SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
A U.S. Border Patrol facility for children and families in McAllen, Texas, pictured in September 2014. (Photo: John Moore/Getty Images)
I've had a chance over the past few days to see what happens to kids right after they're separated from their parents by US immigration officials. White House chief of staff John Kelly said we shouldn't worry about these kids because they'll be "put into foster care or whatever."
"Whatever" seems to be what they're aiming for, judging from my time interviewing children and their parents in McAllen, Texas. There are no specific services for kids at US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detention facilities there - both the short-term holding cells known informally as the "freezers" because they are kept so cold and the larger processing center. No recreational areas, no place to run around and play, and no toys or books of any kind. "We're not set up as a child care facility," a CBP official told us.
These are intended to be short-term detention facilities: federal law requires CBP to transfer unaccompanied children to the Department of Health and Human Services "not later than 72 hours" after authorities know they're separated from their parents.
But three days alone is a long time for any kid. Consider the five-year-old boy I met on Friday. He'd been sitting in a caged area for nearly a day with older children he didn't know; nobody told him where his mother was or what would happen to him.
Now that CBP is effectively running day care for kids too young for grade school, you'd think they might at least bring in staff with the skills to look after children. But as I sat in CBP's Ursula processing center most of Friday, the only staff I saw were uniformed agents, one or two assigned to watch over four to six pens each holding 20 to 30 children.
Some of these kids aren't out of diapers. When Michelle Brane of the Women's Refugee Commission checked in on a girl estimated by CBP to be 2, she discovered that a group of teenage girls had been taking turns caring for her for three days. She said that CBP officials had done nothing more than check off the girl's name at roll call.
President Donald Trump has all but admitted he's using family separation as a negotiating tactic to get immigration legislation he wants. That's reprehensible. Kids shouldn't be used as political pawns. And "whatever" isn't an acceptable policy response when the government separates children from their families.
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 |
I've had a chance over the past few days to see what happens to kids right after they're separated from their parents by US immigration officials. White House chief of staff John Kelly said we shouldn't worry about these kids because they'll be "put into foster care or whatever."
"Whatever" seems to be what they're aiming for, judging from my time interviewing children and their parents in McAllen, Texas. There are no specific services for kids at US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detention facilities there - both the short-term holding cells known informally as the "freezers" because they are kept so cold and the larger processing center. No recreational areas, no place to run around and play, and no toys or books of any kind. "We're not set up as a child care facility," a CBP official told us.
These are intended to be short-term detention facilities: federal law requires CBP to transfer unaccompanied children to the Department of Health and Human Services "not later than 72 hours" after authorities know they're separated from their parents.
But three days alone is a long time for any kid. Consider the five-year-old boy I met on Friday. He'd been sitting in a caged area for nearly a day with older children he didn't know; nobody told him where his mother was or what would happen to him.
Now that CBP is effectively running day care for kids too young for grade school, you'd think they might at least bring in staff with the skills to look after children. But as I sat in CBP's Ursula processing center most of Friday, the only staff I saw were uniformed agents, one or two assigned to watch over four to six pens each holding 20 to 30 children.
Some of these kids aren't out of diapers. When Michelle Brane of the Women's Refugee Commission checked in on a girl estimated by CBP to be 2, she discovered that a group of teenage girls had been taking turns caring for her for three days. She said that CBP officials had done nothing more than check off the girl's name at roll call.
President Donald Trump has all but admitted he's using family separation as a negotiating tactic to get immigration legislation he wants. That's reprehensible. Kids shouldn't be used as political pawns. And "whatever" isn't an acceptable policy response when the government separates children from their families.
I've had a chance over the past few days to see what happens to kids right after they're separated from their parents by US immigration officials. White House chief of staff John Kelly said we shouldn't worry about these kids because they'll be "put into foster care or whatever."
"Whatever" seems to be what they're aiming for, judging from my time interviewing children and their parents in McAllen, Texas. There are no specific services for kids at US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detention facilities there - both the short-term holding cells known informally as the "freezers" because they are kept so cold and the larger processing center. No recreational areas, no place to run around and play, and no toys or books of any kind. "We're not set up as a child care facility," a CBP official told us.
These are intended to be short-term detention facilities: federal law requires CBP to transfer unaccompanied children to the Department of Health and Human Services "not later than 72 hours" after authorities know they're separated from their parents.
But three days alone is a long time for any kid. Consider the five-year-old boy I met on Friday. He'd been sitting in a caged area for nearly a day with older children he didn't know; nobody told him where his mother was or what would happen to him.
Now that CBP is effectively running day care for kids too young for grade school, you'd think they might at least bring in staff with the skills to look after children. But as I sat in CBP's Ursula processing center most of Friday, the only staff I saw were uniformed agents, one or two assigned to watch over four to six pens each holding 20 to 30 children.
Some of these kids aren't out of diapers. When Michelle Brane of the Women's Refugee Commission checked in on a girl estimated by CBP to be 2, she discovered that a group of teenage girls had been taking turns caring for her for three days. She said that CBP officials had done nothing more than check off the girl's name at roll call.
President Donald Trump has all but admitted he's using family separation as a negotiating tactic to get immigration legislation he wants. That's reprehensible. Kids shouldn't be used as political pawns. And "whatever" isn't an acceptable policy response when the government separates children from their families.