Rinku Sen Appears on ‘Nightline’ to Talk Families Separated By Deportations

Feb 02, 2012


Nightline’s "Stolen Babies? Controversy in Missouri" segment that aired Wednesday.

On Wednesday night Colorlines.com’s publisher Rinku Sen appeared on ABC’s "Nightline" to provide context on a story about a young child who was put up for adoption because his biological mother is undocumented. Sen cited our "Shattered Families" investigation, which found an estimated 5,000 U.S citizen lingering in children in foster care due to the detainment or deportation of their parents. 

In 2008, Circuit Court Judge David C. Dally decided Encarnacion Romero of Guatemala had abandoned her child when she was caught in an immigration raid and had little to offer to her son.

"Illegally smuggling herself into the country is not a lifestyle that can provide any stability for the child," Judge Dally said.

"We’re creating a collateral consequence in which thousands of children are ripped away from their families with no real process for being reunited," Sen said on "Nightline."

An estimated 15,000 children will face the threat of permanent separation from their families in the next five years, Colorlines.com investigative reporter Seth Freed Wessler found, in a story we published in November.

President Obama acknowledge the findings in a subsequent briefing with reporters and said it was a real problem.

Parts of Sen’s interview also aired on World News Tonight.

If you were moved by this story here’s three things you can do:

SHARE – Share this story on Facebook, Twitter and anywhere else you can. You can hit the social sharing buttons at the top of this article.

LEARN MORE
– Visit the "Shattered Families" page on our publisher’s website to download the  full report and other resources that are also available in Spanish too.

DONATE
– And lastly, please consider supporting more Colorlines.com investigations like "Shattered Families" by making a donation today.