One consequence of the Trump administration's aggressive immigration crackdown is the toll it has taken on children of undocumented immigrants, particularly when detained parents have no relatives or close contacts available to take custody.
An investigation by KFF Health News found that several states are moving to adjust custody laws to address the issue.
As enforcement has expanded and more people are being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, some parents have been forced to leave their children behind after being detained. ProPublica reported that parents of about 11,000 U.S.-citizen children were detained between January and August 2025.
Similarly, NOTUS reported in February that at least 32 children of detained or deported parents had been placed in foster care across seven states. While the federal government does not track how many children enter foster care as a result of immigration enforcement, advocates say the actual number is likely higher.
According to KFF Health News, states including New Jersey, California and Nevada have passed or are considering legislation that would allow designated guardians to assume temporary parental rights in cases involving immigration enforcement.
In New Jersey, lawmakers are weighing a bill that would allow parents to designate standby or temporary guardians in the event of detention.
Separation from a parent can lead to significant psychological and developmental harm, affecting areas of the brain tied to learning and memory, according to the report.
In California and Nevada, officials have enacted measures aimed at protecting families separated by immigration enforcement, including allowing parents to designate guardians and share custody while detained. Under California's Family Preparedness Plan Act, parents can regain full parental rights after being released from immigration custody.
There are, however, challenges to reunification. Juan Guzman, director of children's court and guardianship at the Alliance for Children's Rights, told KFF Health News that parents whose children enter foster care may struggle to reunite if they are unable to attend court proceedings due to detention or deportation.
"It's just really hard to understand, without even knowing how many parents are being detained and separated from their children, what happens to those children afterward," Shaina Simenas, co-director of the technical assistance program at the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights, told NOTUS in February.
Data from the Migration Policy Institute shows that more than 6 million children, including 5.3 million U.S. citizens, are at risk of separation from at least one parent living in the country without legal status.
Despite the scale of the issue, there is no comprehensive federal data tracking when immigration enforcement leads to foster care placement. As of fiscal year 2024, the Administration for Children and Families recorded 162 such cases between October 2023 and September 2024.
"It takes a few years for the data to become reliable, so even if I looked at those counts, I wouldn't fully trust them," said Kurt Heisler, a former ACF data official and founder of ChildMetrix. "It would definitely be an undercount."
Heisler also raised concerns about how such data could be used.
"I am concerned that it is now hazardous to have data like this because of how the current administration is using data to find families they want to deport or detain," he said.
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