Encarnacion Bail Romero was arrested in 2007 at a Missouri poultry processing plant along with 135 other undocumented immigrants. She was charged with federal aggravated identity theft and sentenced to two years in prison for using a stolen Social Security number to find work. She was sent 1,000 miles away to serve her time.

Now Missouri state officials are seeking to impose a second, even harsher penalty on Romero. This month, a state court judge concluded that she had “abandoned” her son while she was incarcerated and had thereby terminated her parental rights, clearing the way for a Missouri couple to adopt the boy, who now speaks only English. Romero never agreed to the adoption. Neither federal nor state officials provided her with any help in reuniting with her child.

Tearing families apart isn’t in anyone’s interest.

A new proposal in Congress, the Help Separated Families Act of 2012 written by Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif., would make it far more difficult for state and local agencies to use immigration status to terminate parental rights. Ultimately, the real problem is a dysfunctional immigration system and a cowardly Congress that refuses to undertake comprehensive reform.

 

Copy the Story Link