Last night, I attended the Friday night sabbath services before my niece’s Bat Mitzvah. As the Rabbi asked us to quietly send a prayer or good wishes to anyone hurting or in pain right now, all I could think of was the incredibly difficult ACLU report about the unconscionable treatment of immigrant children entering the USA.
Biting my lip and digging my nails into my palm, I realized it was all I could do not to break down right there sobbing, in the middle of services.
It’s a very, very hard read.
[top image: Inners on MSNBC]
The report shows, “a federal immigration enforcement system marked by brutality and lawlessness,” and I can’t imagine any person with a heart reading about the treatment of these vulnerable children and not wanting to do something about it.
Details include customs and immigration officials kicking and punching children, using stun guns on children, verbally abusing children, denying children medical attention, denying children permission to stand or move freely for days, threatening children with torture or sexual abuse, and actually sexually abusing children.
FFS.
For perspective, an ACLU immigration rights lawyer called it “unprecedented…the worst thing I’ve seen in 25+ years of doing this civil rights work.”
It’s not just abuse, by the way. Federal Agencies have “lost” nearly 1500 children who arrived unaccompanied at the border. While some of the children may simply be unaccounted for, there’s also evidence that some may have been turned over to traffickers. By our own government.
How does that not make you sick?
Chris Hayes kicked off the broadcast media reports about this with incredibly important segment about the agents systematically taking children away from parents at the border (screenshot from the segment at top) and it’s a quick, if difficult summation of what’s happening now, and how this is happening to children who are 4, 6, 7 — even as young as 53 weeks old.
One of his descriptions came from The Houston Chronicle’s harrowing story this week of an 18-month-old toddler was ripped from his father’s arms, the father was deported — alone — and the son was placed in a federal shelter “somewhere in Texas” until finally he was found. A full two months later.
The line that really got me (and all of it is hard to read): Advocates say few procedures are in place to ensure they reunify.
These are not anomolies. These results are in keeping with White House Chief of Staff John Kelly’s shoulder-shrugging explanation to NPR that children separated from their parents “will be put in foster care or whatever.”
Or whatever? Are you kidding me?
Can you imagine, as a parent, someone telling you that your child will be put “in foster care or whatever?”
It makes me physically sick to think about.
This is not about law. This is certainly not about gangs, especially if you look at the stats. This is purely about cruelty toward children, and “a kind of psychological torture that they hope will keep families away,” as Matthew Yglesias describes in the Vox article, above.
Some of these parents are entering legally, seeking asylum with their families after escaping unimaginably dangerous conditions. Some are entering illegally ( a misdemeanor offense, same as public intoxication, graffiti or profanity), like the father of the toddler who mortgaged all his land to attempt to hospitalize his son in the US for treatment of a medical condition. Then, some children are coming unaccompanied altogether.
While many reports took place before 2016 (the ACLU report is specifically about unaccompanied minors arriving in the US), the new directives to separate children from family as policy are brand new, announced May, 2018. And there is no evidence that the current administration is interested in doing anything humane or morally correct to remedy the situation.
On the contrary, there’s evidence that they’re pleased with the policy.
In 2017, the administration sought to destroy any records of ICE abuse against immigrants. Our Attorney General is currently spinning the parents accompanied by their children as parents “smuggling” children in the country. HHS is considering keeping children in internment camps on military bases — these are children taken from their parents, not unaccompanied minors who needed safe shelter, as under past administrations. And of course, the White House is branding minor children as “future criminals,” and using the situation to further promote a xenophobic agenda.
This is not a “zero-tolerance” policy about immigration. It’s a zero-conscience policy.
Need more evidence?
–More than 10,000 children are being held without their parents as reported at the end of May — a 21% surge since the previous month.
–Senator Jeff Merkley describes the conditions of a detention center for children, a converted WalMart warehouse, where children are being held in cages.
–ProPublica released haunting audio of children from inside a detention facility on June 18. (Warning: it’s very, very difficult to listen to.)
–Experts are describing the lifelong trauma of children forcibly separated from parents in a foreign country, especially at such young ages. This includes the president of the American Association of Pediatrics.
