Born in the USA

By Barry Hulse
Contributing Writer

It’s past midnight and the travelers have almost made it to their Minnesota destination when the middle car, in a caravan of three cars, gets pulled over for having a tail light out. The front and rear car keep traveling to avoid possible legal problems for the drugs and undocumented workers traveling in each car, so they continue on toward Minnesota.

The riders in the middle car will have a different story to tell. In that car are two adults, four children and one infant along with a variety of drugs and associated paraphernalia. The two adults are undocumented workers from Mexico. The children and the infant were born in California, which under current law makes them natural-born American citizens. The adults eventually go to jail and are deported, but the five children who are natural-born citizens become part of the American foster care system, never to be reunited with their parents.

The parents try for years to get their children back, but due to their own limited resources, drug charges and inability to communicate, they are denied reunification with their own children.

Resources are the biggest obstacle for all parents trying to get their children back once they have become part of the Social Services System. The inability to pay for travel, lodging, legal fees, and for some, to speak English, can make it nearly impossible.

Exhausted, heartbroken and financially bankrupt, some parents simply give up. That does not mean they don’t their children back. They just can’t take the deluge of Social Services requirements it takes to get them back.

Did you know that it costs our states roughly $700 per month for each foster care child, about $ 4,000 per month per person in group facilities, about $6,000 per month per person in psychiatric facilities, about $500 per month per person in a subsidized adoptions, and $400 a month per person in subsidized guardianships?

This story of family turmoil is not an uncommon one. Our foster care systems across the nation has thousands of children that are considered Americans but whose natural parents are undocumented workers. According to one source, over three million natural-born child citizens of undocumented workers are currently living in the United States.

Undocumented workers and their American-born children who are in the foster care system are costing the American legal and Social Services system millions of dollars each year. How can we fix it?

Maria was 18 years old when she came across the border illegally from Mexico. She was pregnant and did not speak English. The father of her child was an undocumented worker as well, and Maria was not the first girl he had gotten pregnant.

Maria was quiet and shy. She was smuggled into America with a boyfriend that was abusive. She was brought into an environment that was a magnet for illegal activities, prostitution and gang activity. Maria’s parents remained in Mexico with a number of siblings, while Maria was introduced to her boyfriend’s extended family in California.

The plan was for Maria to travel to Minnesota with a number of other undocumented workers to find jobs. They figured her good looks would be helpful in finding her a job and since they all lived together and pooled their resources, she would now become a valuable asset. So they promised her that if she would go with them, the rest of the family would travel to Minnesota in a month or two and bring her infant child David with them. It would be easier for her to find a job if she did not have to take care of a small child.

She agreed and left for Minnesota with a caravan of cars filled only with males. They made it to Minnesota and eventually found a variety of temporary jobs.

Maria would keep in contact with her boyfriend’s mother (Rose) who was caring for David. They would call each other on a weekly basis as money would allow. Rose had informed Maria that they would be coming up to Minnesota soon and there would be three vehicles traveling together.
Rose and her nephew would take turns driving the middle car.

Rose’s two teenage daughters, sons ages 9 and 6, and Maria’s infant son David were in the car when it got pulled over for having a tail light out. The drugs and paraphernalia landed the adults in jail and Rose’s four children and Maria’s infant son David went into foster care.

Social Services worked hard to contact Maria. Since she was an undocumented worker and spoke no English, she was not very easy to locate; and even when they did make contact it was hard for English-speaking Social workers to communicate with Maria. Maria tried for two years to try to get her son David back, but she was unable to convince an English-speaking social services system to give her back her son. In court she fell to the floor and sobbed when she was told by an interpreter that her son would remain with the American foster parents. David is now eight years old and his mother has not seen him since he was two.

I have condensed a very involved case with many factors into a story that hopefully gives you some insight into the struggles that undocumented workers have trying to make a life for themselves, and the struggles our legal and social services systems have dealing with the issues of undocumented workers and their American-born children.

This story is based on a real case in the Midwest. I often ask myself the following questions:

How does a social services system return an infant child to an undocumented worker that does not have a job and who does not have a support system?

How does a social services system hold a trial with an undocumented worker who needs to be deported?

How can the states afford the legal and foster care expenses associated with undocumented workers?

The undocumented worker laws need to be changed. How do we make them better? How do we protect the children without bankrupting their parents or the social services systems?

Questions and comments: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

[Editor’s Note: Barry Hulse is a writer, educator and Bed and Breakfast owner/operator in Vermillion, SD. He has a BS in Phys.Ed. from Minot State University, Social Services training with the State of South Dakota, Professional training from Job Corps, continuing education from the University of South Dakota and Health and Safety Director Training and certification from the American Red Cross in Lincoln, Nebraska. Barry has over 25 yrs experience working in Human Services.]