Blog

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.