Shouldn't the headline to this article read, "Federal Authorities Claim They Have Met Deadline to Reunite Migrant Families" ?
Isn't it up to Judge Dana M. Sabraw, and not federal authorities, to say whether or not the deadline has been met ?
1
Albert Eisntein was a refugee from Nazi Germany..Other refugee were Madeleine Albright , Vladimir Nabokov , Billy Wilder, Ruth Westheimer, known as Dr. Ruth, Henry Kissinger, Marlene Dietrich, Gloria Stefan...
1
Really? How on earth would we really know if these legally-eligible asylum seeing migrants were honestly reunited with their families? There is no proof and no accountability under Trump or GOP. Just spin with the result that real people's lives have been ruined beyond repair.
3
Putting aside Russian meddling or interfering and all that goes with it for just awhile I would just like to say the following:
I would hope, and pray to God, that there are enough Americans in this country that are able to see that any president, and the Republicans that support him, who would very deliberately rip the children from their mothers applying for asylum in this country, and do it in such a way as to make it extremely difficult if not impossible for them to be reunited, do not deserve to be returned to public office.
I understand Trump’s visceral hatred of all people of Hispanic origin. That has been demonstrated ad nauseum from the insults to Ted Cruz and his father and calling Mexicans rapists and murderers and totally abandoning the people of Puerto Rico etc. etc. Well it’s been thrown in their faces, and ours, long enough.
After all Trump has proven to be a putridly disgusting human being, and anyone with any sense of decency is aware of that. What’s really startling to see so many in his party are just like him.
They need to be voted out of office. Politics is one thing. Cold blooded cruelty is quite something else
9
The Administration is in contempt of court. Why haven't Miller, Sessions, Nielsen and their cohorts in international crimes against humanity been charged and arrested yet?
7
@Mark. What court are you referring to?
@MMThe court that Judge Dana Sabraw presides over - the judge who ordered that ALL the kidnapped children be returned to their parents by midnight July 26th.
We kidnapped 500 or so kids. Why isn’t half the cabinet in jail?
In 1992 Gingrich promised a permanent GOP majority. What we got instead is an illegitimate and corrupt government.
11
If remains of fallen soldiers are coming back from North Korea, that is truly a good thing. I'm sure the Trump administration is going to go to great lengths using the most up-to-date DNA matching techniques and sparing no expense to reunite the remains with family members.
Could the Trump administration now please do the same for the living?
5
"Federal Authorities Lie About Meeting Deadline to Reunite Migrant Families." There, I fixed it for you.
10
@Jan N,
Did you consider that some of the children were not reunited with their "parents" was because some "parents" wanted the kids to stay in the country for future anchors and other parents just got lost in the country: i.e. incognito once ICE or border patrol turned away from them.
I have lost all sympathy for self manufactured problem and lots of tears; send the kids back to the president of their own countries as well as the DACA people.
1
When U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego, California, issued a preliminary injunction ordering U.S. immigration authorities to reunite separated families, she astutely described the Trump administration's handling of the crisis as attempts "to address a chaotic circumstance of the government’s own making." In other words, "the emperor" has no clothes . . .
There is no law that actually requires that families be separated at the border. There is a law against “improper entry” at the border. There is also a consent decree known as the Flores settlement, which limits the amount of time that migrant children may be held in immigration detention to 20 days. A 2008 anti-trafficking statute also requires that certain, unaccompanied minors be transferred out of immigration detention in 72 hours. But none of these laws or precedent(s) means that children must be taken away from their parents.
In my view, the Trump Administration's unauthorized actions in separating children from their families at the border raises the question whether the Administration has violated the federal kidnapping statute.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1201
9
The Cincinnati Enquirer printed a full-page editorial of mine on July 7th about the historic and continuing role of the U. S. in creating the fear, poverty, and crime that migrants to our borders from Central America are trying to escape. Our corporations and developers take over as many of the natural resources of these countries as they can get hold of, pay starvation wages to the workers, and rely on the U. S. for arms and political support. We should all join the Latin America Working Group, an American organization, which sends out each month a full list of news articles in Spanish and English about the abuses happening in these countries.
9
@Martha Stephens. Interesting. Daniel Ortega, one of the wonderful home grown revolutionaries we opposed in the 80s, runs Nicaragua now and is pretty much hated by his own people. Maybe they don't make great choices either sometimes.We should help them at home. Bringing all the unhappy people from Central America here is a nonstarter.
