During the final 2020 presidential debate this past Thursday, President Trump and former Vice President Biden squared off on a host of issues, but one issue neither side neither side seemed to enjoy discussing; the immigration policy that ripped asylum-seeking and migrant children from the arms of their parents. Despite the finger-pointing during the debate, it was in fact the Trump administration’s Family Separation Policy that separated children from their parents and eventually caged them. This cruel and indefensible policy was specifically implemented to deter immigration into this country.
During the debate, Trump tried mightily to recharacterize his program by alleging, “These children are brought here by coyotes and lots of bad people, cartels, and they used to use them to get into our country.” Trump’s quote was neither honest nor accurate. The Family Separation policy did not aim to protect children from coyotes or cartels, as his quote suggests. It targeted children with such a cruelty the government believed it would stop migration.
On April 6, 2018, then Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the administration had a “zero-tolerance policy” regarding the unauthorized entry of immigrants at the southern border. Shortly thereafter, in May 2018, Sessions announced the administration's new “Family Separation” policy on family border crossings. Under this practice, when undocumented migrants were stopped and detained at the border, children were separated from their parents. Sessions Warned : “If you are smuggling a child then we will prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you as required by law.” He added, “If you don’t like that, then don’t smuggle children over our border.” Unlike what Trump would like us to believe, Family Separation was far from an effort to save children from traffickers. It was his policy that led to the caging of thousands of children.
While the specifics above were not highlighted during the debate, the debate moderator, Kristen Welker, pressed the President on the issue, to which Trump once again distorted the truth, this time about the detention facilities: “They are so well taken care of. They’re in facilities that were so clean.” This Trump claim was nothing short of obscene.
In June 2018, after more than a half a dozen of these children died in the so-called “so clean” facilities, U.S. District Court Judge Dana M. Sabraw ordered an end to the Family Separation policy. The judge demanded the federal government to reunite parents with their children within 30 days, and children age 5 were to be reunited within 14 days. Around the same time, Trump announced the end to the policy. Yet two years later, another federal Judge had to once again order the release of migrant children (that were still in detention centers) because of the deplorable and dangerous conditions of their detention. Over half a dozen of these innocent children were infected with the COVID 19 while in U.S. custody.
Despite Trump’s efforts to deflect blame and obscure the truth, he had to contend with reports this week that the government still cannot find 545 parents of the separated children. In a classic Trump pivot, the President seemed to catch Vice-president off-guard by asserting: “But let me just tell you, they [the Obama Administration] built cages….It was hm. They built the cages. They did it, we changed the policy.”
Once again, Trump failed to tell the truth, either through ignorance or more likely an intentional effort to mislead the public. This assertion seemed to catch Biden slightly off guard, as he did not initially answer the attack. In truth, Trump’s assertion was so outlandish it even initially perplexed this writer, who has spent years examining Family Separation. But once again, Trump’s false statement appears to have been nothing but a ploy to confuse, and perhaps even deceive the public. While it is true, the Obama administration used facilities in 2014. But this effort was not to separate children from their parents. On the contrary, it was during an influx of unaccompanied minors entering the U.S., and the facilities, which were used to detain minors and young adults for 72 hours, and were erected to protect girls and young women from young males also being detained.
Ultimately, on a broader scale, neither democrats and republicans have been able to resolve the never-ending immigration debate for one primary reason: the reality that the demand for migration into the U.S. comes from both outside and within the U.S., especially from business sectors such as agriculture, and the service and construction industries (which I have previously called the free-riders of this debate). If the larger immigration issue is going to be confronted in an honest and realistic fashion, each side needs to confront both legitimate security issues as well as profound human rights, and equally important economic realities.
But in terms of more immediate debates relating to caging of children and the upcoming presidential election, President Trump distorted the truth, deflected blame, falsely accused others for a policy his administration created, which ultimately led to caging of thousands of innocent children. In the end, try as he might, Trump once again cannot run away from his most abominable act.
Let’s just read this screed carefully, juxtaposing the author’s own statements:
1. “The Family Separation policy did not aim to protect children from coyotes or cartels …”
“Sessions Warned (announcing the intent): ‘If you are smuggling a child then we will prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you as required by law.” He added, “If you don’t like that, then don’t smuggle children over our border.’”
2. “They are so well taken care of. They’re in facilities that were so clean.”
“[the] deplorable and dangerous conditions of their detention [is demonstrated because] Over half a dozen of these innocent children were infected with the COVID 19 while in U.S. custody”
3. ““[the Obama Administration] built cages…. They built the cages.”
“[I]t is true, the Obama administration used (i.e., built these) facilities in 2014. But this effort was not to separate children from their parents. On the contrary, it was during an influx of unaccompanied minors entering the U.S …”
Finally, the most hysterical claim of all:
"the government still cannot find 545 parents of the separated children"
1. Cite the proof that these children were with their parents and "separated" from their PARENTS.
2. Explain the reason these PARENTS don't come forward to claim their children and bring them home. Wouldn't you?
Are you claiming that the parents of these children have tried to claim their children and bring them home, wherever that home may be, and that the parents have been prevented from doing so, or, are you saying that the parents of these children have left them to suffer in the "deplorable conditions" you claim exist where they are, and that these parents have refused to come forward to take them home?
This is not a rhetorical question. With your vast knowledge of the circumstances, please explain. What is the reason the parents of these children, from whom the children were separated by the evil Trump – children who are now kept in squalid conditions — haven't claimed their children and brought them home? Wherever that home may be, it must be better than a place where a half dozen of five hundreds of children were "infected" with COVID.