-One public defender reports that “several of her clients have told her their children were taken from them by Border Patrol agents who said they were going to give them a bath” — then were never returned to the parents. Where have we heard this before?
–Children as young as 3 have been separated from their mothers, and they could hear their own children screaming and crying form them in adjacent cells.
-1600 detainees including legal asylum-seekers are now being moved to federal prisons.
-Nicholas Kristoff, who has been critical of policies from both political parties, describes a legal asylum-seeker separated from her 4-year-old son and blind 6-year-old daughter.
-Journalist Jacob Soboroff, shares a Twitter thread with video and photos of the children’s Brownsville, Texas detention center (the coverted Wal-Mart warehouse) as one of the first journalists allowed to enter.
-One mother had her infant torn away from her in a detention center literally while she was breastfeeding, according to her attorney from the Texas Civil Rights Project.
-A 39-year-old father seeking asylum from Honduras committed suicide after being separated from his wife and child.
-In an unusual move, all five living First Ladies have spoken out against forced family separation, most notably Laura Bush in a compelling op-ed that asks for “a kinder, more compassionate and more moral” solution.
This is not okay. Not in America. Not anywhere.
WHAT CAN YOU DO
1. Call your elected representatives. As Congressman Ted Lieu of California wrote on Twitter, how we treat children is not a partisan isssue. You can reach out to your elected representatives and let them know how important this issue is to you. The congressional switchboard is (202) 224-3121, or check out these 3 political apps that make it easy to contact your reps.
-When you call, you can also use this helpful ACLU script to ask congress to put an end to the administration’s family separation policy. Also find a simple script for calling Congress from our friends at Feed Our Democracy on their action plan Gogle doc.
-You can ask them to support S.3036,Senator Diane Feinstein’s Keep Families Together Act, cosponsored by 31 senators. (UPDATE: As of 6/18, all 49 Democratic senators have now signed on.) It was created in consultation with child welfare experts to ensure the US government is acting in the best interest of children, and is supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics, along with many of the orgs listed below.
If you have a Republican senator, please ask them to sign on.
-You can thank the Members of Congress who actually are speaking out on this issue and standing with women and children. (Tweet via @MomsRising).
See more Members of Congress who marched in protest from Customs and Border Patrol to the White House on June 13. (Tweet via @juddzeez) They include Reps Luis Guttierez (IL), Joseph Crowley (NY), Jon Lewis (GA), Pramila Jayapal (WA), and Al Green (TX) among others.
-Further, you can ask them to demand transparency from ICE. and further, ask them to abolish ICE, an extrajudicial and unaccountable organization which is aptly described by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as “a weapon waiting for a tyrant.”
2. Gain a better understanding of the law at the Informed Immigrant website and see a list of legal support services who could use your help.
The ACLU also has a convenient tip sheet about your rights in the border zone. It’s essential information, should you ever need to step in and stand up for someone who’s being illegally detained or having their 4th amendment rights regarding search and seizure violated.
3. Support charities and organizations dedicated to helping children, including the following:
(Note, I’ll continue to update this with excellent orgs vetted by people I trust as I come across them)
– The Young Center for Immigrant and Children’s Rights focuses on the rights, safety, and best interests of unaccompanied immigrant children.
–United We Dream is the first and largest immigrant youth-led organization in the country.
–KIND: Kids in Need of Defense is effective in supporting children’s protection and upholding their right to due process and fundamental fairness.
4 Donate to the ACLU which is actively fighting these injustices in court. You can also sign their petition to Kevin McAleenan, Commissioner of Customs and US Border Protection to demand a stop to the physical, sexual, and verbal abuse of immigrant children.
(Just note I personally am not a big fan of petitions as I question their effectiveness, but I am a fan of supporting the ACLU in any way they need.)
I know this is a tough, complex issue in a lot of ways. But the inhumane treatment of children is not complicated in the least. Children are not “animals,” they are not “future criminals,” and they are certainly not deserving of abuse by anyone, let alone US government officials. And that abuse includes the forced separation from their parents and families.