4
Yes, really too bad about Ortega. I don't understand what is happening in Nicaragua today, seems perfectly terrible -- and maybe this is one of the tragic turns we ourselves didn't have a hand in? I don't know what our role is there today, do you?
So if a judge in a tort orders you to pay compensation to people you have harmed, you can pay some and then declare the others "uncompensatable?" If the IRS gets a judgment ordering you to pay back taxes, you get to pay some and declare the rest "unpayable?" What power does the judge have to impose penalties on the Trump administration for their failure to re-unite children with the parents they kidnapped them from in violation of due process? Doesn't this amount to contempt? Somebody needs to go to jail for a long time for this--if not in the US, then in the 'Hague.
5
Trump and his minions should have been thrown into jail. We could tell them it's just like summer camp. When will this nightmare end?
11
I'd like to read that someone, somewhere is launching criminal charges against the administrators and senior people at ICE who launched this scorched earth policy--without it being official policy--then lied about separating families until it became obvious that they were in fact doing it--all the while claiming that they were not doing it because the 'policy" was not completed first under Kelley, and then under Secretary Neilsen.
In the absence of specific policy direction, what these front line people were doing was illegal, and there should be charges brought against them. For the gray area and why they should be held liable, see:
https://www.lawfareblog.com/legal-considerations-separating-families-border
5
This administration was staffed intentionally with incompetents and stooges. We've seen the results from Maria in Puerto Rico to these families, and soon we'll see it played out with white farmers looking, in vain, for their subsidies. THEN, it will matter!
10
The naïveté of some commenters below is absolutely breathtaking! There are approximately 6 BILLION people living in poor, overpopulated, often violent third world countries who want to migrate to first world countries, particularly the United States...land of milk and honey?
... as if jobs for unskilled labor and cheap housing were plentiful here.
... as if our urban centers weren’t already overcrowded and violent.
... as if our water and energy resources weren't already strained.
... as if the quality of life of our own citizenry wasn’t spiraling progressively downward.
... as if the cacophony of competing interests and cultures wasn’t already tearing apart our nation’s unity.
Some of us...even moderate liberals like ourselves... have had enough of illegal migration, and will vote accordingly in November.
16
@Shenoa It still doesn't mean the US can steal other peoples' children. Unaccompanied minors belong with families - their families. No parent has relinquished his/her parental rights in these children, so how can a third party legally adopt them, as has been suggested by various government flunkies? We freed the slaves -- these children are not commodities, they're people.
4
@Ellen
Attempting to cross a sovereign border illegally has consequences.
More frightening than the Ivanka Kinder Kare Kennels?
The staff.
Men and women who seem to take pleasure in the torment that they are part of.
There are stories of "guards" belittling grieving mothers.
IceIce troopers lying to separate children from parents.
Verbal abuse of children held in "custody".
Zealots in Chancellor Trump's bigoted and racist policies of hate.
7
It was foolish to separate them from their parents. It clouded the otherwise much better and stronger border policies. Gives the Democrats ammo for "open borders" arguments.
4
Democrats.DO NOT want open borders. That's part of Donalds looping monologue.
5
@Jerome, I am a liberal Progressive and I don't know anyone, including myself, who wants "open borders." Get off your Fox fix and open your eyes. Do you think that if Trump declares martial law at some point that you'll somehow be exempt from getting shot to death by patrolling military under Trump orders or imprisoned indefinitely without access to legal counsel and Habeas Corpus suspended if you happen to step out after curfew?
5
@Sa Ha. Maybe they (the democrats) don't directly say it, but when you subvert immigration laws and enforcement, push for sanctuary cities, talk about abolishing ice, fight deportations of illegals and say we need a new amnesty every few years it pretty much means the same thing.
With all the information that I have gathered all these years voluntarily and that has come by, I can surmise we are in the "Interesting Times". I think God can get the best out of a worse situation, make Lemonade out of Lemons. Intriguing are the ways of Cause & effect. This is the Age of Strife, qualities of which are Cruelty, Wars, Unethical and immoral behaviour. Introversion is harder than extroversion, especially when Basic Instinct takes hold.
1
Trump didn't meet the deadline. So of course he claimed he did.
He is a pathological liar, leading a government of people who will punish anyone who ever tells the truth. No wonder Trump and the Russians get on so well.
But then, Michael Cohen's statement this morning confirmed that truism once more.
6
The incompetence of this administration is staggering. Add to it that they manipulate the “data” and lose track of children and you have a tragic situation made worse by their uncaring attitude. This is typical Trump: make a rash decision based purely on your emotions that day as you sit on the toilet amid total chaos.
6
How else is a young migrant child supposed to acclimate to the harsh demands of the modern world without the professional guidance provided by years of incomprehensible trauma?
Another problem solved by the Donald. So much winning. Can we get this man to the Hague already?
4
Tens of thousands of people fleeing violence doesn't sound very convincing or realistic. Fleeing drug dealers? Fleeing vicious militias? Fleeing from their police? I don't believe a thing. Some of their friends who snuck in through the border, told them come to America it's a rich country. We will be rich too. Give me a break!
14
Of 219 countries reported by the UNODC, El Salvador and Honduras rank one and two in the world for highest homicide rates... Guatemala ranks 15.
Anything else I can do for you, JG?
9
@JG, no it’s true, violence is an extremely modern phenomenon not even imagined until the 21st century. There’s no way they could make this up.
4
@Jeff, you might advocate to keep the drugs and violence from those 3rd world countries in their own countries and NOT bring the poverty, drugs and violence to our country; we have enough already.
We, as Americans, have a responsibility to help our own poor people who do not have a functioning political system to advocate for them.
What goes around, comes around. Refugees from Guatemala, the country the United States destroyed in 1954? Its civic institutions never made it back from the abyss, and now decent people want to escape one of the murder capitals of the world.
Honduras, the country we destroyed by sending back violent Honduran criminals from our prisons where, now trained for a life in crime, murder and mayhem, they established MS13 and exported it to the US. Decent people wanting to be safe have fled Honduras for the supposed safety they might find here.
And what has Donald Trump and the aptly named ICE done with these refugees who fled here for their lives? Why they took away their children and then deported many of the parents.
So what have Trump and his minions done to reunite kids with their parents? Put them on planes back to Guatemala or Honduras where, upon landing, they're lost forever!
And this is what used to be America.
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wonderful, I entirely agree
Keep publishing more pro-illegal stories and Trump won't have to spend a dime on his re-election.
9
This entire zero tolerance policy is symptomatic of every policy the Trump administration throws out there, with absolutely no thought about the possible ramifications of their action. They could have easily coded a simple wrist band like they do when you enter a hospital for an overnight procedure. Give s similar one to each parent. When you take a child from a parent and don't return that child, isn't that called kidnapping. .
5
One word for this policy and this administration - WICKED.
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@David Triggle, careful about all caps, it’s reminiscent of someone whom I’m sure you’d prefer not to be associated with.
2
We got all this protesting for foreign children separated from their parent, but what about the American families separated do to the illegal foreclosures of their homes due to HUD illegally allowing bank to foreclose on properties a part of the Ginnie Mae MBS (which is 95% of all FHA & VA loans) which the borrowers are not obligated to the MBS.
Nobody crying when Obama created three bogus program in the HAMP, FHA HAMP, VA HAMP that failed in 95% of all the FHA & VA borrowers that applied because the programs all has the same fatal flaw in which before the programs were created MBS were set up to not have any modification of the interest rate or term because is it set the amount paid to the investors of the MBS.
The HAMP started Apr 2009 and it was impossible from 1980 until today that the Ginnie pooled loans cannot be modified. Do you see the first problem? Next because it is required that all the mortgage Notes are endorsed in blank and relinquished to Ginnie Mae that all these loans are unsecured debts as there no legal way to reunite the un-sold debt to the Notes as Ginnie has not authority under UCC9 to approach the debt as they are not a party to the debt as they did not pay for the debt and they cannot give back the Notes as they don't have a way to endorsed the Note.
Best example of the fraud HUD involved with is the Washington Mutual Bank 1.3 million $140 billion worth of loans that stop existing on Sept 25, 2008, which legally cannot have the loans called due!
2
Lies, lies, and more lies while little children suffer.
6
One of the worst nightmares against American values ever perpetrated by any president. Soon they'll want to take credit for undoing their error. An American travesty.
