SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D.-Ore.) appeared on MSNBC's "All In With Chris Hayes" Thursday night to discuss a leaked document about the Trump administration's family separation policy. (Photo: MSNBC)
Leaked Memo Reveals Trump Administration's "Immoral" Plan to "Traumatize" Migrant Children
"It appears that they wanted to have it both ways—to separate children from their parents but deny them the full protections generally awarded to unaccompanied children."
Jan 17, 2019
Following reports on Thursday that federal officials forcibly separated thousands more migrant children from their families than previously reported, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D.-Ore.) released a document to NBC News revealing the Trump administration intended to "traumatize children and intentionally create a humanitarian crisis at the border."
\u201cI just released a NEW DOCUMENT showing that the @realDonaldTrump administration PLANNED to traumatize children and intentionally create a humanitarian crisis at the border. https://t.co/PBdXyDXgP8\u201d— Jeff Merkley (@Jeff Merkley) 1547777008
The December 2017 draft memo--which Merkley shared with NBC News after receiving it from a government whistleblower--shows that Trump administration officials wanted to deport children more quickly by denying them asylum hearings after taking them away from their parents.
"It appears that they wanted to have it both ways--to separate children from their parents but deny them the full protections generally awarded to unaccompanied children," concluded ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt, who led a class-action lawsuit on behalf of migrant parents.
President Donald Trump's "child immigration strategy is immoral and comes from a dark place in the heart of this administration," Merkley declared, responding to the revelations on Twitter. "Children are NOT expendable commodities in political battles."
The leaked document, as NBC reports,
also shows officials wanted to specifically target parents in migrant families for increased prosecutions, contradicting the administration's previous statements. In June, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the administration did "not have a policy of separating families at the border" but was simply enforcing existing law.
The authors noted that the "increase in prosecutions would be reported by the media and it would have a substantial deterrent effect."
The memo was shared with high-ranking members of DHS and the Justice Department before then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, an ex-senator infamous for his anti-immigrant positions, officially unveiled the administration's cruel "zero tolerance" policy in the spring.
Merkley, a vocal critic of Trump's immigration policies, appeared on MSNBC's "All In With Chris Hayes" to discuss the developments:
\u201c.@SecNielsen and the administration lied. Period. We have proof that the Trump War on Migrant Children was carefully constructed to inflict harm on children and create a humanitarian crisis.\u201d— Senator Jeff Merkley (@Senator Jeff Merkley) 1547827015
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
acluchris hayeshuman rightsimmigrationjeff merkleyjeff sessionsmsnbcus department of homeland securityus department of justice
Following reports on Thursday that federal officials forcibly separated thousands more migrant children from their families than previously reported, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D.-Ore.) released a document to NBC News revealing the Trump administration intended to "traumatize children and intentionally create a humanitarian crisis at the border."
\u201cI just released a NEW DOCUMENT showing that the @realDonaldTrump administration PLANNED to traumatize children and intentionally create a humanitarian crisis at the border. https://t.co/PBdXyDXgP8\u201d— Jeff Merkley (@Jeff Merkley) 1547777008
The December 2017 draft memo--which Merkley shared with NBC News after receiving it from a government whistleblower--shows that Trump administration officials wanted to deport children more quickly by denying them asylum hearings after taking them away from their parents.
"It appears that they wanted to have it both ways--to separate children from their parents but deny them the full protections generally awarded to unaccompanied children," concluded ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt, who led a class-action lawsuit on behalf of migrant parents.
President Donald Trump's "child immigration strategy is immoral and comes from a dark place in the heart of this administration," Merkley declared, responding to the revelations on Twitter. "Children are NOT expendable commodities in political battles."
The leaked document, as NBC reports,
also shows officials wanted to specifically target parents in migrant families for increased prosecutions, contradicting the administration's previous statements. In June, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the administration did "not have a policy of separating families at the border" but was simply enforcing existing law.
The authors noted that the "increase in prosecutions would be reported by the media and it would have a substantial deterrent effect."
The memo was shared with high-ranking members of DHS and the Justice Department before then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, an ex-senator infamous for his anti-immigrant positions, officially unveiled the administration's cruel "zero tolerance" policy in the spring.
Merkley, a vocal critic of Trump's immigration policies, appeared on MSNBC's "All In With Chris Hayes" to discuss the developments:
\u201c.@SecNielsen and the administration lied. Period. We have proof that the Trump War on Migrant Children was carefully constructed to inflict harm on children and create a humanitarian crisis.\u201d— Senator Jeff Merkley (@Senator Jeff Merkley) 1547827015
Following reports on Thursday that federal officials forcibly separated thousands more migrant children from their families than previously reported, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D.-Ore.) released a document to NBC News revealing the Trump administration intended to "traumatize children and intentionally create a humanitarian crisis at the border."
\u201cI just released a NEW DOCUMENT showing that the @realDonaldTrump administration PLANNED to traumatize children and intentionally create a humanitarian crisis at the border. https://t.co/PBdXyDXgP8\u201d— Jeff Merkley (@Jeff Merkley) 1547777008
The December 2017 draft memo--which Merkley shared with NBC News after receiving it from a government whistleblower--shows that Trump administration officials wanted to deport children more quickly by denying them asylum hearings after taking them away from their parents.
"It appears that they wanted to have it both ways--to separate children from their parents but deny them the full protections generally awarded to unaccompanied children," concluded ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt, who led a class-action lawsuit on behalf of migrant parents.
President Donald Trump's "child immigration strategy is immoral and comes from a dark place in the heart of this administration," Merkley declared, responding to the revelations on Twitter. "Children are NOT expendable commodities in political battles."
The leaked document, as NBC reports,
also shows officials wanted to specifically target parents in migrant families for increased prosecutions, contradicting the administration's previous statements. In June, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the administration did "not have a policy of separating families at the border" but was simply enforcing existing law.
The authors noted that the "increase in prosecutions would be reported by the media and it would have a substantial deterrent effect."
The memo was shared with high-ranking members of DHS and the Justice Department before then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, an ex-senator infamous for his anti-immigrant positions, officially unveiled the administration's cruel "zero tolerance" policy in the spring.
Merkley, a vocal critic of Trump's immigration policies, appeared on MSNBC's "All In With Chris Hayes" to discuss the developments:
\u201c.@SecNielsen and the administration lied. Period. We have proof that the Trump War on Migrant Children was carefully constructed to inflict harm on children and create a humanitarian crisis.\u201d— Senator Jeff Merkley (@Senator Jeff Merkley) 1547827015
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.