• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
A Venezuelan man lies in bed with his daughters in Aurora, Colo., Jan. 30, 2025, before getting ready to sleep in their apartment amid a time when, despite having legal documentation to reside in the U.S., they fear reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents may come to detain immigrants for deportation. (OSV News photo/Kevin Mohatt, Reuters)

Report: Mass deportation may split up millions of US citizen kids from their parents

May 6, 2025
By Kate Scanlon
OSV News
Filed Under: Immigration and Migration, News, World News

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Millions of U.S. citizen children are at risk of being left with no parents in their home under a mass deportation scenario, a new study by the Center for Migration Studies in New York estimated.

Salvadoran police officers escort an alleged member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in Tecoluca, El Salvador, March 16, 2025, who were recently deported by the U.S. government to be imprisoned in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison, as part of an agreement with the Salvadoran government. (OSV News photo/Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via Reuters)

The May 1 study estimating the potential effects of a mass deportation program estimated that 3.8 percent of all U.S. citizen children — about 2.7 million in total — face the potential of being left without either parent in their home as a result of such a program, while 4.71 million — 6.7 percent of all citizen children — are at risk of losing from their household one parent who is in the U.S. without documents.

Matthew Lisiecki, senior research and policy analyst at CMS, said in a statement that as the Trump administration directs “substantial government resources to try to enact its mass deportation agenda,” these U.S. citizen children “are at risk of being left with no parents” in their home.

“This would be a devastating outcome for the millions of American children who only have undocumented parents in their home, and risks overwhelming the child welfare system,” Lisiecki said.

The study further estimated that even if only a small share of those children had no other relative to take them in if their parents were deported, a mass deportation campaign could result in 66,000 children entering the foster care system, at an annual cost to taxpayers exceeding $400 million.

This influx, the report said, would increase the number of children in foster care in the U.S. by about 18 percent.

“The child welfare system is neither required nor well-equipped to handle a large influx of American children who are separated from their parents due to immigration enforcement,” the report said.

Catholic social teaching on immigration seeks to balance three interrelated principles: the right of persons to migrate in order to sustain their lives and those of their families, the right of a country to regulate its borders and immigration, and a nation’s duty to do so with justice and mercy.

Read More Immigration & Migration

Poll: Record-high percentage of U.S. adults say immigration good for country

Trump administration to appeal after judge blocks ICE detentions based on race

Remember common decency in immigration enforcement

ICE

ICE deports Iowa parishioner to Guatemala homeland as supporters pray for his release

Miami clergy raise concerns as Trump tours Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’

Faith-based refugee centers in Rome provide a lifeline to newcomers

Copyright © 2025 OSV News

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Kate Scanlon

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Hunt Valley parishioner recalls her former student – a future pope

  • superman Movie Review: Superman

  • Deacon Gary Elliott Dumer Jr., active in men’s ministry, dies

  • Loyola University Maryland graduate ordained Jesuit priest

  • Pope Leo visits Italian Carabinieri station, Poor Clares during summer break

| Latest Local News |

Scopes Monkey Trial ignited century-long debate on evolution and belief 

Deacon Gary Elliott Dumer Jr., active in men’s ministry, dies

Radio Interview: The music and ministry of Seph Schlueter

Hunt Valley parishioner recalls her former student – a future pope

Father Herman Benedict Czaster, former Curley teacher, dies at 86

| Latest World News |

Poll: Record-high percentage of U.S. adults say immigration good for country

Patriarchs support Christian communities attacked by Israeli settlers in solidarity visit

Pope Leo visits Italian Carabinieri station, Poor Clares during summer break

1 officer dead, 3 seminarians kidnapped after attack on Nigerian seminary

Trump administration to appeal after judge blocks ICE detentions based on race

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Poll: Record-high percentage of U.S. adults say immigration good for country
  • Scopes Monkey Trial ignited century-long debate on evolution and belief 
  • Patriarchs support Christian communities attacked by Israeli settlers in solidarity visit
  • Pope Leo visits Italian Carabinieri station, Poor Clares during summer break
  • 1 officer dead, 3 seminarians kidnapped after attack on Nigerian seminary
  • Trump administration to appeal after judge blocks ICE detentions based on race
  • Remember common decency in immigration enforcement
  • Sponsors – for life
  • Listen for God this summer

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en