7
Tear down those children’s concentration camps.
4
Recently ICE rounded up over 500 illegals who were using fraudulent documentation to receive federal benefits. Many of them were gang members, had already been deported, sex offenders and a myriad of other serious felony violations. Most liberals would probably think that this is wrong and that their children should not be deported along with them.
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@jj provide a link or we can assume that this is fake news. The only "500 person roundups" I can find are from last September, and they bear no resemblance to what you describe.
1
@jj, the problem is that ICE couldn't keep them out and no wall costing billions, or a wall reaching to the Moon for that matter, will keep them out. The wall is a boondoggle to funnel money to some of Trump's buddies and fool the 19% or so of eligible American voters who believe anything and everything he says, no matter how blatant a lie. Don't conflate criminals who will ALWAYS find a way to come here and commit crimes (but NOTHING like the crimes of fraud and treason that Trump and his buddies in the White House and administration are committing even as I type this, crimes in which they have raked in billions of dollars from taxpayers and the Russians) with people who met all legal requirements and applied in good faith at the border portal cities for asylum, it's THE LAW and that law has not been repealed by Congress or declared un-Constitutional by any Court - only to have their children taken from them and both they and their children treated like criminals!
4
The Time magazine cover that depicts a crying child at Trump's feet makes normal people want the child to stop crying.
His base would rather that Trump give it another kick. Trump knows his miserable base and Trump will always do what his base wants....after he makes them want it.
7
Anyone who thinks this president is right in separating children from parents for any reason other than proven unable to parent needs to be separated from this country.
9
Actually, “data ARE dynamic”... Just not the way this administration says they are.
2
I feel terrible for these children. Their abuse started when their so called parents decided, largely for economic gain, to pay human smugglers to drag them a thousand miles through the desert with god only knows who else in the group.
If an American citizen acted the same within the country, they would be arrested for reckless endangerment and had custody removed.
Why are illegal migrants, whether applying for asylum after crossing several countries or not, not held to the same laws and standards as would be applied to citizens?
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@CNNNNC
"If an American citizen acted the same within the country, they would be arrested for reckless endangerment and had custody removed."
Not according to today;s stories in today's LA Times about child abuses and deaths ignored, unreported or not acted upon by social workers and police. Seems even worse.
2
@CNNNNC, they are being held to the same standards - except now they're being deprived of DUE PROCESS UNDER THE LAW. Remember that??? Gee what a concept - the United States a nation of rule by law - until Donald J. Trump moved into the White House and gold plated all the toilets.
1
Let's face it, this was never a plan to treat humans humanely but instead to treat children, babies, mothers, fathers and family like disposable refuse. Who are we? The very same who screech at the top of their lungs about humanity when speaking of unborn fetuses, support such inhumanity for those (actually) living-while-brown. Who are we?
11
@LTM, we're not THEM, and WE matter. f
Fight back, don't let the filth win the war.
No one should enter the US without the permission, (technicalities do not count), of the American people. The Democrats should learn a lesson from the election of Trump.
15
The central American asylum issue is tearing America apart. Bernie used the issue to bully and kneecap Hillary. Trump rode the issue to the presidency. The left is clueless.
11
I have zero sympathy for these law breakers. Fault should be laid where it should be. The parents who took their children on a dangerous journey and knowingly broke our laws. I suspect many others feel as I do and the Democrats will once again be surprised come election day.
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What's interesting is that many thousands of US and Canadian retirees are flocking to live south of the border in Mexico and other Central American countries. So it can't be all that bad.
12
@jj It must be all that bad: thousands walked, traveled over every inch of Mexico but somehow ignored the beautiful country of Mexico to come here where they were not invited in any way...
This is what we deal with every day in S Texas and the media doesn't seem to understand. This happened yesterday but you will not see it the New York news outlets.
An Unaccompanied child and MS-13 gang member found inside
U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Falfurrias Checkpoint discover 25 illegal aliens concealed inside a trailer.
Yesterday evening, Falfurrias agents referred a 55-year-old man driving a tractor trailer to the secondary inspection area after a Border Patrol K-9 alerted to the cargo. Inside the trailer, agents discovered a total of 25 illegal aliens from the countries of Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
Within the group, agents located an unaccompanied child from Mexico and identified an MS-13 gang member from El Salvador.
