This little girl's death is on the shoulders of Nielsen, Kelly, Miller, and Trump. She died because of their policy of intentional cruelty and neglect. I hope she haunts them.
Lest you think this too harsh, this good thread and report lay out how consciously cruel and irresponsible the current border detention practices are:
I cannot overemphasize how needless this death is. In other crises almost anywhere in the world, new asylum seekers receive an immediate health screening as a matter of course. If people show urgent health issues, they are triaged and treated.
Any *minimally competent* screening would have saved this girl's life. The volume of arrivals is no excuse - @unhcr and other humanitarian agencies routinely handle influxes that are *orders of magnitude* larger, in countries with far less capacity than the US.
If the USG asked these agencies for help and support, it would be provided in a heartbeat. The Trump administration has not done so.
The neglect that killed this little girl was a CONSCIOUS CHOICE.
A choice not to set up the sort of simple screening that would have saved her. The sort of thing the USG finances in places like Jordan, Kenya, and other refugee-receiving states ALL THE TIME.
A choice not to set up the sort of simple screening that would have saved her. The sort of thing the USG finances in places like Jordan, Kenya, and other refugee-receiving states ALL THE TIME.
Fuck I'm angry about this.
Sorry, a bit sweary tonight.
Some more on this:
Some more on this:
One crisis that US policymakers like to talk about, a lot, is Venezuela. Millions of Venezuelans have fled to seek help in neighboring countries. The US is pouring boatloads of relief funding into supporting them.
Here is what awaits those Venezuelans when they cross the border. Emergency medical support and other emergency services. Funded in large part by the USG. unhcr.org/news/briefing/… 
Our government is doing more, much more, to ensure the safety and survival of asylum seekers arriving elsewhere than we are doing when they arrive in our own country. The very systems we finance abroad are being ignored at home.
This is no accident.
This is no accident.
So I hope that every journalist poses the following questions to @dhsgov tomorrow:
- What is DHS' policy on screening of detained migrants for immediate health and welfare risks?
- Was that policy followed?
- What assistance if any was provided to this child upon detention?
- What is DHS' policy on screening of detained migrants for immediate health and welfare risks?
- Was that policy followed?
- What assistance if any was provided to this child upon detention?
- Why are asylum-seeker screening and basic support services on the US border less robust than what the US supports in other countries?
- Will the US request support from UNHCR to establish the sort of basic arrival screening that we fund them to provide elsewhere?
/end
- Will the US request support from UNHCR to establish the sort of basic arrival screening that we fund them to provide elsewhere?
/end
