Immigration and welfare reforms in the United States through the lens of mixed-status families 1

This chapter highlights the social work literature; policy and practice indicate an absence of critical scrutiny on the status and relationship of immigration and child care law and the contradictions in the support of family life. It summarises the principal legislative and policy provisions for the support of family life. The chapter examines the gap between policy statements and material reality for families subject to immigration controls. It examines the evidence which shows that government commitment to supporting families, such as that given expression in the Children Act 1989, through ratification of international instruments for the achievement of the right to family life and through social policy is not extended to families subject to immigration controls. The chapter explains that family relationships must not be the only basis on which decisions about who should be allowed entry to the UK are made, but that all such decisions should be set within a paradigm of human rights and social justice.