All subjects will be processed accordingly. The case is being referred for prosecution.
The Rio Grande Valley Sector currently has multiple campaigns focused on rescues and danger awareness, such as “Operation Big Rig” and “No Se Arriesgue” to combat smuggling and ultimately save lives. Call 911 to report suspicious activity; “They’re humans, not cargo!”
Please visit www.cbp.gov to view additional news releases and other information pertaining to Customs and Border
15
Hey, where's Melania on this?
She stuck her neck out in a meek effort to check on these kids......where's the follow up?
3
They need to stay home and work on improving their own governments.
14
@Margo It would appear our own government needs much improvement. Maybe they can help!
2
When will we address the 21 million children separated from their parents and families for no valid reason or cause by state "family" courts and the $50B Divorce Industry?
All fueled by federal SSA Title IV-D funding - which provides states financial incentives to separate children from their parents and to destroy their familial relationships.
I'm also an immigrant.
We demand equal protection.
10
The media and democrats can't be more out of touch with how Americans feel. The more they run these stories the more Americans demand the borders get secured and it has cost them any sympathy for DACA.
Are they trying to lose midterm elections and get Trump reelected?
15
So what is to be done with the Ivanka Kinder?
Are there enough kennels and thermal blankets to sustain them?
1
These people come from cultures that emphasize large families over education. The result is that their countries are over-populated, and under-educated. There is not enough arable farmland for their huge populations. Nor are there many ways (other than joining a cartel) to make a living.
Churches could start advocating for family planning and allow their followers to use artificial methods of birth control. Philanthropic organizations could make the artificial methods widely and cheaply available.
Church leaders could preach on the importance of education, with the goal of encouraging parents to let their children complete elementary school, and go on to higher grades. The churches could also preach about gender equality to discourage spousal abuse.
Churches and philanthropies could help Central American cultures become more sustainable
35
ann--Excuse me, but this article is not about churches, religion, education, or the size of families. It's about refugees, whose children have been kidnapped, and possibly not returned, as claimed by lying tRump officials.
9
Hello! You think churches can help? The Roman Catholic Church is directly responsible for the lack of contraception access and practice in restricting family size in Central and South America! In fact all male dominated religions restrict women’s reproductive rights and contraception access!!
Less churches please!
3
There seem to be only two children. Do you have any idea what you're talking about? I'm not seeing huge families. and these kids were in school.
The Trump administration says it met deadlines, all to satisfy their captured audience. In other words, not telling the truth.
No surprises here.
20
@ClydeMallory Did the captured audience tell the truth at the border? Of course not. It's all part of the cat and mouse game that masquerades as our immigration laws. Does the left really mean to tear apart America?
6
Why is there not more discussion of the historical events that have led to the violence and chaos that these Central American asylum seekers are fleeing? Have we all forgotten the long history of U.S. intervention in countries such as Honduras and Guatemala? Does the term "Banana Republic" not ring a bell? The U.S. has consistently intervened to topple democratic governments in favor of authoritarian regimes more friendly to U.S. corporate interests. We have trained death squads. We have supported dictators. We have created chaos. And now we turn a blind eye.
I am ashamed of this country. Apparently the new "zero tolerance" policy is to summarily turn away asylum seekers and rip their families apart, all in the name of "deterence," pretending that the U.S holds no responsibility for their desperate plight.
22
@Marcus Aurelius
Ah. Are you suggesting that people who are appalled (pained) by current immigration policies simply fling up their hands and move away? Leaving the country to those who would demand: "America, love it or leave it?" I hope not; I hope I have misunderstood your question. But if this is indeed what you mean, then I ask, which America? The comments displayed here show a wide range of passionate convictions and represent a diversity that, I hope, will be able to continue to look for solutions and explore possible causes. Without being asked to leave.
The Trump administration declares itself in compliance with a broad court order by defining "eligible" families very narrowly. Under that logic, I guess I'll be in compliance on Tax Day if I pay only that part of the tax bill that I define (very narrowly) as "eligible." Done.
13
Clearly a case of massive child abuse by the Trump regime, and one which is looking more and more like an actionable case of state-sponsored kidnapping as well. What's the penalty for kidnapping one kid, let alone hundreds of them? Or does the law not apply to crime in the suites?
