About one third of CFR’s family defense clients are immigrants. When the City charges non-citizen parents with neglect, their case could place them at heightened risk of removal (deportation) from the U.S., or it could affect their eligibility for certain benefits. 

Immigrant parents face intense scrutiny from government agencies and are often afraid and unsure how to get trusted help. They also are forced to navigate multiple systemic barriers when interacting with the city and ACS.

For example, undocumented immigrants often work multiple jobs and inconsistent hours that make it difficult to attend multiple court proceedings, meetings, or visits with their children at the times the foster system agencies dictate. They also are not eligible for public benefits, so unlike other parents, they can’t rely on Medicaid to pay for the services that the city mandates for their family.

Language barriers can also make it hard for immigrant parents to understand the foster or court systems. Families and children have the right to receive written and oral information from ACS in their preferred language. We advocate for non-English speakers to receive adequate interpretation with the Courts and with ACS. Our immigration team is fully staffed with bilingual Spanish speakers, and we provide CFR staff with language support for Spanish-speaking CFR clients whenever needed. 

Our immigration team at CFR partners with parents and their other attorneys to ensure that they get the support they need to make informed decisions for their families, have access to free or sliding scale services, and never have to choose between seeing their children or staying employed. 

We advise clients and their parent defense, youth defense, and criminal defense attorneys on how to make strategic decisions in their other cases to minimize immigration consequences, preserve their opportunities to obtain legal status, and have the chance to stay with or reunify with their children.