“If you are smuggling a child then we will prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you as required by law,” -Jeff Sessions.
The separation of families is NOT according to law, but policy.
As a result, 1,500 children are lost, likely to Human trafficking.
THREAD.
The separation of families is NOT according to law, but policy.
As a result, 1,500 children are lost, likely to Human trafficking.
THREAD.
The WH claims a 1997 settlement and a 2008 ACT, allows them to separate children from families. The settlement held that unaccompanied minors could only be held for 20 days before being released to families in the US, foster care, or shelters pending case resolution.
The William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 requires unaccompanied minors be placed in the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, or relatives in the U.S., while they go through removal proceedings.
factcheck.org/2018/05/trump-…
factcheck.org/2018/05/trump-…
NOTE: The settlement and the ACT refer only to unaccompanied minors. The Trump admin is choosing to prosecute all unauthorized border crossing, even those seeking LEGAL ASSYLUM. By holding parents for prosecution, they make the children unaccompanied. THIS IS POLICY, not law.
Since the Bush admin, families have been held in detention centers before going before an immigration judge. Children WERE NOT separated from their parents, even though the 2008 law was in effect. Before Bush, immigrant families were only very rarely held in detention.
Trump supporters claim that Obama also separated families, but this is not completely accurate. Under the Alien Transfer Exit Program, adult male Mexicans who crossed the border unauthorized were separated from their families, but children remained with their mothers.
The Alien Transfer Exit Program WAS horrific. Undocumented male immigrants were flown thousands of miles from their origin and dumped into Mexico, as a deterrent. Detainees caught in CA were flown to border towns in TX before release, and vice versa.
rewire.news/article/2018/0…
rewire.news/article/2018/0…
Border Security agents have been viscous for quite a while, even under Obama. The ACLU documented cases of child abuse that were known by leadership of Customs and Border Security, some still employed, while no officer was ever held accountable.
aclu.org/blog/immigrant…
aclu.org/blog/immigrant…
The Trump Admin is setting this policy as a result of faulty statistics from a “no tolerance” pilot program in El Paso. They report a 64% drop in undocumented immigration during the period, where @voxdotcom found it actually INCREASED by 64%.
vox.com/platform/amp/p…
vox.com/platform/amp/p…
1,500 children separated from families and placed into foster care have been lost in the past year. A Gov that can’t guarantee the safety of children has no business taking them from their parents.
mobile.nytimes.com/2018/04/26/us/…
mobile.nytimes.com/2018/04/26/us/…
Separating children from families is intolerable cruelty, and anti-American. It has led to 1,500 children being lost into an unimaginable nightmare.
It is defended by a faulty premise, that breaking up families is a deterrent, but is actually a cover for racism as policy.
It is defended by a faulty premise, that breaking up families is a deterrent, but is actually a cover for racism as policy.
It’s time to call Congress about this terrible injustice to children.
Tell them that separating children from their families is un-American, and that a Gov that can’t guarantee the safety of a child has no business taking them from their parents.
Tell them that separating children from their families is un-American, and that a Gov that can’t guarantee the safety of a child has no business taking them from their parents.
Don’t be afraid of calling your reps, they work for you! Here’s how to do it right. 👇