21
Let’s not pretend that millions of foreign nationals from poor, overpopulated, often violent third world countries illegally storming our borders doesn’t have a irreversibly devastating impact upon our own country...economically, socially, culturally, politically. It does and they do....
Reunite and deport.
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@Shenoa Seeking asylum is not illegal. Our country is a melting pot of immigrants which has enriched us economically, socially, politically and most of all culturally. The devastation you speak of comes from inhumanity, prejudice, ignorance and cutting (too many) history classes.
40
@Shenoa...just like the Germans and Dutch and the Irish before them ?
17
@LTM
Legitimate asylum seekers would have registered in the first country nearest their own not at war. That would be Mexico, NOT the United States. These are economic migrants, gaming the ‘asylum’ system....as you well know.
1
I am stunned at the comments about this article! It seems many readers are stuck on the immigration problems our country has not dealt with for decades and are not focusing on what our government actually did to "deter" it. And that is wrenching children from their parents with no plan to account for them or what they were going to do with them - or plan for reunification! This is callous beyond belief! Worse than our disgraceful internment of Japanese citizens, something which we will never live down.
The government must know that what they are doing is horrific or they wouldn't move the children during the night in secrecy or refuse to let the press cover this. Now they are lying that they have met the deadline while in truth many parents and children remain apart with little hope of reunification.
In what universe is this defensible?
27
@gf
Apparently these children are "left behind" with parents who have been deported with no record of where they might be now. Children are sent to face judges who will ask them questions they cannot answer. Toddlers don't know their country of origin. This a level of barbarity equal to the immigrants who were dumped on Ellis Is., some with a big T written on their backs if TB was suspected. Or the Japanese internment camps whose homes and bank accounts were looted. I worked with a man whose family was interned in Montana; he was still bitter at how his family was treated. No doubt you are a Native American Indian; otherwise, you and your antecedents are no different, and no better than those crossing our borders now.
@gf
This is the same country, with the same Department of State that lied thought its teeth in the 1940's about quotas being filled when they were not- and were indirectly responsible for the death of millions. Those responsible would include FDR, Joe Kennedy and Charles Lindbergh (the Missouri Historical Society and Lindbergh Memorial keeps Lindbergh's NAZI medals locked up, hidden in their basement). Of course our State Department had no problem welcoming war criminals including NAZI SS Major Werner von Braun (well, he was only responsible for the death of 20,000 slave laborers, and who's counting, anyway? Certainly, not counting the thousands of Brits this V Weapons murdered.) And then Joe's son, Jack, gave von Braun the Presidential Medal of Freedom and Disney made him a TV star. Too bad about those slave laborers hung by their necks (for not working hard enough for the Fatherland von Braun he walked by on his way to work each morning in Germany. Yes, not much as changed.
1
@Mark Shyres you owe me my AB kickback
The Trump Administration's inhumane treatment of asylum seekers who are LEGALLY entitled to cross the US border at sanctioned bordering crossings fills me with outrage. Separating children from their parents is unconscionable no matter how you feel about people seeking asylum. I am astonished by the callous comments of so many people here. I used to be proud of being an American, but this administration's hateful policies make me feel ashamed. We must never lose sight of our humanity.
22
@Hope
Legitimate asylum-seekers would have registered in the safest country nearest their own not at war. That would be Mexico, NOT the United States.
Gaming our system is easy-peasy: cross the border, claim asylum, or pop a pup. You’re in....
22
@Shenoa
Again, Mexico closed its borders a while ago; Mexico is not the first safe place. Try to keep up. These people are fleeing violence from the drug gangs our cartels support; they are also fleeing poverty caused by less arable land and potable water. They will work hard, as all immigrants do; they want a future for their children, free from fear and violence. We are a big country with an aging population, like Europe. This country was built by immigrants who raised families and made productive communities. They will not stay in crowded urban centers; they will seek out families, or friends of families. They will make their way. What are you afraid of? A changing demographic where your white skin won't afford you the same privilege it did decades ago? My antecedents on the maternal side came from the famine in Ireland and faced signs which read: "No Irish need apply"; they stayed and did quite well. These migrants will do the same.
2
Does this have anything to do with these immigrants being brown in color and not white? Everyone has a right to seek asylum in the United States and should not be immediately tagged with an “illegal” classification when it suits the situation.
