Author Archives: Frank Rizzo

Jen lives in Brooklyn. She works full-time in the financial district, while her kids go to school in Chinatown. The logistics are more complicated than they might appear.¹

The commute from home to school takes 50 minutes, and from school to

work takes 30 minutes. Jen is in the office until at least 5:30 p.m.

School lets out at 2:30 p.m., after which the children, ages 5 and 9,

need attention and help with homework.

Without help, “The mornings would be challenging, but the afternoons

would make it impossible,” she said. “I would either get fired or I

would have to quit my job.”

The most practical solution for her family: hire a nanny or an au

pair. Inevitably, this meant relying on an immigrant provider, because

“It’s the pool of candidates who are available.”

“And nannies are hard to come by,” she said. “Friends would say, ‘You

want to start a year in advance.’”

Jen and her husband are thrilled to have found an au pair from China. The au pair can shuttle the children to and from school, help them learn Mandarin, and ensure the kids are not left unsupervised—a critical safeguard for their well-being. Jen, a financial analyst, can occasionally work from home, but not without distractions. “I hope everyone would understand, even men, that you can’t concentrate when children are all around,” Jen said. Her husband is an emergency room doctor.

“We are well off … privileged,” Jen said. “For someone with less

means and time, I don’t know how people do it.”

Nonetheless, Jen’s ability to work is beholden to the whims of

immigration policy. In late May, the Trump administration paused

interviews for J-1 visas, purportedly to impose new vetting procedures,

which resumed in June. The J-1 visa, which includes au pairs, is an

educational and cultural exchange visa.

“We are in a small bit of terror right now,” said Jen. “As things

ratchet up, there’s always a little voice in my head, ‘Please, please

don’t revoke visas.’ If she goes, then I would have to quit my job.”

It’s something Jen really doesn’t want to do—“for the basic reason

that I am my own person,” she said.

“I get a lot of satisfaction from my job. … I want to be productive. I want to be part of the workforce,” she said. “I’m paying my taxes. I’m producing for my company. That’s what I would think they would want.”

The post Navigating Work, Family, and Immigration Uncertainty appeared first on American Immigration Council.

Senior Fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick delivered oral testimony before Congress exposing skyrocketing “at-large” arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), profiling, wrongful detentions of U.S. citizens, and the urgent need for congressional reform.

What this testimony covers:

• ICE’s rapid expansion of “at-large” arrests — including a sharp rise in arrests of people with no criminal record.


• The spread of aggressive enforcement tactics like collateral arrests, roving patrols, and worksite raids.


• How appearance-based profiling has led to U.S. citizens and permanent residents being wrongly detained.


• The public-safety consequences of prioritizing immigration arrests over other federal law-enforcement needs.


• The urgent need for Congress to restrict overreach, require clear officer identification, and prohibit profiling.

The expansion of interior immigration enforcement doesn’t just affect noncitizens. As “at-large” arrests and aggressive enforcement tactics grow, more U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents are being caught up — often wrongfully — in sweeping immigration operations. That undermines trust in law enforcement, erodes civil liberties, and makes communities less safe for everyone.

Without legislative reform, this overreach risks permanently damaging the social fabric of immigrant and mixed-status communities across the country.

The post Testifying on Interior Immigration Enforcement: Citizen Arrests, DHS Overreach, and Erosion of Rights appeared first on American Immigration Council.

KidsPark is a national franchise that opened with a simple mission: to provide accessible, responsible hourly daycare for families who can’t—or don’t want to—use full-day childcare. Parents can drop off their kids anytime during operating hours for as little or as much time as they need. No reservations are required, and parents pay by the hour.

The model proved to be a success. Now, 37 years later, KidsPark is a national franchise, with daycare centers operating in nine states. Sisters Beth Christie and Heather Alanis jumped in 17 years ago, opening the first KidsPark center in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.¹

“We have families who use us five days a week. or parents who just

drop in as needed,” said Beth.

KidsPark strives to support low- and middle-income parents, for whom

standard childcare may be prohibitively expensive—potentially pushing

them out of the workforce for years. Many parents manage to juggle

conflicting work shifts to ensure one can always be with the kids. Even

so, they still need affordable care during the overlap, when both are at

work. “The hourly drop-off allows them to minimize their childcare

costs,” said Beth.

Currently, parents pay $12 per hour for one child, and an additional

$6 per hour for each sibling—less than many independent babysitters.

“Having quality staff that can take good care of your children and

keeping rates low for parents, it’s definitely a balancing act,” said

Beth.

KidsPark typically hires young people, often college students. All

the current teachers are in their 20s. The directors are in their

30s.

From the beginning, immigrants have been vital to the success of

KidsPark Arlington. “We’ve always relied in the childcare industry on

people who have come here from another country, or are first- or

second-generation,” said Heather.

Often these young people are studying to become nurses or

schoolteachers. Beth said, “It’s just fun to see caregiving as a

personality type.”

“The young women who work for us tend to be very family oriented,”

she said. “We have, over the years, hired cousins and sisters because we

believe they work so well together, and all of them have come from

immigrant families.”

Immigrants and children of immigrants also bring bilingual skills, which benefit children from all backgrounds, particularly in a diverse area like Dallas, where immigrant workers serve vital roles in construction, manufacturing, healthcare, and more.² “We want our staff to reflect our customers,” said Beth. “We’ve loved having teachers that are bilingual.”

“The teachers that have come from immigrant families have generally been the kindest, most diligent, hard workers,” said Beth. “I have found myself in awe of some of the young women who have come through the center, their work ethic. And they’ve brought so much love to the center.”

The post Supporting Working Families Through Flexible, Affordable Childcare appeared first on American Immigration Council.

As many as 1 million people have died in Somalia’s decades-long civil war.¹ Many more have fled, often without a country to go to. Most have ended up in refugee camps, sometimes for decades.

Since the African country collapsed into civil war in 1991, the

United States has offered refuge to many Somalis through Temporary

Protected Status (TPS), which allows recipients to live and work in the

United States while their country is considered too dangerous to return

to.

Muna was one of them. She landed in San Diego in 1999, her 6-month-old baby in tow, knowing no one, knocking on doors to ask if anyone needed a babysitter. Now she is a U.S. citizen and runs her own daycare business. But it was a tough slog to get here.²

Muna’s story exemplifies the resilience and perseverance that is

common among immigrants, as well as the role immigrant women often fill

as caretakers to America’s children. “Everything is hard,” Muna said.

“Nothing is easy to become an American and get your papers.”

In her first four years in the country, Muna lived in 20 different

houses, working as a nanny and housekeeper at a starting wage of $6.45

per hour. Sometimes she slept on the floor. “When people see you don’t

have nothing, they can do anything,” she said.

“I didn’t mind—but when they started hitting my daughter it was too

much,” she said.

“Every house had kids, and the boys, some of them, would hit.”

While doing domestic work, Muna did manage to swing a little time for

herself, during which she worked at a store within walking distance of

the house. She saved enough money between the two jobs to rent an

apartment, and settled into life as a full-time retail salesperson,

working her way up to store manager. She met and married a U.S. citizen,

had a second daughter, and became a naturalized citizen in 2023.

When she was ready to start her own business, in 2018, she turned to

childcare. She opened a small daycare center in her home, licensed to

care for eight children at a time. Her afternoon slots are always

full—“I have to turn people away”—and she is saving to buy a bigger

house so she can become licensed to watch more children. Her daughter

works as her assistant.

“It’s a lot of kids to run,” she said, laughing. “But it’s worth

it.”

As owner-operator, Muna tends to babies, drives children to and from

school, brings kids to the park and the library, and helps them with

their homework. She also serves on the board of Global Village, a

commercial and residential housing project currently in development, and

volunteers for the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans,

where she helps new refugees. But for the first time since coming to

America, she has weekends off.

“In the seven years, I know what the Saturday-Sunday thing is,” she said, laughing. “It’s so nice, so nice.”

The post From Babysitter to Business Owner: A Journey of Resilience and Care appeared first on American Immigration Council.

In many ways, the Children’s Playhouse Early Learning Center is the heart of its community. And this year, said owner Damaris Alvarado-Rodriguez, the community has been decimated.¹

Nestled in a low-income, primarily immigrant neighborhood in south

Philadelphia, the center provides job tips, educational sessions,

donations, and more, in addition to childcare. It is one of three

Children’s Playhouses in the city, all owned by Damaris, a businesswoman

from New York City.

