Exclusive - Trump administration considering separating women, children at Mexico border

[rooster59]

Exclusive - Trump administration considering separating women, children at Mexico border

By Julia Edwards Ainsley

 

FILE PHOTO - An undocumented immigrant family from Guatemala talks to a volunteer after their arrival to Announciation House, an organisation that provides shelter to immigrants and refugees, in El Paso, Texas, U.S. on January 17, 2017. REUTERS/Tomas Bravo /File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Women and children crossing together illegally into the United States could be separated by U.S. authorities under a proposal being considered by the Department of Homeland Security, according to three government officials.

Part of the reason for the proposal is to deter mothers from migrating to the United States with their children, said the officials, who have been briefed on the proposal.

The policy shift would allow the government to keep parents in custody while they contest deportation or wait for asylum hearings. Children would be put into protective custody with the Department of Health and Human Services, in the "least restrictive setting" until they can be taken into the care of a U.S. relative or state-sponsored guardian.

Currently, families contesting deportation or applying for asylum are generally released from detention quickly and allowed to remain in the United States until their cases are resolved. A federal appeals court ruling bars prolonged child detention.

President Donald Trump has called for ending "catch and release," in which migrants who cross illegally are freed to live in the United States while awaiting legal proceedings.

Two of the officials were briefed on the proposal at a Feb. 2 town hall for asylum officers by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services asylum chief John Lafferty.

A third DHS official said the department is actively considering separating women from their children but has not made a decision.

HHS and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.

In a statement to Reuters, DHS said: "The journey north is a dangerous one with too many situations where children - brought by parents, relatives or smugglers - are often exploited, abused or may even lose their lives.

"With safety in mind, the Department of Homeland Security continually explores options that may discourage those from even beginning the journey," the statement said.

U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat whose district includes about 200 miles (320 km) of the border with Mexico, slammed the proposal. "Bottom line: separating mothers and children is wrong," he said in a statement.

"That type of thing is where we depart from border security and get into violating human rights," he said.

About 54,000 children and their guardians were apprehended between Oct. 1, 2016, and Jan. 31, 2017, more than double the number caught over the same time period a year earlier.

Republicans in Congress have argued women are willing to risk the dangerous journey with their children because they are assured they will be quickly released from detention and given court dates set years into the future.

Immigrant rights advocates have argued that Central America's violent and impoverished conditions force mothers to immigrate to the United States and that they should be given asylum status. (Graphic: http://tmsnrt.rs/2m4aPAs)

LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS

Implementing the new policy proposal "could create lifelong psychological trauma," said Marielena Hincapie, executive director at the National Immigration Law Center. "Especially for children that have just completed a perilous journey from Central America."

Hincapie said the U.S. government is likely to face legal challenges based on immigration and family law if they decide to implement the policy.

The policy would allow DHS to detain parents while complying with a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals order from July 2016 that immigrant children should be released from detention as quickly as possible. That order said their parents were not required to be freed.

To comply with that order, the Obama administration implemented a policy of holding women and children at family detention centres for no more than 21 days before releasing them.

Holding mothers in prolonged detention could also strain government resources, said Randy Capps of the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington-based non-profit.

“You are talking about a pretty rapid increase in the detention population if you are going to do this," Capps said. "The question is really how much detention can they afford."

Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly last week ordered immigration agents to deport or criminally prosecute parents who facilitate the illegal smuggling of their children.

Many parents who arrive on the U.S.-Mexico border with their children have paid smugglers to guide them across the dangerous terrain.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-03-04

[hdkane]

Sorry...but I don't give a toss about the comfort or emotional state of people who try to enter the USA illegally...they are  asking people to pay for their security and protection...if people really have a problem with it, I suggest they open their own homes and take in foster children, illegal immigrants, and refugees.  The liberals who protest the loudest are the most cold hearted when asked to actually DO something. 

[joecoolfrog]

Its a start but I want to see some real action , confiscation of eye glasses , hair and teeth would show serious intent.

[Scott]

One of the driving forces behind many of the laws is to try to protect children and to keep families together.   It is not necessary to separate parents and doing so is hugely expensive.   The cost of keeping a child in foster care in is close to $16,000 per year, per child.  

 

 

 

[optad]

The motive for seeking new countries for parents with young children is the very future of their children. They are coming for the promise of opportunity for the kids. The parents have already accepted a certain hardship status wherever they reside. If children are to be displaced and resettled with aunts or uncles broad crossings will not abate. 

[joecoolfrog]

Obviously my satire went way over the heads of some , why am I not surprised !

[Scott]

27 minutes ago, optad said:

The motive for seeking new countries for parents with young children is the very future of their children. They are coming for the promise of opportunity for the kids. The parents have already accepted a certain hardship status wherever they reside. If children are to be displaced and resettled with aunts or uncles broad crossings will not abate. 

There are legal hurdles to overcome in placing children with relatives.   First, they have to establish that they are a relative and how close a relationship there is.   Second, the family accepting the child will be eligible for welfare payments.   Welfare payments are less than foster care, but still substantial when you add in the medical assistance.   Third, when a child is not a resident of the district in which they will attend school, then the district is entitled to out-of-district payments.   

 

What they are talking about doing is putting children into an expensive, and probably unnecessary, bureaucratic and legal system.   Once a child enters into the legal system, reunification is not as simple as 'giving them back later.'   The court becomes custodian and generally doesn't return children until they are provided with a safe, secure home.   Deportation may not ensure that.  

 

If the relatives in the US are given custody, then there is the legal process of removing their guardianship and returning them to the parents.   It's likely that many parents will opt for a better life for their child and not file for a return.  

 

They are opening a major can of worms if they try this.  

[bandito]

Next step is concentration camps.

 

[SiSePuede419]

No gorditas allowed...  

 

Only 10s. ?

Edited March 5, 2017 by SiSePuede419

[Jingthing]

14 hours ago, bandito said:

Next step is concentration camps.

 

Well not in the Nazi sense but in the Japanese American sense from WW2 that were indeed called concentration camps, could be some similarities.