Increased rates of immigration enforcement and record numbers of parents of U.S. citizen children being deported have resulted in more children entering the foster care system. Based on work undertaken by The BI2012 - ImmigrationEnforcementFlorence Project in Arizona, this paper outlines strategies for building bridges between the immigration and child welfare systems at the local level in order to better inform frontline workers and improve the chances of children ultimately reunifying with their parents.

This paper is part of the Big Ideas: Children in the Southwest series. The complete publication will be released in the fall, but individual papers are now available. Sign up online to ensure that you receive each Big Ideas paper as it is released.