As immigration authorities carry out what President Donald Trump has promised will be the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, several states are passing laws to keep children out of foster care when their detained parents have no family or friends available to take temporary custody of them.
The federal government doesn’t track how many children have entered foster care because of immigration enforcement actions, leaving it unclear how often it happens. In Oregon, as of February two children had been placed in foster care after being separated from their parents in immigration detention cases, according to Jake Sunderland, a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Human Services.
“Before fall 2025, this simply had never happened before,” Sunderland said.
As of mid-February, nearly 70,000 people were being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The record 73,000 people in detention in January represented an 84% increase compared with one year before. According to reporting from ProPublica, parents of 11,000 children who are U.S. citizens were detained from the beginning of Trump’s term through August.
The news outlet NOTUS reported in February that at least 32 children of detained or deported parents had been placed in foster care in seven states.
Sandy Santana, executive director of Children’s Rights, a legal advocacy organization, said he thinks the actual number is much higher.
“That, to us, seems really, really low,” he said.
Separation from a parent is deeply traumatic for children and can lead to various health and psychological issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder. Prolonged, intense stress can lead to more-frequent infections in children and developmental issues. That “toxi …