The center’s children are all U.S. citizens between the age of 0 and

5. Nearly all are from Hispanic or Asian immigrant families. Before the

Trump administration’s immigration crackdowns, the center enrolled 158

children—the maximum number permitted. Now, it has 97. Damaris has had

to close one classroom and lay off five teachers, all of whom are U.S.

citizens and two of whom were born in this country. She worries about

the absent children.

Even parents who still have valid immigration status “went into

hiding,” she said. “There were so many policies at once that they didn’t

know how they would be affected. They were afraid of dropping their

children off at school and having ICE waiting for them.”

If the situation continues, Damaris wonders if she’ll have to shut

this location down, a move that would cost 23 more teachers their jobs.

“We haven’t been able to fill our classrooms—people are afraid,” she

said. “Now I’m really second-guessing running the childcare center. If

we can’t enroll, we can’t continue in business.”

But mostly, Damaris is worried about the families she no longer

sees—anywhere. She does not see children out and about, or families at

events. The adults don’t seem to be going to work; vans that used to

bring residents to factory and construction jobs are nowhere to be seen.

Some families have self-deported, she said: “Nobody wants to live in

fear.”

“All of this stuff dismantles so much of the work that we’ve put into

building up our community,” Damaris said. “These are hardworking people.

They contribute to society. We [the daycare centers] help build that

economic growth.”

And the children who are no longer at their preschool? Where are

they? “I don’t know,” Damaris said. “I would love to know. I hope

they’re OK.”

The daycare center provided those children with more than

socialization and learning. Damaris regularly raises funds so she can

give meals, diapers, infant formula, and clothing to families in need.

“We like to fill in those gaps.”

“We know that most of the children are food-deprived,” Damaris said. “I pray that they’re OK, that they’re good and safe.”

The post Fear and Empty Classrooms: The Human Cost of Immigration Crackdowns appeared first on American Immigration Council.

Safia’s family was doing well in Afghanistan. She earned a college degree and taught math at an elementary school in Kabul. Her husband worked as an electrical engineer. They had three children.¹

But her husband’s job for 17 years had been with the United States,

specifically, USAID. When the Taliban retook control of the Afghan

government in 2021, he was placed on a death list, putting his entire

family in danger.

Safia’s family eventually found safety in Houston. They are among the 50,500 Afghan refugees who have received the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV), a program created by Congress to help Afghans who worked for the U.S. government abroad.²

While the family is now safe, they are no longer economically secure.

Attaining the licensure to work in their professions in the United

States will take years. While he works at a lower-level job at an

electronics company, the only childcare job she was able to find was as

a low-paid helper at a center far from home. Without transportation, it

took her too long to get to work.

“I worked one year in pre-K in Afghanistan,” Safia said. “I love

working with children.” She found a free childcare training and

licensing class at ECDC – Houston Multicultural Center, a nonprofit that

supports refugees and immigrants. But under current funding

requirements, the course was only open to Afghan refugees who arrived in

the United States between 2021 and 2023. Safia arrived in 2024.

Earlene Leverett, a childcare entrepreneur, managed the ECDC

childcare training program for 10 years, when it was operated by its

affiliate The Alliance for Multicultural Community Services. She has

seen the profound difference it can make, not only for refugees but for

the broader community, as well.

“Childcare is in crisis,” she said. “Employers are finally realizing

the impact that childcare has on the economy. Businesses have jobs, they

need employees to fill those jobs, those employees need childcare.”

Leverett estimates that 350 to 400 immigrants graduated from the

one-year program during her tenure. Some opened their own childcare

businesses, creating options for parents who might not otherwise be able

to find care. Most graduates used their licenses to secure employment at

existing daycare centers, which often struggle to expand due to staffing

shortages.

It’s a win for everyone, Leverett said. Parents who are already home

with young children—most often mothers—can “add substantially to the

household income.” So, too, can other mothers who need to take jobs

outside the home and, in the case of immigrants, may prefer providers

with a familiar cultural background. Employers—particularly in

industries more heavily reliant on immigrant labor, like hospitality and

healthcare—can access the workers they need.

