FRANCE DEPORTS CHILDREN OF UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

New America Media
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Dec 1 2009

PARIS–To save herself from being deported, Azerien ran and hid under
the bed. The police didn’t try to drag her out from under the bed, but
they threatened to arrest her mother who is Armenian. The 7-year-old
girl surrendered.

For children of undocumented immigrants, life in Paris is no fairy
tale of castles and royalty. Even though they were born in France, the
fear of deportation is common. Unlike the United States, France does
not give children born to undocumented immigrants citizenship by birth.

In 2005, a presidential decree ordered the expulsion of the children
of undocumented immigrants. Under this new regulation, "the children
of undocumented immigrants should be escorted out of France."

There is an underlying fear among immigrant families. Some parents
have chosen to hide or deny that they have children when they are
arrested and deported by authorities, said Anthony Jahn, leader of
the organization Education Without Borders (RESF), a network of 130
associations of teachers and parents that has launched a campaign to
protect immigrant children.

"What they’re doing to these kids is horrible and we’re not going to
let the authorities destroy their lives," Jahn told La Opinión. "They
are our future and they have the same rights as any other French
child."

The expulsion of children is part of a policy introduced by former
Interior Minister and current French President Nicolas Sarkozy,
who is trying to reshape France’s identity and defends the law by
arguing that France must "choose" its immigrants.

But miles away, Sarkozy’s immigration model seems to be gaining
supporters.

In July of this year, a similar bill was introduced by anti-immigrant
groups in California, who blame the undocumented and their children
for the country’s financial crisis.

The bill, called the California Taxpayer Protection Act 2010
(CPTA-2010), aims to deny U.S. citizenship to the children of
undocumented immigrants in California.

Like his French political colleague, Tony Dolz, candidate for Congress
in District 30, is calling for babies to return with their parents
when they are deported.

In Paris, police are arresting young people in schools or public
parks, according to Christophe Piedra of the refugee center La
Cimade, speaking to a group of reporters invited by the French
American Foundation.

The decree also gives a sentence of up to five years imprisonment
and a fine of up to 30,000 Euros (about $35,000) for anyone who helps
immigrant children.

"Donations for centers like ours have dropped terribly because of the
campaign to criminalize the undocumented and blame them for ills like
the economic crisis or the lack of jobs, but we still have a lot of
citizens who see immigration as a humanitarian issue," said Piedra.

Children’s Fears

The winter cold permeates their bones. Across from the famous Notre
Dame Cathedral in Paris, hundreds of tourists mix with a small crowd
that carries photographs of incarcerated children and crying mothers
hugging their kids.

They are protesting the mass deportation of the children of
undocumented immigrants. In 2007 more than 250 children were expelled.

Last year, a record 27,796 foreigners were repatriated.

Among tourists and activists, dozens of children accompany their
parents, their cheeks rosy in the cold weather.

Angela’s icy little hand holds on tight to her younger brother,
Didier, who is desperate to run to his Nigerian mother as she walks
through the crowd.

Angela tries to speak English, but she gets frustrated. She prefers
French, her native language by birth, even though this country does
not consider her to be a legal citizen.

"Ce n’est pas juste que nous criminaliser (It’s not fair that they
discriminate against us)," she says angrily. She is only nine years and
words like humanity, compassion and criminalization come out easily.

Like the other children attending the protest, Angela confesses that
she has never set foot in the Eiffel Tower nor seen the famous Musée
du Louvre. Life for them is confined to a ghetto, the slums of France
where the stories of dozens of French children in danger of being
deported are collected.

As 6:00 p.m. approaches, the bells of the cathedral, located in
the city’s fourth district, echo and silence the voices of the
demonstrators.

Located in the small Ile de la Cité, surrounded by the Seine river,
this Catholic church attracts thousands of tourists a year. It also
draws dozens of protesters who recently decided to make it the center
of their struggle for children’s rights.

"At first they tried to run us out of here, arguing that we were
setting a bad example for foreign tourism, but the people didn’t
allow it and we’re still here," explains Jahn.

The tourists show little interest in the demonstrators, but great
enthusiasm for getting their photos taken in front of this Catholic
symbol that was built in 1245.

Angela and the other children are used to being ignored by the
foreigners, just as they are used to being called "les sans-papiers"
(the undocumented).

As night falls, she and her parents pick up their signs and begin
their journey back home on the metro. For them, all of whom were born
in Paris, the city is no fairy tale.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress