Family Forward Oregon and other organizations have amended a federal lawsuit to challenge the Trump administration's recent decision to ban children of undocumented families from the Head Start program.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reclassified Head Start as a federal public benefit on July 10, immediately barring children of undocumented immigrants from using the early education program.
In Head Start's 60-year history, the program had never before restricted access based on immigration status.
Candice Williams, executive director of Family Forward Oregon, said that the ban could have detrimental effects for all families who rely on Head Start for childcare.
"If a program has 20% of its kids who all of a sudden this fall don't show up, that means the other kids who are in those programs, who may not be a part of the immigrant community or have mixed-status families, will be affected," Williams said. "That's going to affect the bottom line of the program and may force them to close even if there's still a number of families who would be able to participate."
Oregon faces a shortage of childcare providers, with every county except Gilliam classified as a childcare desert. In Jackson County, just 31% of children under the age of five have access to a publicly funded childcare center.
Lisa Ebony Amador, southern Oregon regional organizer for Family Forward, said parents who can't afford or don't have access to childcare in the Rogue Valley are at a disadvantage.
"Day care centers often have the same hours (as) the standard work day," Amador said. "So when you have to commute a long way, either to get there to drop them off or to pick them up after work, something as simple as that creates a ripple effect that really impacts people's ability to go to work."
There are 27 Head Start sites across Jackson and Josephine Counties, which help fill childcare gaps. Most Southern Oregon Head Start locations are open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Williams said the ban would harm rural communities that rely on migrant agricultural workers.
"We just heard about all of the cherries that are currently dying on the trees because migrant workers aren't able to show up for fear of retribution with regard to immigration enforcement," she said. "This is just going to increase the number of families that won't be able to participate in that workforce because now not only will they have fear of immigration enforcement coming for them, but they'll also not have anywhere to take their children in order for them to go to work."
Williams said that Head Start sites running programs from May to October, specifically for agricultural workers, could be among the first to close.
