Brandi was 8 years old when her father was taken from her and her story is not unique,
she's just one of the hundred thousand American children each year
who lose at least one parent to deportation.
And now she's just one of the many children Nora Sandigo provides for.
I'm the legal guardian for 817 kids.
Yes, you heard her correctly, Nora Sandigo, a Miami resident,
is providing for 817 US Citizen children who have been effected by parental deportations.
Most of my kids suffer a lot because they don't know that if,
at that point of their life they can be alone
because the father or mother was deported or could be deported.
Family unity is a non partisan value,
however, mixed status families bring a unique twist when dealing with immigration policy.
Should immigrants who have established American families
be forgiven for their illegal entry into the country?
President Obama says yes and has attempted to address these issues through executive action.
However real and lasting change must come through Congress
and until that happens many American children remain uncertain of their family's future.
The two major principles of immigration law are protecting American workers
but the other part is family unification.
Ira Kurzban has been a Miami based immigration lawyer for over 30 years.
And what the president is doing is focusing on that second one and saying
'if you have an American citizen child or a lawful permanent resident child
we're gonna let you stay here and take care of your child.'
That's not something that's on the government, you are illegally here,
you lied repeatedly and probably committed a whole string of other crimes
identity theft and what have you, perjury, tax fraud
and you're now going to have to pay for that
not by going to jail, but just by going back home to your own country.
You can take your little kids with you.
But you have to bear the responsibility for your crimes.
Mark Krikorian is the director of the Center for Immigration Studies
a think tank that argues for less immigration altogether.
There's nothing that prevents immigrants being deported from taking their kids with them.
But immigration lawyers say that's not true.
When illegal immigrants are caught, they're often detained far from where their families live
and are physically unable to take care of their children.
Once the child protective services are involved
it can be very difficult for an illegal immigrant to retain custody of their children.
The question is who takes care of the child?
If the child becomes a dependent on the state
then the state has to find a family that will take care of the child
just like any other American citizen.
In 2011, at least 5100 children were int he foster care system due to parental deportation.
This costs the government on average about 26000 dollars a year
for every child in foster care.
This means that in 2011,
the US spent at the very least 133 million dollars on foster care for these children.
In more recent years, that figure may be over 600 million dollars
as the number of children is estimated to be closer to 15000.
These parents have signed a contract before their deportation
granting Nora powers of attorney over their kids.
That way if the parents are deported,
Nora is there to make sure the children are placed in good homes
with families or friends.
They're using this foster care argument as a wedge
to argue that the parents should be able to stay
but that discussion is not even appropriate as a political discussion
not because the parents of kids who were born here shouldn't at some point get amnesty
I mean I don't like it, but you can't rewind the video.
The problem, the core problem to me is that we haven't actually created the conditions
the pre-conditions for that kind of amnesty.
We have such a large illegal immigrant population because our political class
has simply refused to enforce the existing laws.
One law many anti-immigration advocates would consider not enforcing, however,
is the 14th Amendment.
End automatic citizenship at birth,
it's not just being abused by illegal immigrants, it's being abused by tourists,
foreign students have kids here, graduate students here for a few years
and then they leave and those kids aren't American.
This conservative argument, known as the anchor baby argument
rests on the idea that birthright citizenship encourages people to come to the US illegally
and have children in hopes that their American child will grant them benefits or legal status.
That ended in 1977, after 1977 you're child has to be 21 years old to petition for you.
So the concept of somebody coming here and having a child
so the child can petition for them is ridiculous, there's no such thing as an anchor baby anymore.
Studies show that most illegal immigration to the United States is driven by economic factors
not the attraction of birthright citizenship.
But for these mixed status families any economic gain they might have achieved in the US
is stretched thin when deportation enters the picture.
Statistically it's mostly the father that gets deported
leaving single mothers struggling to make ends meet.
Nora says she can't solve all the problems her kids face.
It is beautiful but sometimes it's so difficult.
She has been a kind of a beacon for people who know that she is the person here locally
who you can depend on and she's tried to do as she can in the circumstances.
President Obama's executive stand on deportations is still in effect.
But even if it survives court challenges brought forth by Republicans
it will still expire in 2016 when Obama leaves office.
In order to provide lasting relief to these American children
Congress needs to enact a more humane and comprehensive immigration policy.