Immigration crackdowns make child care harder to find in California

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On a recent morning in Los Angeles, a young mother dropped off her children, ages 2 and 4, at daycare at a neighbor’s house. It was the 2-year-old’s birthday, so he also brought a cake in the popular ‘red velvet’ flavor with the ‘Cars’ theme, the child’s favorite, for the center staff and the children to celebrate.

She then started working as an office cleaner. The nanny never saw her again.

“They got her,” said the provider, Adriana, who asked to be identified only by her first name because, despite being a legal resident of the United States, she fears unfair deportation. He also asked that the mother and children not be mentioned. “The kids were like, ‘Where’s mom? Where’s mom?’ It was difficult for us suppliers to explain. It was heartbreaking.”

The Trump administration’s drastic crackdown on immigrants has hit the child care sector particularly hard, both families and providers. in California, almost 40% part of the labor force in this area is of foreign origin, and more than one million parents, immigrant or not, depend on child care providers to work.

Absentees and empty classrooms

Several recent reports have found that since Trump tightened immigration, child care centers have lost staff (immigrants who are afraid to go to work) as well as immigrant parents who are afraid to leave their children for fear of being arrested and separated from them.

study from the Center for Child Care Employment Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, found that the effects were wide-ranging.

“The Administration’s policies targeting immigrant populations not only harm the immigrant (early education) workforce, but also have the potential to destabilize the already fragile education and training system on which immigrant children, families, and education and training professionals depend,” the authors wrote.

The loss of personnel and revenue is there affected all families not just immigrants, because that means the already tight childcare market has shrunk even more, according to New America, a left-wing think tank based in Washington, DC.

“Aggressive enforcement of immigration laws has already led to closed doors, empty classrooms and kindergarten absentees in some communities.” according to a report of the American Immigration Council, an immigrant rights research and advocacy organization.

“Bigger than we can imagine”

California is home to approximately 1.7 million infants and toddlers, the majority of whom spend at least part of the day in childcare while their parents work. Some are enrolled in licensed childcare facilities, others have babysitters, and still others have informal arrangements with neighbors or relatives.

Curtailment of the childcare sector has placed additional burdens on families who already have to balance the demands of work and family life. Childcare is expensive and hard to find in California; Immigration crackdowns made it even more complicated.

“The impact, especially on women, is greater than we can imagine,” said Patricia Lozano, executive director of Early Edge California, an early childhood education advocacy group.

But it’s the children who can suffer the most, he said. Not only do some miss their regular caregivers, but those with immigrant parents may experience stress at home and disruption to their routine.

“Kids benefit from going to daycare. It’s a healthy and safe place for them,” Lozano said.

Lozano’s group encourages immigrant families to make a plan for their children in the event of a parent’s arrest and to notify the child care provider. The group also reminds child care providers that they should not allow immigration agents into a child care center unless they have a warrant signed by a judge. Early Edge California and other groups, such as the United Child Care Providers Alliance, which represents more than 70,000 child care providers in California, have published a website, All about safe schools which offers guidance for schools and child care centers on how to help immigrant families and LGBTQ students.

“Know your rights, have a plan, be prepared,” Lozano said. “And talk to your kids about it in a way they can understand.”

Doors closed, blinds down

In Alameda County, where 34 percent of the population is foreign-born, the crackdown on immigration has had a noticeable effect on families and child care providers, even though the county has not seen significant enforcement of immigration laws compared to other regions, said Kim Johnson, executive director of BANANAS, a child care and family resource nonprofit in Oakland.

Some child care providers avoid public places, such as parks and playgrounds, while some immigrant families have abandoned childcare or stopped taking their children to daycare when immigration agents report to the neighborhood, Johnson said.

At a daycare center in East Oakland, organizers began locking the door and closing the blinds to make families feel safe. At another daycare center located in a library, staff helped families create safety plans in case immigration agents arrived.

The Bananas ran monthly diaper deliveries in a parking lot that regularly attracted 200 families. Since Trump’s arrival, Johnson explained that attendance has declined, so the group now makes deliveries several times a month, drawing fewer people, and has moved the event indoors so families can’t see from the street.

“People have been trying to merge whenever they can,” Johnson said. “We’re doing what we can to help because a lot of these families don’t know how to express themselves. And the children in particular don’t have a voice.”

“They target everyone”

Adriana, a child care provider in Los Angeles, has been in the industry for 23 years. She takes care of a dozen children in her home and raises her four children. At the two-year-old’s Cars birthday, Adriana called the children’s grandmother because the mother did not come to pick them up.

Alarmed, the grandmother unsuccessfully tried to contact the children’s mother, then took them home. Finally, the family realizes what has happened: the children’s parents and uncle have been arrested and deported to Colombia. After a few weeks, the grandmother and children also moved to Colombia so that the family could be together.

Meanwhile, Adriana started carrying her passport everywhere. He also began locking both doors to his home, wouldn’t answer the front door unless he knew who was ringing the doorbell, and worked with parents, even those with legal status, to create contingency plans in case they were arrested.

“I’m here legally, but they’re attacking everyone,” he said. “I’m scared. What if my kids are at school and I can’t call? I try not to let it affect me, but it’s always on my mind.”

She often feels frustrated and helpless, but tries to create a safe and supportive environment for the children in her care so they can focus on having fun and find some relief from the anxiety they may be feeling at home.

“It’s sad. (Immigration agents) focus on working people, not criminals,” she said. “People who are just trying to provide for their families. But my job is to take care of the kids. So we try not to instill that fear in them.”