This article explores how child welfare policy and contemporary US immigration enforcement come together to transform the immigrant parent into an absence that operates as a legal presence. International legal standards and US child welfare policy protect the right of a parent, regardless of citizenship status or country of residence, to participate fully in child welfare case proceedings and to maintain, or regain, custody of their children. However, restrictive immigration policy, intensified border enforcement, and a contemporary deportation regime have made the separation of immigrant parents and their children a prevalent problem within the US child welfare system, separating children from parents who would otherwise be considered fit. The production of legally absent parents is central to this process. Detention and deportation practices can make immigrant parents difficult to locate. This makes it more likely that an immigrant parent will be deemed absent, and thus declared to have legally abandoned their child, a determination that is necessary for child welfare officials to terminate parental rights. Drawing on ethnographic research in the San Diego–Tijuana region, this article examines the force of legal absence in these cases and the profound consequences this has for families.

中文翻译：

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依存法的当前缺失：圣地亚哥－蒂华纳州非公民父母的被抹除

本文探讨了儿童福利政策和当代美国移民执法如何结合起来，将移民父母转变为合法存在的缺席者。国际法律标准和美国儿童福利政策保护父母的权利，无论其公民身份或居住国家/地区如何，均有权充分参与儿童福利案件的诉讼程序，并维持或重新获得其子女的监护权。但是，限制性移民政策，强化边境执法和现代驱逐出境制度使移民父母与子女的分离成为美国儿童福利系统中的普遍问题，使儿童与父母之间的分离被认为是合适的。合法缺勤的父母的生产对于这个过程至关重要。拘留和驱逐出境的做法会使移民父母难以找到。这使得移民父母更有可能被视为缺席，因此被宣布合法地抛弃了他们的孩子，这是儿童福利官员终止父母权利的必要决定。本文利用圣地亚哥－蒂华纳地区的人种学研究方法，研究了在这种情况下合法缺勤的力量及其对家庭的深远影响。