Officials prepare to aid abandoned children amid mass deportations

A mother embraces her son after signing a document giving Nora Sandigo legal guardianship of her minor children if she is detained or deported by immigration authorities, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, in Miami. Sandigo runs a non-profit organization that helps immigrants and their families. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

SANTA ANA – Orange County supervisors Tuesday approved a resolution to prepare for a possible surge in children left without guardians due to stepped-up immigration enforcement.

The board voted 4-1 for a resolution spearheaded by Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento and Orange County Board Chairman Doug Chaffee. Supervisor Janet Nguyen cast the lone no vote.

Sarmiento said the impetus for the resolution stemmed from inquiries from local school officials about what was being done to plan for a potential increase in the number of children left abandoned.

The resolution “makes it clear we stand with” the children who will need services and guardians if their parents are deported, Sarmiento said.

“It does not aim to create new rights or privileges,” Sarmiento said. “Rather, it acknowledges the existing rights they have.”

Sarmiento said the children who have one or both parents in the country illegally “live with fear.”

He added, “We can’t let these children’s rights be eroded because of the immigration status of a parent.”

If there is a rise in deported parents, it would have an impact on the county’s social services agency “and we cannot be caught flat-footed,” Sarmiento said.

Social Services Agency Director An Tran told the supervisors that when a child is left without a parent, officials try to find a relative who can be a guardian. If that plan fails, they are placed in the Orangewood facility as officials continue to seek other options, including foster parents, he said.

Nguyen asked Tran how many cases the county had recorded of children left abandoned due to deportation in the past 10 years, and Tran said there were none.

Supervisor Don Wagner said children left without a parent “happens frequently” due to arrests or other circumstances.

Wagner also questioned how much money the county would have to spend on a review of the issue to determine how to plan for it when the county was in a “tough budget cycle.” Tran said the cost would “not be onerous.”

Supervisor Katrina Foley raised the issue of a “caregiver authorization” versus a court-approved guardianship. Many parents, she said, have been counseled that authorizing another adult to be a caregiver is enough under the circumstances, but she questioned that.

Foley said there were about 25,000 children in the county with at least one undocumented parent and added, “We can’t handle 25,000 children.”

Foley said there should be “clear information” given to residents about the necessity for a guardianship.

The supervisors on Tuesday also approved a plan to restore 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours at the Orange County Animal Care shelter and to review the feasibility of extended evening hours until 7 p.m. for one day of the week.

County officials will also review how other counties handle Trap Neuter and Return programs to consider one of their own. (CNS)