The U.S. government provides some financial assistance to refugees

when they first arrive in the country, but that assistance comes to a

halt rather quickly. Nonprofits and others step in with language classes

and job training with a single purpose: refugees must be able to support

themselves within six months.

“In order to speed up this self-sufficiency goal, it takes everyone

in the household working,” said Leverett. “When there is no childcare

available to the employees then it becomes a huge economic issue.”

Leverett ran her own day care centers in Texas for 16 years.

Immigrants, she said, have always filled “a big part of the industry as

employees.”

Providing training for refugees like Safia to secure childcare

licenses works, she said. “We saw that happen, the difference that it

made in the community. Because that was one thing people needed was

employment.”

Currently, Safia is working to improve her English and find another affordable program that will help her get a license to open a childcare facility. “I like children, I’m patient with children,” she said. “I really want to improve in this field and work with children.”

The post Caring for Children from Kabul to Houston  appeared first on American Immigration Council.

Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2025 — A new report from the American Immigration Council warns that the U.S. childcare system (already stretched thin by rising costs, staffing shortages, and high demand) is facing catastrophic disruption under President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. The loss of even a fraction of the childcare workforce could leave families with no coverage and no ability to work. 

READ THE REPORT HERE.

The report, Immigrant Workers and the Childcare Crisis: What’s at Stake for Families and the Economy, finds that immigrant workers make up 1 in 5 childcare workers nationwide, with even higher concentrations in major metro areas like Miami and San Jose. More than half are non-citizens and nearly a third are people who are undocumented, vulnerable to deportation or loss of work authorization.  

The report also features in-depth profiles of 10 childcare providers and parents whose livelihoods and family stability are already being shaken by enforcement crackdowns and visa uncertainty. 

“Working parents already feel the strain of a childcare system that’s barely holding together. Parents can’t clock in if they don’t have safe, stable childcare, and immigrants play a key role in providing that. Mass deportation pulls that foundation out from under families and jeopardizes parents’ ability to stay in the labor force,” said Jeremy Robbins, executive director of the American Immigration Council.  

EXPLORE THE DATA HERE.

The report documents how stepped-up enforcement has already disrupted childcare availability in several communities. In south Philadelphia, a daycare center serving predominantly low-income immigrant families saw enrollment plummet from 158 children to 97 after enforcement actions, forcing layoffs and classroom closures. At one Washington, D.C. preschool, teachers had to quit because of new barriers to maintain work authorization. 

Other key findings include: 

• 20.1 percent of childcare workers are immigrants: over 282,000 people, overwhelmingly women. 

• In cities like San Jose and Miami, immigrants make up over two-thirds of childcare workers. In Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, they make up nearly half. 

• Staffing shortages are already severe. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 160,200 childcare jobs will open each year over the next decade due to turnover. 

• Immigrant childcare workers overall are more likely to be self-employed and to work full-time, filling childcare jobs where hiring U.S.-born workers has proven difficult. 

• Aggressive immigration enforcement has already caused closures, empty classrooms, and absenteeism in daycare centers in some communities.  

• The report includes testimonies profiling 10 individuals, including childcare providers and parents, about how they would pay the price should the childcare system tighten further because of mass raids and more visa restrictions. “I want to be productive. I want to be part of the workforce,” said alias ‘Jen,’ one mother in New York City. “As things ratchet up, there’s always a little voice in my head, ‘Please, please don’t revoke visas.’ [But] if [my au pair] goes then I would have to quit my job.” 

READ THE REPORT HERE.

Disruptions to the U.S. childcare system stemming from Trump’s immigration policies will affect not only households, but the broader labor market as well. According to U.S. census data analyzed in the report: 

• In 2025, 12.8 million households with children under the age of 14, or 41.9 percent of those households, had at least one adult whose job was affected after losing access to childcare.  

• This includes 2.5 million households that used unpaid leave, 2 million households that cut work hours, 1.3 million households with adults who did not look for a job, and more than 600,000 households with adults who quit a job.  

“From hospitals to retail to tech, U.S. employers depend on parents being able to work,” said Nan Wu, director of research at the American Immigration Council. “Removing the workers who make childcare possible would choke off workforce participation and weaken our economy at a time when it’s already struggling.” 

The post New Report: Trump’s Mass Deportation Agenda Will Deepen the Childcare Crisis  appeared first on American Immigration Council.