Orange County to assess its ability to support children separated by deportation

How ready is Orange County to care for children in the event that mass deportations split them from their undocumented parents?

It’s a question that prompted discussion at Tuesday’s O.C. Board of Supervisors meeting.

Supervisors Vicente Sarmiento and Doug Chaffee proposed a resolution that reaffirmed the rights of U.S.-born children regardless of their parents’ immigration status — while also directing to the county’s Social Services Agency to conduct an assessment on its readiness to handle any dramatic increases in cases of children left behind by mass deportation policies.

The debate came amid President Donald Trump’s pledge to carry out the “largest deportation operation in history” before returning to office.

Sarmiento’s office fielded questions from local school district superintendents about what plan the county has in place.

“Whatever one’s politics or feelings about what the current administration’s policies are, the fact remains that increases in family separation would impact the Social Services Agency,” Sarmiento said. “We cannot afford to be caught flatfooted in planning for that event.”

According to a USC report from 2013 that was cited by supervisors, researchers estimated 237,000 undocumented immigrants lived in O.C. and that more than one out of every six children in the county had an undocumented parent.

Social Services Agency Director An Tran explained what the current process is for a child separated from their parents under any circumstance.

“Within the first 24 hours, we would meet with the child and also…correspond with relatives that may be willing to take the child,” he said. “If we’re not able to do so within the first 24 hours, what we would do is we would put them at Orangewood Children and Family Center [in Orange] while we continue looking for safe placement options for those children.”

The county’s social workers typically handle such cases where a child is abused, neglected or otherwise abandoned.

Tran did note that an uptick in child separations from mixed-status families would additionally burden his agency.

“If parents are facing this situation and they are able to make legal arrangement for the care of their children, [which] does not involve us, that usually results in better outcomes for the families and for the child,” he added.

Though fear is palpable in immigrant communities, deportations under Trump have, so far, failed to outpace the rate under President Joe Biden’s final months in office when 2024 saw such removals hit a 10-year high.

Supervisor Janet Nguyen asked Tran if his agency had any prior instances where a child has been placed in county custody solely due to deportation of their parents.

“Not that I’m aware of,” he replied.

Nguyen also inquired if social services is properly resourced to handle immigration-related child welfare cases.

“I do know that this will add a layer of complexity,” he said. “I don’t know how we would interact with other entities like [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]. I don’t know how…we would go about in terms of continuing and maintaining parental rights for those kids.”

Supervisor Katrina Foley pressed for clarity on whether caregiver authorization affidavits are the same as legal guardianship, as parents in the U.S. without authorization may weigh their options outside of the foster care system in the event of deportation.

Nicole Walsh, senior assistant county counsel, explained that while caregiver authorization would allow a person to enroll a child in school or make medical decisions, legal guardianship is better.

“I just don’t think it’s good for us to be giving people [the] expectation that the caregiver authorization form is sufficient,” Foley said. “I don’t think we should say that, because in these circumstances, is not going to be of help.”

She favored the county conveying clear education to communities and schools about what option is best to pursue to keep children out of the foster care system in the event of mass deportations.

The resolution passed 3-2.

“This isn’t intended to be [an]…irrational question to ask,” Sarmiento said, “[but] what’s the capacity of the county, since we play a role in this in the event there are more separations or separations that occur? If they don’t? Perfect. We just continue with our protocol.”