The cost of deportation

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People rallied in Boston in April to support the families of the 360 workers arrested at a New Bedford, Mass., textile factory during a raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. About two-thirds were deported as illegal immigrants. The National Council of La Raza and the Urban Institute recently released a report, "Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America's Children," which found that for every two adults detained in immigration raids, a child is left behind. Two-thirds of these children are U.S. citizens, more than a third are under 6 years old, and nearly two-thirds are under 11. This year alone, more than 4,000 people have been detained in immigration raids, according to Randy Capps, demographer for the Urban Institute and co-author of the report. "All these kids are at risk because raids are becoming a more common and important tool in the federal government's arsenal" to implement immigration laws, Capps said.

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