Point in Time Perspectives

The intersection of child welfare and immigration is shaped by policies, practices, and lived experiences that continue to evolve. Professionals working in this space see firsthand how shifting legal frameworks, community needs, and service systems affect children and families. The anonymous insights collected below reflect the perspectives of child welfare professionals in our community during a specific timeframe (November 2025 – February 2026).

These are insights from child welfare professionals in our community responding to the realities that they were navigating at a moment in time. While the landscape will undoubtedly continue to change, these reflections offer a snapshot of the concerns, hopes, and commitments guiding this important work.

"Although immigration status is not a barrier to foster care licensing, we are finding people too fearful of ICE to risk having a background study completed. This is almost exclusively affecting applicants seeking licensure to provide care for relatives/kin."

— Private Agency Foster Care Licensing Supervisor

"We have many questions that need further clarity, attention, and guidance from our systems in order to best serve and protect youth in Minnesota foster care who are arguably some of our most vulnerable and marginalized. How many foster youth in Minnesota are non-citizens? How many lack legal status? Are there higher numbers in certain parts of the state? What are the ages of these foster youth? How do we best support foster youth who are non-citizens or without legal status, experiencing more intense fear given the increase in ICE raids and changing immigration policies at the Federal and state level? Many foster youth under and over 18 lack identification and may be worried about what to do if questioned about their immigration status. Whose role is it to support them emotionally and more tangibly? Who should know about a youth or family’s immigration status? What is the best way to ask? How should this information be protected? What should be included in court documentation and OHPP? How does immigration status intersect with eligibility to become foster care licensed, and/or to receive Northstar Care payments for adoption or TPLPC?"

— Office of the Foster Youth Ombudsperson

"Once they get to the United States, kids are bombarded with many, many individuals to sort of suss out on their own, essentially, unless they find immigration counsel. It is very confusing for youth to be able to identify who they can trust, and what forms of relief there are. In an immigration court, you’re supposed to show up, ideally, with a parent or guardian. And some parents right now are not entering these immigration courts because of fear of getting picked up by ICE. So, kids under 18 are sometimes showing up to immigration court alone and being asked by the judge, ‘Why are you here all by yourself?’ This is yet another reason why we need kids to be able to present themselves with council. We are seeing many youth facing proceedings alone. Nearly a quarter of the kids appearing at Fort Snelling are about 10 years old or younger, and 5% in that group are in the 0-3 year old range. We are definitely seeing a lot of vulnerable youth who are needing to present themselves before an immigration judge."

— Immigration Attorneys

"Immigration enforcement has sharply escalated, and increasingly violent methods are being used to abduct people. Federal immigration agents are utilizing employment, tax records, and immigration court hearings to kidnap people with no criminal history, without allowing parents to make arrangements for the care of their children. Many people who have legal status are having their status revoked to boost deportation numbers. Family members are unable to find their loved ones in the system, children are left abandoned, and there is a dire shortage of immigration lawyers. People are dying and being disappeared in immigration custody. All of this is causing extreme trauma to children and to the community as a whole. Black and brown families are targeted, but all children are being traumatized by seeing their neighbors brutalized and killed, and by seeing parents ripped from their homes. Families are keeping children home from school to lessen the danger of abduction, and school districts are trying to make adjustments to accommodate these safety needs while still providing educational services. Unless the state quickly enacts an eviction moratorium, thousands of families will end up homeless due to inability to pay rent. Parents are left with the agonizing choice of risking death, disappearance, or worse if they leave for work in an effort to support their families. Communities are crowd-funding to purchase and deliver food and other necessities to families who have to remain in hiding. The situation is beyond horrific."

— County Public Health Senior Social Worker

"Prior to Operation Metro Surge, there was already a lot of fear of Child Protective Services by Hispanic families. That fear would lead to lack of engagement, which has the potential to lead to further worries/concerns if safety planning and staff fully assessing the report is not possible. With the trauma that Metro Surge has caused, engagement efforts have been more strenuous. At the end of the day, I can not assure residents who are undocumented that by meeting with me, they are not put at further risk of immigration involvement."

— Child Protection Investigator

"Since the influx of immigration enforcement to our cities, we’ve seen an eerie calm in our clinics. Families are fearful to come in for their routine check-ups or even when their child is sick. These are well-meaning and loving families who are doing the best they can to ensure the safety of their children. When kids do come in, they’re often presenting to us sicker because they avoided care as long as they could until they had to come in. It’s been heartbreaking to see families weighing the risk of going out to receive essential medical care because they feel so unsafe in their own neighborhoods. That’s a terrible decision no parent should have to make."

— Pediatrician at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota

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