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As the Trump administration says it can't reunify migrant children with their parents because it would disrupt the kids' stability, now is a good time to remind everyone that this is not how child protection law works in this country. A brief explanation:
Parents' right to raise their kids is a CONSTITUTIONAL right. That means that between parents and non-parents, any court proceeding starts with a presumption in favor of the parents - they are presumed, barring contrary evidence, to be fit caretakers.
Even if parents are found after a trial to be unfit - that is, if they're found to have neglected or abused their kids - they're still constitutionally entitled in almost all cases to extensive reunification efforts by the government.
And keep in mind: these migrant children's parents HAVE NOT been found to have neglected or abused them. The constitutional presumption of their fitness is intact. So when the feds say reunification with parents would be too traumatic, they're violating parents' and kids rights.
And, PS, outcomes for children in long-term foster care are seldom better than for kids who stay in or return to homes where they were neglected. So don't let the feds fool you. They don't care about these kids' wellbeing. I wrote about all this here: slate.com/news-and-polit…
