Publication

Love Without Borders: Grandfamilies and Immigration

The 2018 State of Grandfamilies in America Annual Report

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Most grandfamilies face challenges in raising children they did not expect or plan to raise.

Love Without Borders: Grandfamilies and Immigration highlights the additional hurdles faced by grandfamilies who come together as a result of a parent’s detention or deportation. Those hurdles include restricted access to support and services to help meet the children’s needs, language barriers, and fear of government agencies.

The report contains concrete policy and program recommendations to help guide policymakers and advocates. They include:

  • Advocating against policies that discourage relatives from stepping forward to care for children of parents who were detained or deported.
  • Ensuring that “Public Charge” determinations do not have detrimental effects on children.
  • Encouraging the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to require follow up contact for children released from ORR custody to connect them to services.
  • Ensuring that parents who are under threat of detention or deportation have useful tools to give other family members the legal authority to care for children.