Thread by @AriMSawyer

Tfw you read @DHSMcAleenan's letter to Congress, which is full of blatant lies, misleading/incorrect data, Orwellian euphemisms, proposed human rights violations and really annoying, weirdly constructed sentences meant to camouflage obviously illegal and disturbing policies:

@DHSMcAleenan Just a couple of the things (sorry, I know I'm late to this). He claims that if lawmakers let him detain families indefinitely, it will help deprive traffickers of money/resources. There is literally no excuse for abusing children or adults. Find another way to solve the problem.

@DHSMcAleenan Now, your definition of "the problem" might be different, but no matter what, I think it's pretty safe to say that if McAleenan and the Trump administration cared a tiny bit about protecting children, they wouldn't be forcing thousands of them to wait mnths/yrs in Mexico in #MPP.

@DHSMcAleenan In late June, there were over 4,780 children who'd been forced back, or about 32 percent of all asylum seekers placed in the #MigrantPersecutionProtocols. I recently visited a shelter where there were 555 people, 230 of which were children, or about 41 percent. I can't know, but

@DHSMcAleenan judging by all the little children who were put in MPP and sent to Matamoros where they have to sleep in an encampment in an open plaza, I'd bet the ratio of kids to adults is still somewhere up there. We're probably talking between 12,800-16,400 kids forced to remain there.

@DHSMcAleenan I know the margin of error on that is probably not awesome, but I'd have better data if only @DHSMcAleenan would share them. Alas, damn dirty statistics. Anyway, maybe McAleenan could focus on those kids, rather than asking Congress to help him manufacture even more abuse.

@DHSMcAleenan Another thing that bugs me: He asks Congress to "help make it easier" for those seeking protection from persecution to do so "in their own country..." That's not how asylum law works. If they could get protection in their own country, they wouldn't be seeking asylum elsewhere.

@DHSMcAleenan He says Congress should help him make asylum seekers get asylum in their own country or in some adjacent country because that will stop them from making the "perilous and expensive journey north." The US is primarily responsible for why that trip is perilous/expensive. #History

@DHSMcAleenan Immigration officials have known for a long time that their policies caused a rise in smuggling. Keep in mind, this rise caused by presidential admins, including this one, is coming down on all those little kids McAleenan, etc. have forced to wait in MX. newsweek.com/trump-immigrat…

@DHSMcAleenan To recap, the US has expanded the smuggling market, forced thousands of kids to remain in Mexican border cities where they are vulnerable to smuggling and/or trafficking, and then used data from where they were smuggled/trafficked to try to justify locking kids up indefinitely.

@DHSMcAleenan Some better requests for @AppropsDems: 1) Defund MPP. It's a horrifying policy and the US will already have to spend years making amends for what it's done. 2) Defund DHS so long as they continue to use taxpayer money for abuse. 3) In general, stop the US from detaining migrants.