Journalist. Refugee advocate. Author of AFTER THE LAST BORDER (winner of the Lukas Book Prize) and other books. CNF prof at @WilkesUWriting. Loves good queso.
May 29, 2020 • 31 tweets • 6 min read
I'm finally ready to talk about this story after two days of shaking with rage: buzzfeednews.com/article/stepha… (This will be long and I will not apologize. White adoptive moms need to be the ones calling out this horror and not make people who were adopted do the emotional lifting.)
To recap: a Youtube couple adopted a 2 1/2 yo from China, publicized and monetized the adoption journey before and after, and then REHOMED THEIR CHILD AFTER HE LIVED WITH THEM FOR THREE YEARS.
THREE. YEARS. He was their son.
Nov 22, 2019 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Today the first asylum-seeker was deported to Guatemala under a new agreement that designates it as a "safe third country." He was from Honduras and will probably be sent back. I cannot overstate this enough: THIS IS A MASSIVE BREAK from US and international law and protocol.
Deporting someone seeking asylum is illegal unless they're sent to a "safe third country" (by agreements the US wrote and signed after WWII). Calling Guatemala "safe" is laughable. People will die because of this new policy--plain and simple.
Jun 4, 2018 • 25 tweets • 8 min read
Asylum-seekers in Texas are currently being stopped by border patrol before they can ask for asylum. This policy, as well as the separation of asylum-seeking kids from parents, is a VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW. From @TexasMonthly: texasmonthly.com/politics/immig… (h/t @_karenjgonzalez)
I've had several people ask, so here's an in-depth thread about how this new policy violates international law: In 1948, after World War II, the US and several other countries signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. un.org/en/universal-d…
May 27, 2018 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
When ICE rips children from their parents, they are causing irreparable harm to their brains. Childhood trauma and PTSD are very serious. They cause permanent changes in the brains of kids who are still developing. I know all about it: our youngest daughter lives with PTSD.
We adopted her when she was a toddler; the details are hers alone, but the trauma she endured impacted her deeply. Circumstances took her from her biological parents and not a day goes by when she doesn’t grieve them with all of her heart.
