'We've been up all night.' Child Protection Services couldn't locate children

More than 24 hours after 680 people were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, leaving an unknown number of children separated from their parents, the agency had not made contact with the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services.

As of Thursday morning, the state agency did not know how many children were impacted by Wednesday's raids. 

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"We've been up all night trying to figure this out," said Lea Anne Brandon, MDCPS spokesperson. 

MDCPS was not notified of the raids beforehand, Brandon said, and has yet to receive any contact from ICE officials. 

Bryan Cox, ICE spokesperson, acknowledged ICE had not contacted MDCPS, saying, "Law enforcement arrests people every day who may have children."

Cox said there were "protocols and procedures in place," and ICE coordinated with local school districts after the raids. However, he still did not know how many children may have been left without parents Wednesday. 

State lawmaker: Some women were released to care for children

State Rep. Tom Miles, D-Forest, whose district includes several of the plants where the raids took place, said most of the women detained were released Wednesday night so they could be home with their children.

Miles did not know how many women were detained and released, saying the main focus in the community was on the children affected. 

Miles said both local businesses and churches offered support to make sure that children didn't come back from their first day of school to an empty house.

"Our concern was that those babies were taken care of," Miles said. 

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Cox said ICE released approximately 300 people Wednesday night. About 30 people of the 300 were released at the same site they were detained on "humanitarian grounds," according to a press release issued Thursday from U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst, and ICE. If a couple was detained with minor children at home, one of them would be released on "humanitarian grounds." The same was true for single parents with minor children at home.

"Based on these procedures, it is believed that all children were with at least one of their parents as of last night," the release stated.

When asked how many of the detained parents had children and how many children were impacted, Cox said he did not know. 

Brandon said with the number of people detained Wednesday, it's feasible that CPS could see "hundreds to more than a thousand" children affected.

Without any contact from ICE and the number of children unknown, Brandon said it's difficult for the agency to know how it should prepare. 

"It's tremendously important that we know so we can get our assets lined up," she said. 

Child Protection Services: People want to help, but we can't locate children

The raids happened at seven food processing plants across Mississippi Wednesday, beginning at 7:45 a.m., in Bay Springs, Carthage, Canton, Morton, Pelahatchie and Sebastapol, Cox said.

Once the agency learned of the raids, it immediately mobilized, Brandon said. 

"We notified all of our available foster parents and emergency shelter beds to be on standby, and our staff began working to try to locate the children," Brandon said.

The agency's emergency hotline was flooded with calls of people wanting to help Wednesday night, Brandon said, but they did not receive any calls of children "without shelter."

Thursday morning, workers in the affected counties began checking with the schools and churches in an effort to "identify children who may have been alone last night," she said. 

School district scrambled to care for children of detainees

Scott County Schools Superintendent Tony McGee said as of on Wednesday afternoon he knew of at least six families in the district — which includes Morton — that had a parent caught up in the raids. The students range from kindergarten to high school.

McGee, who met with ICE officials after the raids, said he expected the number to increase. He was not immediately available for comment Thursday morning. 

Cox said Wednesday afternoon that people processed were asked if they had children. However, he did not immediately know how many of the people detained in the raid had children at home. 

Cox said Wednesday everyone taken into custody and detained Wednesday will be processed but "not everyone is going to be (permanently) detained."

"You are going to have persons released," he said. "ICE makes custody determination on a case-by-case basis based on the totality of their circumstances."

Contact Sarah Fowler at 601-961-7303 or sfowler@gannett.com. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.