I hope you’ll at least read up on some of the issues, and think about what you can do. There’s always something you can do.
Last updated June 19 including minor factual corrections, more organizations, and additional reporting about the state of immigrant children and families right now.
I sincerely hope that the UNITED NATIONS would try dt on human rights abuses in the NETHERLANDS ?? World Court. This cancer is growing,although we do have a powerful weapon =MR.MUELLER!?
Love the RESISTANCE ???♥️??♥️???????????
Quoting a friend:
“The International Criminal Court in The Hague has no jurisdiction here, nor is it an organ of the United Nations….It bears reminding though that the United States is the *only* country on Earth that has not ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
hi! Thanks for writing about this. I am a mom and was thinking we should organize a march of mom’s and kids about this..to the border or locally. Are you interested in helping?
Yes i am was thinking of border watch Mothers and Grandmothers peace camps.
wasn’t it Eleanor Roosevelt who created the original Rights of The Child document?
Our government has no excuse we the people want our children saved. In God we trust not congress God!
ICE wants good “community relations” so they have “community relations officers” in their district offices. Let them know their community relations won’t be good as long as they’re breaking up families and harming children. Here’s a link to their community relations officers’ contact info. https://www.ice.gov/contact/oce My Senators and Congressman pay no attention and don’t care.
they don’t have an office in Georgia.
Sure we have to protect children migrant hiven in France the problem is the same but not so violent. Because we don’t care of them. I transmit your message to my friends. Thank to all of you !
Veronique
This is an important topic right now and glad you are addressing it. However, I think fact-checking is important. I’m not sure that there’s evidence that these children are being turned over to sex traffickers by the government. Contributing to the viral rumor mill isn’t useful. If there’s hard evidence, then link to it. Speculation, based on comments that are circulating on social media, is harmful.
There is evidence that children have been handed over to traffickers: “…HHS placed a number of UACs [Unaccompanied Alien Children] in the hands of a ring of human traffickers who forced them to work on egg farms in and around Marion, Ohio, leading to a July 2015 federal criminal indictment. According to the indictment, the minor victims were forced to work at egg farms in Marion and other location for six or seven days a week, twelve hours per day.”
https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Majority%20&%20Minority%20Staff%20Report%20-%20Protecting%20Unaccompanied%20Alien%20Children%20from%20Trafficking%20and%20Other%20Abuses%202016-01-282.pdf
Sexual abuse in these situations is not a big leap to make but you are correct that I haven’t cited a reliable source, and that’s important to me. So I’ve made the correction unless/until I have one.
In all the myriad of non-profit-industrial-complex links provided I’ll have to look for the ones that are seeking sponsors for the children, and the methods used to vet the sponsors.
You need to support who you feel comfortable supporting. You could also be helpful and simply provide any additional resources you like us to share, in the spirit of us all trying to do good in the ways we best know how .
Many of the organizations are not vetted, it would take research rather than jumping on a non-profit-industrial-complex bandwagon. People who are just now realizing that some of the pictures/articles they are so sanctimoniously enraged about are from 2014 most likely won’t delve into this looking for answers, but if I find any, I’ll let you know: https://mobile.twitter.com/jduffyrice/status/1000927903759110144
The organizations I have linked, I have vetted with sources I trust. Please don’t assume I just “jump onto a non-profit industrial complex bandwagon,” which is about the most cynical thing I’ve heard in a while. And don’t confuse me with people who misunderstand the complexity of the issue. Your anger here is misplaced. It’s so easy to criticize without offering solutions.
This is a great post, Liz. I’ve been pulling together information for an update to the post I did on this issue at PoliticalCharge.org. I’d like to include your post. (By the way, you and I feel the same about petitions—not big fans but make an exception for the ACLU.)
That’s so nice Tokyo, thank you — look forward to checking out your post as well.