Anon,
I was so sure you would comment, I almost mentioned you in the post. As I tell my students, do not take my word for it, read the articles and reports—not all from lefty nuts. I do not need to cite it, you can simply look to the congressional reports on the matter—no mass left-wing conspiracy here. Here is a government report on their abuse and the conditions they were placed in: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/thousands-of-migrant-children-were-sexually-abused-in-u-s-custody-hhs-docs-say/. Representative Ted Deutch spoke at length on the matter. Here is a link to a DHS document addressing the abuse: https://teddeutch.house.gov/uploadedfiles/naduac1214_sexual_assaults_fy2015-18.pdf. In terms of the conditions of the facilities, I provided links to the judge's orders re the same—those folks are not part of some Pizza gang– the most recent judge's order on the conditions of the facilities is part of the article: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/26/politics/migrant-children-ruling/index.html . As for your other comments, they border on the silly: a child being subject to physical and sexual abuse is nothing short of horrific and certainly beneath this great country. When you and I are long gone, these acts will be remembered for among the most cruelest in our country's history. If you can't see that my brother, you are lost.
Ediberto
You are arguing but not answering. As a prof, you must be aware of how obvious this is to students.
The questions were:
"the government still cannot find 545 parents of the separated children"
1. Cite the proof that these children were with their parents and "separated" from their PARENTS.
2. Explain the reason these PARENTS don't come forward to claim their children and bring them home. Wouldn't you?
I think you have a mental block, Ediberto, that prevents you from seeing any fault in some people, based on your prejudices.
Are you claiming that the parents of these children have tried to claim their children and bring them home, wherever that home may be, and that the parents have been prevented from doing so, or, are you saying that the parents of these children have left them to suffer in the "deplorable conditions" you claim exist where they are, and that these parents have refused to come forward to take them home?
This is not a rhetorical question. With your vast knowledge of the circumstances, please explain. What is the reason the parents of these children, from whom the children were separated by the evil Trump – children who are now kept in squalid conditions — haven't claimed their children and brought them home? Wherever that home may be, it must be better than what you describe as inhuman conditions.
By avoiding these questions, you are engaged in an admission by silence.
HERE’S MY TAKE
AM I'M DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT
Federal Judge Forcing Parents to Abandon Children
545 Kids Already "Lost" – Hobson's Choice, and COVID Exacerbates Problem
Federal Judge Dolly Gee is reportedly pressuring lawyers representing migrants in U.S. custody to accept a settlement under which parents would be faced with a Hobson's rock-or-hard-place choice: give up their children, or have them remain in an immigration jail, in order to insure that the parents will show up for scheduled hearings.
In an amicus curiae brief, I opposed this approach, arguing that the government can insure the appearance of migrants at hearings, without imprisoning them along with their children, by a variety of proven and inexpensive electronic means, and thus eliminate the need for detention in hotels or elsewhere.
My amicus brief noted that there are many simple, inexpensive, and proven methods which the government can use to insure that parents who are released do appear for required legal hearings, thereby making detention of entire families unnecessary. These include:
* ANKLE BRACELETS
* SmartLINK
* VOICE RECOGNITION
* "ALTERNATIVE TO DETENTION"
* "FAMILY CASE MANAGEMENT"
My amicus brief also noted that the proposed settlement could well violate international law and treaties, including Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Refugee Convention and Protocol to which the U.S. is a party, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
I also cited many different U.S. court decisions which have recognized that, aside from whatever rights might be provided by the Due Process clause, there are separate broad rights related to child rearing and families which have long been recognized as falling under the broad right of privacy also established by the U.S. Constriction.
I also noted that threatening to hold children in detention for extensive periods of time if parents do not agree to abandon them is especially coercive because of the growing risk of COVID-10, especially for children detained with their parents, and thus kept in confinement under sub-standard health conditions, and with the limited care children and/or parents are likely to receive while in confinement should they contract COVID
Brilliant suggestions John. I suspect your approach will annoy folks on each side—my kind of writing. Thank you!! E
John
From the NYT:
"The 545 children whose parents have not been found were all initially placed in shelters or foster homes … . They were then released to sponsors, who are typically relatives or family friends. About 362 of the children … cannot be located because the contact information provided by their sponsors is no longer current. Many of the children are believed to… have returned to their home countries since they were released from federal custody."
And this, from the same NYT piece:
"Researchers are presuming that about two-thirds of the parents now being sought are back in their home countries.
Some of the families who have been identified have decided their children would be safer in the United States than in their home countries, and elected for the children to stay with friends or family members who agreed to sponsor them."
You are speaking of "migrants in U.S. custody. … parents would be faced with a Hobson's rock-or-hard-place choice: give up their children, or have them remain in an immigration jail, in order to insure that the parents will show up for scheduled hearings."
Please explain the connection of this assertion to the discussion above. Thanks.
I'd also be interested in your arguments about single US citizen females, who are sentenced to prison, and must abandon their dependent children because they cannot take then into custody with them.
DO you favor absolving all mothers with dependent children of crimes that could result in the mother's incarceration — even crimes against their own children — and allowing the children to remain with their mother, no matter what? Or, what is your answer to the fate of the children in these circumstances?
Finally, do you contend that there is never a single instance of traffickers who collect money to facilitate entry into the US? Never an instance of persons exploiting minor children and posing as parents to gain entry and release? That these persons never abuse the children in their care?
IF you believe that these injustices do happen, please tell us, what are you doing about it?