After years of postponing the inevitable, the U.S. is finally on the verge of reforming our dysfunctional immigration policies. For millions of immigrant families who have committed themselves to building better lives for themselves and their communities, change cannot come too soon. And for the children in these families, their hopes for the future are very much part of America’s future.
Immigrant children are highly vulnerable. Their level of disadvantage and fragility has consistently grown due to factors outside their control. This population was explicitly excluded from the benefits of the president’s health reform initiative.
With the leadership of President Obama and an unusual level of bipartisan Congressional collaboration, the Senate recently released a promising vision for reform. So what will immigration reform look like? And how will kids fare with proposals now on the table?