A Massachusetts garment factory raid separated many children from their parents earlier this month, according to a Washington Post report. 360 illegal immigrants were flown to a Texas detention center after a federal raid at Michael Bianco Inc outside of Boston. Many detainees were not allowed to notify friends and family of their whereabouts until several days later.
Though the agents involved claimed they made arrangements for children left behind, MA Governor Deval Patrick, described the raid's aftermath as an "humanitarian crisis" and demanded a fix to the "broken immigration system."
In response to the outcry against them, immigration officials began to send single
parents home, or if they had arrested both parents, to release one, but several children still remain in the care of non-parent caregivers. The tragic state of affairs that results in the breaking up of families where the parents may be illegal immigrants, but whose children are born in the States, is exemplified by the effects of the raid in MA. Until a better system is devised to care for the small children citizens in this country, similar tragedies will most likely occur again.
