department inspector general found immigration officials deported 108,434 parents with children who are U.S. citizens during 1998 to 2007. A report on the investigation was made public Friday.

The number may not be complete because Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of the Homeland Security Department, does not keep detailed data on deported parents of children who are U.S. citizens. It is also unknown how many children the parents had, whether they left them behind and how many of the children were minors.

ICE says it will study whether it can gather more information on parents it deports. The agency expects to issue its findings in about two months.

"I am saddened, but not surprised to learn that our government, in its harsh anti-immigrant stance, has split hundreds of thousands of families apart over the past decade," said Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y.

Serrano serves on the House Appropriations Committee's panel that helps decide how much money is provided to the Homeland Security Department each year. He has filed a bill, the Child Citizen Protection Act, that would allow immigration judges to consider whether the immigrants are parents of children who are U.S. citizens.

ICE spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez said the agency would review whether to establish procedures to ascertain whether deported immigrants have children under the age of 18 who are U.S. citizens. But she also noted the potential negative impact of giving reprieve to immigrants who have violated U.S. laws.

"Parenthood does not exempt any person from complying with the nation's laws, including immigration laws," Gonzalez said.

Children of immigrant families who are U.S. citizens have long created a dilemma for Congress as it has tried to control immigration. People born in the U.S. automatically become U.S. citizens. But American children cannot petition for their parents to become legal U.S. residents until they are at least 21.

"If, in fact, some (children) were left behind here, then you have the sad tragedy of breaking up families," Serrano said. "If they were taken back, I would argue the direct result of our actions is the deportation of our citizens. How do you deport a U.S. citizen?"

Some critics say people not authorized to be in the country should not be allowed to remain because they have children born here.

Homeland Security Inspector General Richard Skinner said the number of parents removed generally increased over time. Immigration officials reported 319,382 deportations in 2007, compared to 174,813 in 1998. During 1998, 13,081 individual parents were removed.

Some of the parents were removed from the country more than once, so in the 10 years there were actually 180,466 removals of the 108,434 parents.

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On the Net:

H.R. 182, Child Citizen Protection Act: http://thomas.loc.gov

Homeland Security Department IG reports: http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/rpts/

ICE: http://www.ice.gov/