ICE Issued Guidance About Parental Rights

ICE has come out with guidance in its 8/23/13 “Facilitating Parental Interests in the Course of Civil Immigration Enforcement Activities” that ICE personnel should ensure that the agency’s enforcement activities do not necessarily disrupt parental rights of both alien parents or legal guardians of minor children and that particular care should be paid to enforcement activities involving: 1) parents or legal guardians who are primary caretakers without regard to the dependent’s citizenship; 2) parents or legal guardians who have direct interest in family court or child welfare proceedings; 3) parents or legal guardians whose minor children are physically present in the U. S. and are USC’s or LPR’s.

ICE is to designate specially trained coordinators at the supervisory level in each field office to serve as the field point of contact for parental rights for his or her area of responsibility.

If parental termination rights are to be determined in a court proceeding or child welfare authority and the removed parent or legal guardian must be physically present, ICE may on a case-by-case basis facilitate his/her return to the United States through advance parole for the sole purpose of participation in the termination proceedings.

The alien is responsible for all costs incurred with return to the U. S. and with departure at the conclusion of the hearing and must acknowledge in writing that he or she will depart the U.S. without delay following the conclusion of the final parental rights termination hearing for which he/she traveled to the U. S.

This guidance surprisingly recognizes that undocumented and even removed parents have rights where relationships with their children are at stake. But in a larger context outside of immigration law, it is a step in tune with allowing more parental rights in raising children, selecting medical care, enforcing support obligations, and stopping parental abductions.

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