WASHINGTON — Advocates warned Thursday that federal immigration enforcement practices are inflicting severe and lasting harm on children, families and the nation’s already fragile child care system, according to speakers on a virtual press call organized by MomsRising.
On Feb. 6, MomsRising announced that parents, child care providers and policy experts convened to address what organizers described as the “extreme harm” caused by immigration policies targeting immigrant communities. According to MomsRising, the discussion focused on how “the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant agenda is causing massive harm to the health, well-being and education of children across the country.”
Organizers said immigration enforcement actions have expanded into areas that were previously considered safe for children and families. MomsRising reported concerns about “conducting raids at or near schools and child care centers” and “holding children in dangerous, unsanitary conditions and detaining their caregivers.”
The call was organized by MomsRising, America’s Voice and the Children Thrive Action Network to address what organizers described as escalating human rights abuses. MomsRising said speakers discussed how “these reckless human rights abuses are traumatizing children, taking away parents’ access to care, and undermining our ability to raise healthy, secure children.”
Advocates emphasized the importance of shielding certain locations from immigration operations. According to MomsRising, speakers stressed “the need to protect sensitive locations, including child care programs, schools, health centers and places of worship, from immigration operations.”
Nina Perez, MomsRising’s national campaign director for early learning and Florida state director, said families across the country are seeing children’s sense of safety deteriorate. “Moms want for every child what we want for our own kids: the peace and security that will allow them to learn, grow and thrive,” Perez said.
MomsRising reported that current enforcement practices have fostered widespread fear in daily life. “By racially profiling people going about their day-to-day lives, by turning communities into war zones, by hunting nonviolent people, by bringing this cruelty into child care centers, schools and other sensitive areas, we risk traumatizing an entire generation of children,” the organization said.
Speakers also highlighted the strain on the child care sector, which was already vulnerable before recent enforcement escalations. According to MomsRising, “We know that what ICE is doing is having a devastating impact on the child care sector, which was already struggling before these horrendous attacks on immigrants began.”
“When we commit human rights abuses against child care workers and their communities, we undermine the programs they support and the families that rely on those programs,” MomsRising reported. The organization said these policies harm immigrant families while also having direct consequences for the workforce and broader economy.
Parents shared firsthand accounts of how enforcement has reshaped daily life for their children. One MomsRising member, Sarah Quinn, described the disruption following the arrival of ICE in her city. “The past few months since ICE arrived in Minneapolis have felt brutal and relentless,” Quinn said, according to MomsRising.
Quinn said fear has spread into schools and transportation systems, directly affecting children’s routines. “Every facet of daily life for our children has been impacted; bus stops are either vacant or filled with patrol support, kids are learning from home like they were during the pandemic and their parents are terrified,” she said.
Medical professionals participating in the call warned of long-term health consequences for children. Pediatrician Dr. Gabriela Maradiaga Panayotti said immigration enforcement is disrupting children’s lives and endangering their health and well-being.
MomsRising emphasized the role of stability in healthy development, noting that “children thrive on safe, stable relationships, routine and predictability,” conditions that organizers said are being undermined by current federal practices. The group also cited research showing prolonged stress can worsen into toxic stress, “a physiologic phenomenon that disrupts the brain architecture of young people, impairs their learning and development and can lead to increased risk of chronic diseases in adults.”
According to MomsRising, increasing fear has also driven families to avoid medical care. “Children and families are avoiding potentially lifesaving medical care — or routine care — because they are afraid to leave their homes,” the organization reported.
Policy experts participating in the call said the effects are being felt across immigrant communities nationwide. Wendy Cervantes, director of immigration and immigrant families at the Center for Law and Social Policy, said children are directly experiencing the consequences of federal policy. “Over the last 13 months, our children have been feeling firsthand the consequences of the federal government’s anti-immigrant, anti-family agenda,” she said.
MomsRising reported that immigration practices have also cut families off from essential resources. In addition to fears of family separation, immigrant families are “losing access to health care, food assistance, housing, child care and other critical supports because of the budget reconciliation bill passed last summer.”
Advocates said fear has escalated to the point that children are asking parents whether “they will be taken away next,” underscoring calls for congressional action to restore stability and support.
Linda Stone, MomsRising’s senior director of immigration, said the consequences of current policies are widespread and enduring. “The immigration policies of the Trump administration are causing deep and lasting harm to children and families in every corner of this country,” Stone said.
Advocates concluded the call by stressing that children’s safety should not be subordinated to immigration enforcement priorities. “No parent should have to choose between their child’s education and their family’s safety,” MomsRising said.
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