Thread by @TomJawetz

A point about this task force.

For the past three years, NGOs on a court-appointed Steering Committee have moved heaven and earth to locate separated parents.

They did this because the USG after separating these families refused to play a role in helping to reunite them. /1

https://twitter.com/jacobsoboroff/status/1321865795228504065

The creation of a task force—one that lives in the State Department, *not* DHS—must NOT be seen as a usurpation of the work that’s already taking place.

The USG has unclean hands. No credibility. The job off finding parents cannot be theirs. /2

It’s hard to imagine anything more counterproductive than the idea of sending US law enforcement personnel—especially DHS—into Central American countries to search for parents whose children were years earlier ripped from their arms.

That idea should cross no one’s mind. /3

Rather, the critical purpose of the task force must be for the USG to finally step up, take responsibility, and begin to atone by assisting and supporting the work being done by NGOs in the US and civil society groups on the ground generally in Central America. /4

The State Dept. task force should:

➡️ coordinate government efforts to get every relevant piece of info to the Steering Committee

➡️ grant federal $ to support their efforts and expand their capacity

➡️ negotiate with foreign governments to expand access for searchers /5

Ultimately though, this is just a first step. All families separated must be given the choice of finding permanent protection together in the United States and restitution must be provided to these families to help children heal from the lifelong trauma we inflicted on them. /6