SOCIAL INJUSTICE: UNITED STATES MIGRANT CHILDREN

More than 2.7 million children in the U.S. have an incarcerated parent. One in 9 black American children (11.4%), 1 in 28 Hispanic children (3.5%), and 1 in 57 white children (1.8%) in the United States have an incarcerated parent  and  half of the children with incarcerated parents are under ten years old. Incarcerated parents lose their parental rights at a disproportionate rate due to the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) which set strict timelines for initiating Termination of Parental Rights.More than 60% of the people in prison are now racial and ethnic minorities and roughly two-thirds of women in prison are women of color. Most prisons are not accessible by any form of public transportation, restricting child-parent visits. In some cases this means children will never visit their parents

In 2010 1.5 million people were in State or Federal prison in the U.S and  92% of people in prison are male, 8% female. . 43% of parents in federal prisons are held over 500 miles away from their last residence. In 2010, 93% of Federal Prisoners were convicted of non-violent crimes, including 48% for drug offenses, and 11% for immigration offenses. If trends continue, one in every three Black males born today can expect to go to prison in his lifetime.

Lawyer and activist,Michele Alexandria speaks about the immorality, cruelty, racism and insanity of our nation’s latest caste system: mass ncarceration. There is a thriving system of racial and social control in the United States. Dr. King saw the connections between the wars we wage abroad and the utter indifference we have for poor people and people of color at home.