Separating children from asylum-seeking parents
by Stacey Warde
When news first broke about the U.S. government losing 1,475 immigrant children, I made a cursory search to determine the story’s veracity.
Satisfied that initial reports were true, I fired off an angry letter to Senators Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein.
“Please do the right thing…and pressure those who are responsible to reunite the missing children with their parents immediately.”
Then, Dave Congalton, host of KVEC’s Hometown Radio Show, asked me to come on the air to discuss the issue (to listen, click on this KVEC link).
After looking more thoroughly into the matter, I realized that my letter and response, a hazard in today’s volatile news environment, were not quite fully informed.
Turns out, more worry and focused attention would be better spent on the children our government is separating from their parents on the grounds that they’re trying to enter the U.S. illegally.
It’s an appalling fact, even if the children and their parents are illegal. But the truth of the matter is that most of the immigrants crossing the border are fleeing widespread violence in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. They’re seeking asylum not a cover for illegal entry, as claimed by the Trump Administration.
In April, a government official told Congress that the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), a wing of the Department of Health and Human Services, responsible for underaged undocumented immigrants (mostly seeking asylum), had “lost track” of 1,500 children.
The ensuing uproar (including my letter) demanded that the responsible government officials find them and ensure their well being by reuniting them with family.
Since 2014, when there was an unusual influx of these undocumented minors without parents or guardians, the government, under recent legislation, began classifying them as “unaccompanied,” placing them into the care of ORR.
Under federal law, these children must be placed into the care of a parent or guardian as quickly as possible, or kept in a detention center.
Apparently, the government’s failure to reach these caregivers made it seem the children had slipped through the system. Also, some advocates argue parents and family of these children don’t want the government to know their whereabouts.
Compounding the issue, on May 7, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in an attempt to discourage illegal border crossings, also took aim at those seeking asylum: “If you are smuggling a child, then we will prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you as required by law.”
White House Chief of Staff, John Kelly then told NPR’s John Burnett that “the children will be taken care of — put into foster care or whatever. But the big point is they elected to come illegally into the United States and this is a technique that no one hopes will be used extensively or for very long. “
Since, there have been troubling reports of parents being separated from their children, who are then reclassified as “unaccompanied,” and placed into detention centers, where there have been numerous complaints of child abuse, including rape and beatings.
Additionally, the ORR’s Scott Lloyd, a pro-life attorney, appears to be flaunting federal law, reportedly refusing medical care to minors seeking abortion after being raped, and holding detainees longer than is legal.
The Trump Administration argues that these minors are the children of “criminals,” and therefore should be separated, placed in confinement while their parents are sent to detention facilities or prisons, where they will eventually be deported.
During my conversation with Congalton, a listener asked why I wasn’t petitioning the Mexican government for all this illegal immigration. Mexico was coddling the immigrants, encouraging more criminals to enter the U.S. illegally.
“I’m not a citizen of Mexico,” I told him, and my complaint has more to do with how the U.S. is treating children looking for a safe place to go. Mexico has shown more humanity than the U.S. in the matter.
Advocates say these refugees are not criminals, they’re not breaking the law, but are seeking asylum from gang and street violence in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
The Trump Administration claims it’s separating children from their parents to discourage this flood of immigrants seeking safe haven in the U.S.
Meanwhile, child advocates like attorney Megan Stuart, writing in Rewire.News, argues: “We need to think twice about asking any government, especially one that proudly equates immigrants with gang members and calls them “animals,” for more scrutiny, more monitoring, and more targeting of kids and their communities.”
Also, “We don’t expect or want local jails or prisons to track folks once they are released to loved ones.”
The Trump Administration, she says, is turning this into an immigration crisis, claiming that these children are being placed with families to escape scrutiny, thus enter illegally.
Finally, false reports, as expected in a Trumpian world, will continue to circulate the interweb regarding the status of these children, their reason for coming here and the so-called criminality of their parents. §
Stacey Warde is publisher of The Rogue Voice. He can be reached by email: roguewarde@gmail.com Twitter: @roguewarde.
