Deported parents may lose custody of children remaining in the United States.

It's been 10 weeks since an immigrant from Salvador Araceli Ramos last held her two-year-old daughter Alex in her arms. The woman was arrested at the border in Texas: the authorities took away her child and said that she would never see the girl again. By the time the mother began to act to get her child back, the foster family in the United States had already taken a successful first step towards full custody of the girl.

Фото: Depositphotos

The Ramos case shows what can happen to some of the babies, children and teenagers separated from their parents at the border as part of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, writes NBC Miami. In June, the separation of families ceased, but to this day hundreds of children remain in shelters. Officials say more than 200 people are not eligible for reunion or release.

Federal authorities insist they are continuing to reunite families. But an Associated Press investigation that used hundreds of court documents, immigration records and interviews in the U.S. and Central America found flaws in the system that allow judges to grant custody of migrant children to American families — without notifying their parents.

Today, when hundreds of mothers and fathers have already been deported thousands of kilometers from their children, the risk is growing rapidly.

Usually, a state closes information on custody cases, and federal agencies that monitor migrant children do not keep track of how often judges allow the adoption of such children. But the AP found that if you specify the child’s name and date of birth in a particular area or court, sometimes the fate of that child can be traced.

The Alexa case began in November 2015 during the Obama administration, after Ramos fled El Salvador from domestic violence. 15-month separation from the little daughter sheds light on the fragile legal situation of children under the tutelage of the Federal Refugees Relocation Office, as well as the shortcomings of the system that can change the whole life of the child and his parents.

For the American adoptive parents Sherry and Corrie Barr to receive temporary custody of little Alexa, it took the judge 28 minutes. Alexa's mother and her little girl's immigration lawyer were not even notified of the proceedings. The family told the judge that, based on life with the child, they realized that Ramos was a bad mother, and they are confident that the child cannot be reunited with her.

The federal system, which has custody of Alexa, argues that state courts should never allow foster parents to go as far as possible, no matter how good their intentions are. Each state judicial system, starting from New York and up to California, manages guardianship and adoption differently, and there are different options for action even between counties.

Фото: Depositphotos

In 2014, in the state of Missouri, a local couple permanently adopted a child of a mother from Guatemala, who was arrested after an immigration raid and a seven-year trial. In a similar case in Nebraska, another woman from Guatemala court preferred, after five years or more of 1, a million dollars received from donations for the services of lawyers.

In 2014, in the state of Missouri, a local couple permanently adopted a child of a mother from Guatemala, who was arrested after an immigration raid and a seven-year trial. In a similar case in Nebraska, another woman from Guatemala court preferred, after five years or more of 1, a million dollars received from donations for the services of lawyers.

Refugee Resettlement and Bethany Christian Services, which sent Alex to a foster family, did not comment on her case, but said that American parents are prohibited from taking full care of migrant children. Agency representatives acknowledged that 9 of 500 of such children who passed through the adoption program have been transferred to American families since 1980. Children aged from 3 to 18 were adopted after it was determined that it was too dangerous or simply impossible for them to return to their families of origin. At least one child’s parents themselves were asked to be taken into the family, another was a victim of human trafficking.

“We never wanted families to be separated,” said Bethany CEO Chris Paluski.

John Sandweg, who headed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the Obama administration, fears that many immigrant children recently taken from their parents may never see them again. “Now they will put all these charity agencies into action,” he added. “This is a real recipe for disaster.”

Alex was lucky. Pressure from the government of El Salvador, child advocates, and a series of viral videos posted on Facebook in which the mother expresses love for the lost daughter, eventually helped Ramos to reunite with the girl. A month after Barra was given custody of Alexa, the Department of Justice spoke sharply in a Michigan court.

“The Barr family obtained a temporary conservatorship order in violation of federal law,” prosecutors insisted in early 2017.

Barra had to refuse the request to adopt Alex: the family wrote to the judge that the federal government had driven them into a corner.

Фото: Depositphotos

More than a year ago, Alex returned to Salvador with her mother. The girl re-learned Spanish and lives with her mother and brothers.

From time to time, Ramos lets Alex talk to Barra, who also fell in love with the girl.

Fearing that parents continue to be separated from their children under zero-tolerance policies, Ramos recently took to Facebook again to encourage mothers and fathers to fight to get their children back.

“Never give up the fight. “We are ready to go to the ends of the earth for the sake of our children,” the woman wrote. “These are our children, not theirs.”

Recall that by September 2018, federal officers of the US immigration and customs police have already arrested dozens undocumented immigrants who wanted to take the childrenpreviously detained by authorities. The Trump administration promised to go even further.

Matthew Albbens, a senior immigration and customs officer, testified to Congress that after signing a memorandum of consent to the “check” of potential sponsors of immigrant children, ICE arrested a person who had declared himself to 41.

In response to a request from CNN, an ICE representative confirmed that 70% of these arrests were addressed to direct violators of immigration rules - which means they were arrested for illegal stay in the country.

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