Immigrants say new law forcing them to find haven for children

Terrified by a strict new immigration crackdown in Alabama, parents living in the southern state illegally say they are doing something that was unthinkable just days ago – asking friends, relatives, colleagues and acquaintances to take in their children if they are arrested or deported.

Many illegal immigrants have signed documents in the past week allowing others to care for their children if need be, assistance groups say.

Regarded by many as the toughest in the United States, the law allows police making traffic stops to question anyone suspected of being in the country illegally and jail them without bond if they lack proof of citizenship.

For Maria Patino – who prays every time she leaves home – even a chance encounter with police could end with her two young children being left alone or taken into foster care if she and her husband are sent back to Mexico. Both are in the US illegally and have no friends or relatives close enough to take in the children.

“Every time I leave I don’t know if I will come back,” Mrs Patino, 27, said through tears. “I can’t stop working. My daughters need shoes and other things.”

Social worker Jazmin Rivera helps dozens of immigrants fill out paperwork weekly, and many are now seeking legal documents so friends and others could care for their children.

“People are scared, and they want to be sure their kids are safe if something happens to them,” said Ms Rivera, a case manager at the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama.

On Friday, the US justice department and civil rights groups asked a federal court to block the law, saying it could lead to discrimination against even legal residents.

However, the law will remain in effect at least until 29 November, when the appeals court said it would hear oral arguments.

Immigrant parents say that has forced them to seek out people to care for their children because they fear the youngsters – many of whom are US citizens – will be left home alone or taken into care if they are suddenly detained under the law.

Cristian Gonzalez, 28, said she had informally asked the manager of her rented home to take care of her ten-year-old daughter should she and her husband be arrested. The girl, an American citizen, needs to finish school in the US and is deeply rooted in Alabama, she said.

Their other three children were too young to stay and would go back to Mexico with her and her husband even though they are American citizens, she added.

“We’re afraid to go back to Mexico because of the drugs, the cartels and the killings,” Mrs Gonzalez said. “And we are afraid to stay here because of the law.”

A key sponsor of the measure passed this year, state senator Scott Beason, said such concerns were not raised when the bill went through, and he wonders if the stories now were designed to build sympathy for illegal immigrants. “I would do whatever it took for my family to stay with me,” he said. “It’s beyond my comprehension that you would just leave your children.”

Jose Perez’s parents brought him to the US from Mexico when he was a toddler. Now 15, he is a high school pupil living in Alabama illegally. Jose – with a Southern accent and dreams of becoming a nurse – fears being forced to return to a country he doesn’t know, and he is afraid what could happen to his parents if they are detained.

Jose has seen the family of a good friend split up because some members were illegal residents and fled back to Mexico.

“It was horrible having to see her cry her eyes out as she is being forced to say goodbye to her sister and her mom,” he said.