As some others mentioned, some of the abuse claims made here are not substantiated nor proven. That said, if these things really did happen back in 2009-2014, and are potentially still happening now, it’s definitely a horrible thing that should be investigated and stopped (if it’s still occurring). I think we can all agree on that. The other part, children supposedly being “ripped from their parents’ arms”, I have a little bit of a problem with the way it’s presented. First, when people break our laws and come here illegally, by law any children they bring with them cannot be detained more than 20 days. The government is required to find and release them to a “sponsor” while the parents are detained. That’s a part of the law that needs changing, perhaps to where the parents can choose to have their children stay in detention with them. Second, these parents have chosen to break our laws and sneak into the country illegally, so they are the ones putting their children at risk of separation. That’s no one’s fault but their own. I can’t say I have a lot of sympathy for the parents, though their kids are unfortunate victims of the parents’ criminal actions. But that would be the case for any criminal, say I chose to rob a bank and I get caught – I’m pretty sure I’ll be in forced separation from my children for quite some time.
In short, I think we all need to keep our emotions in check and evaluate the situation with the facts that we do have.
Thanks for your comment Melissa. I believe I’ve cited all of the abuse clams with credible links and substantiation.
I think I made it clear that there are two separate issues: children who were lost, abused, or mistreated through 2014 (the ACLU report) despite the government’s efforts to fix the problems, and secondly, our current administration’s well-substantiated policy to separate families as a matter of policy.
I believe I also made it clear that this is happening to many families who are here legally, seeking asylum, using the proper legal channels.
I know that it can be hard to grasp that our government would do something so cruel, and so we look for ways to justify it (“they’re here illegally anyway” “they’re sneaking in” “it’s no one’s fault but their own”) but I would hope that we could accept facts as they exist so we can do the right thing, find our humanity, and change what has to be changed.
There are other solutions that involve keeping families together.
I think it’s so important for us all to stop and really consider why some parents would come here illegally, risking penalties and hoping against hope they don’t get caught (or can find a legal path to citizenship and honest work), rather than subjecting their children to untold horrors. When we read their stories, when we see them as parents like ourselves, just trying to give their kids a chance at a decent life, maybe we will stop comparing them to bank robbers and criminals.
If I am going to get emotional about anything, I think this is a worthy reason. It doesn’t mean, however, that my emotions have overtaken my critical thinking skills.
Wrong is wrong, and this is wrong.
I feel it is important to note that most of the terrible abuses you cite here happened under the Obama Administration, but it seems the media is doing everything possible to try to connect these abuses to the current administration. It is good that these abuses are now coming to light so that needed changes can be made, but we need to be careful to not distort the information or place blame where it does not belong. Choice of words can be misleading. In the article you call the military housing that they are trying to set-up “internment camps,” the government calls them temporary shelters and they are considering them because there are adequate beds, shelter and food that can be provided. You are assuming that in these shelters, children will be treated as they were under the Obama ICE policies, but that is not necessarily the case. Where else are we supposed to house the innocent illegal children who are brought here? Are there enough good foster homes for all of them to go to until the court cases for their parents are heard? It is a tough situation, and I am not sure there are any easy answers. The link you give for LEGAL immigration says absolutely nothing about separating families and so I don’t know how you can make that assumption. I see no evidence that the Whitehouse is branding these children as “future criminals” as you have stated. Where is the evidence of this? There are also many accompanied minors coming to the border right now, not just children with parents.
And this information is worth noting:
“The administration has repeatedly advocated for the closure to federal immigration loopholes that would allow for the swift, safe, and expeditious return of illegal alien minors, adults, and families at the southern border,” White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said. “However, the Democratic Party has repeatedly opposed these loophole closures in favor of preserving ‘catch-and-release’ policies that make a mockery of national sovereignty.” The official also pointed to a column in the National Review by Rich Lowry. “Separation happens only if officials find that the adult is falsely claiming to be the child’s parent, or is a threat to the child, or is put into criminal proceedings,” Lowry wrote. “It’s the last that is operative here. The past practice had been to give a free pass to an adult who is part of a family unit. The new Trump policy is to prosecute all adults.”
As to the 1,500 lost children, that is also misleading Here are the facts: the Flores settlement requires that these children be placed with parents if they’re available, with other relatives if not, then in licensed programs or “least restrictive” settings if all else fails.
The HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement will place these children even with family members who themselves may be undocumented. “We’re not able to deny placement just because parents or family members are in the country illegally,” Steven Wagner, the acting assistant secretary of the Administration for Children and Families at HHS, told reporters in the May 29 briefing.
All 7,635 children were resettled by HHS. After 30 days, the department called the parents or guardians to check up on things. But these calls were not required by law, and in 1,475 cases, the parents or guardians did not respond, perhaps because they feared being targeted for deportation, Wagner said.”
Here is a link to the article this information came from, which gives a much more balanced and clear picture of the issues involved. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/05/30/fact-checking-immigration-spin-on-separating-families-and-1500-lost-children/?utm_term=.9fa194f9eceb
Are there still abuses that need to be fixed? Absolutely and hopefully those changes will come swiftly, but it is important to consider all the facts in these matters and not misrepresent information when possible.
I’m glad you recognize the abuses that need to be fixed. I hope you also recognize that of course GOP aides and pundits, writers for the conservative National Review, and members of the current administration are trying to spin this as an Obama or Democrat issue and lay the blame elsewhere. I can see why, considering the head of their party has created indefensible and cruel policies.
I would just urge you to read unbiased sources. The Post fact-checker is a good one.
Also I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out: no child is illegal.
All you need to do is look at the dates in the ACLU report to see when most of the abuses that are being reported right now happened. It is really pretty straightforward, most were between 2009 and 2012. They weren’t good then, they aren’t good now.
Democratic sources are also trying to “spin” this information to fit a narrative. I tend to look at everything I can from both sides to try to get a clear picture of circumstances. I assure you that I have read articles from many of those other sources and they are not necessarily unbiased. Everybody seems to have a bias these days. However, there are laws and people are breaking them. There needs to be ways to vet the people coming here so that it is fair and safe for everyone. That is a difficult situation. I know that many people are desperate to enter this country, but I wish that more would try to come legally. I know it takes a long time to come legally. I know the circumstances in many of the countries that people are fleeing are not good. I do not know what the answer is. I hate that innocent children are being caught up in all of this. I sincerely hope that changes can be made soon to protect them! I do believe that it is the current topic of discussion in congress and I hope they are working hard to fix it, but as with most things in government, it becomes a partisan battle instead of working for the greater good. I hope that too can change!
I am glad that people like you are working to create awareness, I would just encourage a lot of research and the most balanced approach possible in the process because we need to get everyone involved and clear facts help to do that the best. Thanks for the suggestions you listed for how people can get involved!!
I appreciate your thoughtful response, Daisy!
Here’s the thing — whether they are “lost” or not is one thing. But the ISSUE is this inhumane policy of separating children from parents to DETER parents from coming over the border, legally or illegally. And holding children in facilities that press, senators — NO ONE can view.
This is concentration camp for children which undoubtedly is terrifying, children likely don’t know if they will ever see their parents again, no one knows what kind of support and comfort they are being given. “Adjudication” is not a rapid process so who knows how long they will stay there?
In addition to the horror the children are experiencing, this POLICY will only add to crime and hatred against this country. If you were ripped away from your parents who were seeking help and held for an indeterminate time away from your family, would you want to take revenge on the country that did this? I’m guess that answer is going to be yes, especially for some of the older children.
This policy is totally unacceptable with the values of this country. Where are the protesters outside every one of these facilities, keeping watch and making noise so the children know they are not alone? Which organization is scheduling protest trips for us to go and stand vigilant outside these camps and let it be known that this will NOT go unchallenged in the United State of America?
I couldn’t agree more, Lesley. I was despondent reading Senator Merkley’s description last night about children taken from parents deliberately, and kept in kennel-style cages.
How can anyone defend this?
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/merkley-sees-migrant-kids-kept-in-cages-barred-from-border-facility
If you’re looking for places to donate to help asylum-seeking families and kids, I would also suggest the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at UC Hastings. They do fantastic work compiling information about the conditions in a lot of the countries people are fleeing and they share it for free with attorneys around the country to help them represent asylum seekers. Also, you can donate directly to all of the members of CARA, like the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (the C in CARA) or RAICES (the R in CARA),