The number of kids who were placed in foster care because immigration agents detained or deported their parents increased by nearly 49% in the 2025 fiscal year, according to new data from the federal government.
A dashboard from the Department of Health and Human Services updated last week shows immigration-enforcement-related entries into foster care jumped from 156 in the 2024 fiscal year to 232 last fiscal year.
The data — an undercount, with reported cases from only 34 states — provides more insight into a form of family separation taking place more frequently under President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign. Approximately 6.3 million children in the U.S, most of whom are American citizens, live with at least one parent who is undocumented, according to an October analysis from the Migration Policy Institute.