RT:

As the US government deports tens of thousands of immigrants, children are increasingly watching their parents handcuffed and dragged away as they get handed to social workers and denied contact with their broken up families.

Nearly 45,000 parents who were illegally in the US were deported in the first six months of this year, leaving behind parentless American children, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Even though President Obama promised to focus on removing criminals and keeping families together, regardless of immigration status, the number of deportations this year is breaking records.

“How can my country not allow a mother to be with her children, especially when they are so young and they need her, and especially when they are Americans?” Rony Molinda said to AP.

“Gone were the egg-and-sausage tortillas that greeted him when he came home from school, the walks in the park, the hugs at night when she tucked him into bed,” AP writes, telling the story of a 10-year-old boy whose mother was torn unexpectedly from his life. “Today the sweet-faced boy of 11 spends his time worrying about why his father cries so much, and why his mom can’t come home.”

While the boy and his father had US citizenship, the boy’s mother, who was from Guatemala, was in the US illegally.

More than 5,100 children in 22 states live in foster care, some of which are being put up for adoption against the wishes of their deported parents. If a US judge decides that a child is better off in the US, parents may not have their child back and families are permanently broken up.

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