Domitina Mendez wipes away tears as her husband, Ovidio Mendez, discusses their efforts to regain custody of their five children.
Domitina Mendez holds photos of two of her children, Ever Mendez, left, age 5, and Debbi Mendez, age 3. She and her husband, Ovidio Mendez are Guatemalan indigenous Mayans who lost custody of their five children when the Georgia Department of Child Protective Services took their children in 2008. In June a Whitfield County judge permanently removed their parental rights in part because they don’t speak English and the judge felt the parrents couldn’t take care of the children’s special needs and dozens of monthly doctor’s visits.CHILDREN IN THE CHILD WELFARE SYSTEMThe percentage of Hispanic children victims of neglect and/or abuse hasremained consistent in the last four years, but there’s no data of how manyare immigrants or children of immigrant parents.GEORGIA: Total/Hispanics/Percent• 2006: 37,407/2,650/7• 2007: 32,951/2,390/7.3• 2008: 25,949/1,690/6.5• 2009: 22,653/1,611/7• 2010: 19,050/1,296/6.8WHITFIELD COUNTY: Total/Hispanics/Percent• 2006: 438/141/32• 2007: 429/121/28.2• 2008: 358/114/32• 2009: 290/79/22• 2010: 214/67/31Source: Georgia Department of Human ServicesCHILDREN IN CUSTODYTENNESSEE: Total/Hispanics/Percent• 2006-2007: 8,414/272/3.2• 2007-2008: 7,858/257/3.3• 2008-2009: 6,907/244/3.5Source: Tennessee Department of Children’s ServicesSEPARATIONS EXPECTED TO RISEAs the number of U.S. immigrant detentions and deportations increases, researchers expect the number of children in foster care will rise, as well.A record 397,000 illegal immigrants were deported during fiscal year 2011, and in the first six months of 2011, the federal government removed more than 46,000 parents of U.S.-citizen children.A recent study by the Applied Research Center, which calls itself a “racial justice think tank” and has offices in New York, Chicago and California, estimates more than 5,000 children are in the foster care system whose parents were detained by immigration officers or deported.Most child welfare departments lack systemic policies to keep families united when parents are detained or deported, according to the report, “The Perilous Intersection of Immigration Enforcement and the Child Welfare System.””Historic levels of detention and deportation, combined with a clear lack of child welfare policies are resulting in the separation of thousands of families across the United States,” the nonprofit organization wrote in its report.There are no exact numbers of immigrant families involved in the child welfare system because agencies are not required to track them. But nationwide, there are more than 5 million children who were born to at least one undocumented parent.
DALTON, Ga. — As Ovidio and Domitina Mendez drove back from their children’s medical appointment, they noticed police cars parked outside their house.
As soon as they got out of their car, they were told through a Spanish interpreter that the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services was there to take their four children.
DFCS workers had visited the Mendez family two weeks earlier in July 2008 to investigate how the Guatemala natives and their U.S.-born children, who have severe disabilities, were living. The couple were told then that two of the children were malnourished and that the family needed to find a new home.
The couple say they did that.