A new report from the Brookings Institution estimates that more than 145,000 American children have experienced the detention of at least one parent since President Donald Trump returned to office in January and expanded federal immigration enforcement operations across the United States.
The findings have intensified political and legal scrutiny surrounding the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, particularly as raids carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement increasingly affect mixed-status families with US citizen children.
According to the Brookings report, approximately 146,635 US citizen children have had a parent detained during the first months of Trump's second term. Researchers estimated that more than 22,000 children experienced the detention of every co-resident parent in their household, leaving some temporarily without an adult caregiver at home.
The report found that many of the affected children are very young. Roughly 36% were under the age of six, raising concerns among researchers and child welfare advocates about developmental trauma caused by sudden family separation.
Brookings researchers said the largest share of affected families had roots in Mexico, accounting for nearly 54% of cases. Families connected to Guatemala and Honduras represented more than one-quarter of the total. Texas and Washington, DC, recorded some of the highest rates of children affected by parental detention.
The report also argued that official government numbers significantly understate the scale of the issue. The Department of Homeland Security reported 18,277 detainees with US citizen children during fiscal year 2025. Brookings researchers, however, said many detainees are never asked whether they have children, while others avoid disclosing family details out of fear that relatives could face immigration consequences.
To calculate its estimates, Brookings used demographic information from the Detention Data Project alongside census data from the American Community Survey. Researchers concluded that approximately 4.6 million US citizen children currently live with at least one parent vulnerable to deportation proceedings. Around 2.5 million could potentially lose all parents in their household through detention or removal.
The Trump administration has defended its immigration policies as necessary to enforce federal law and strengthen border security. In a statement responding to the report, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson rejected accusations that authorities intentionally separate families.
"ICE does not separate families," the spokesperson said. "Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates."
Administration officials have also promoted the CBP Home app, which allows undocumented migrants to coordinate voluntary departure from the country rather than face detention proceedings.
But advocacy groups and medical organizations have challenged how those policies operate during enforcement actions. Earlier this year, reports from the Women's Refugee Commission and Physicians for Human Rights alleged that some parents were deported without meaningful opportunities to decide whether their children would accompany them.
Teachers, counselors, and community organizations in several states have also reported rising anxiety among children living in immigrant households. Some children have reportedly stopped attending school following local immigration raids, while others have experienced sleep disruption, panic attacks, and behavioral problems linked to fears that parents could disappear without warning.
