After Losing Freedom, Some Immigrants Face Loss of Custody of Their Children

When this woman was sent to jail, her baby was adopted by a stranger, with the court's approval, saying she had abandoned him. He should have been sent to a relative. No one knows how many other parents have lost custody of their children like this. - - Donna Poisl

By GINGER THOMPSON

CARTHAGE, Mo. — When immigration agents raided a poultry processing plant near here two years ago, they had no idea a little American boy named Carlos would be swept up in the operation.

One of the 136 illegal immigrants detained in the raid was Carlos’s mother, Encarnación Bail Romero, a Guatemalan. A year and a half after she went to jail, a county court terminated Ms. Bail’s rights to her child on grounds of abandonment. Carlos, now 2, was adopted by a local couple.

In his decree, Judge David C. Dally of Circuit Court in Jasper County said the adoptive couple made a comfortable living, had rearranged their lives and work schedules to provide Carlos a stable home, and had support from their extended family. By contrast, Judge Dally said, Ms. Bail had little to offer.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.