Head Start suspects profiling by immigration officials

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that immigration enforcement officials are now targeting migrant and seasonal Head Start centers in some states as part of efforts to track down undocumented immigrants, according to the executive director of the National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association, Yvette Sanchez,  who was in Milwaukee this weekend. She said immigration surveillance is emerging as one of the top three issues for the group, comprising migrant and seasonal Head Start directors, staff, parents and friends. “Several kids and babies died in the fields because parents were fearful of sending them to Head Start,” she said in an interview. “Since early 2007 many of our programs started to notice that Border Patrol of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicles were parked outside their centers and some were following buses picking up children,” she also said. According to the Sentinel, a supervisory Border Patrol agent said that it is not the agency’s policy to stake out Head Start centers:  “It could have happened if we believe there was an immigration violation afoot, but it’s not our policy or practice, I believe.”

KJ