3
Migrants are welcome as they have always been and always will be. Illegal border crossers are not welcome never have been and never will be. So really nothing has changed in decades other than the way we talk about it.
25
So some employees of the federal government are claiming that people have been released who are clearly still rounded up waiting for their children. It should be no surprise that the nation's liars are willing to do Donald Trump's bidding. They and others like them have been working for decades towards this apotheosis of right-wing control of the country. The question is, will enough people come forward and work hard at taking back our voting system? Can we fight back against the election rigging this side of riots in the streets, an outcome to be avoided if we can manage it?
9
@Georgia Lockwood I voted for Clinton, did you?
3
Missed it the first time? Once more to the backstage crew:
American sovereignty and border security trumps an "immigration policy that has drawn international condemnation."
All should have been turned back immediately and never been allowed to enter.
Parents should have thought about the possible outcome of showing up at a US border without visa in hand. End of story.
25
@Alice's Restaurant Read the law, Al. Then, if you don't like it, elect someone who will change it.
But in the meantime, it is legal to ask for asylum, and it is only a misdemeanor to illegally enter.
Plenty of people are turned back after a hearing.
15
@C.L.S.
Thanks for the update. But gang violence is not a reason. Just another 9th Circuit bend-around moving us closer "The Grand Collective". Half the planet can claim same. As I said: Returned immediately.
@Alice's Restaurant
Visa? Are you aware of the process to acquire a visa? How many of these semi-literate migrants from rural areas have access to consulates? Not to mention embassies. I went through a visa process to travel to Europe, then again when I visited Morocco. I filled out extensive paperwork. And I paid fees at each entry point. The arrogance of some comments is staggering, not to mention heartless.
3
For those who support trump? This is on you. I won't let you forget it. Separating children from parents because the parents committed a crime? Wow. Why are you against people from Mexico/South America? I'm more afraid of those Americans who are committing our school shootings.
And I know if I defy a judge's orders? Yes you are correct, I would be locked up.
20
@Scott Franklin
All procedures should have been planned, and prepared for, before jumping into a haphazard enforcement.
Who in their right mind would send the parents back without their children?
Poor planning inevitably results in poor performance and this is the proof.
11
@Scott Franklin Go visit any county, state or Federal jail/prison, talk to some of the inmates, and eventually you will meet some who are US citizens who have been "separated" from their children, for committing a crime. The sooner we deport these people, the better.
8
@Scott Franklin
"Separating children from parents because the parents committed a crime?"
It happens everyday to American citizens and sometimes for minor crimes.
7
I am a Democrat and a liberal, and uncomfortable with my party's immigration stance. It seems that they have thrown up their hands and basically said "if you can get here you can stay here." That's not an immigration policy, that is giving up. Coming to the US cannot be the solution to world poverty and a country's violence. I do not support separating families, but I do support efforts to have an immigration policy that makes sense and is orderly and doesn't let people circumvent a fair process. My family immigrated here, and they played by the rules and waited until they were legal before they came.
I won't vote for Trump, ever, but I would like for Democrats to redirect their focus to protecting the rights of American citizens to clean air, water, housing, healthy food, and a living wage. Seems like there is plenty there to keep a Democrat busy.
31
@cantaloupe
I think we can walk and chew gum at the same time. If you are concerned about employment, clean air and water, and a living wage, get out the vote for a Democrat. Otherwise, reconcile yourself to more of the grifter in the WH and his self-dealing Cabinet. I take it your family could safely wait for a legal entry, unlike those who are fleeing real violence and crime. My family fled Ireland during the famine; one side had the money to hire a wagon train to Oregon; the other side signed on to be servants, eventually married well and moved on. And clean, air and water, a living wage and other benefits should be a bipartisan effort. Unless you are okay with a corrupt GOP and its recent tax heist for the rich to be paid for by the middle class and working poor as of 2027.
4
@cantaloupe Just as long as you are from Cuba...?
@cantaloupe
Albert Einstein was a refugee escaping from Nazi Germany....Just saying...
This is a fake tragedy. Everyone or these families can be reunited at once....south of the border. As President Obama said, no one should jump to the head of the line.
28
@cleo Child abuse is not a 'fake tragedy.' It was for a while the official policy of the U.S. government, however.
Makes you proud to be an American, doesn't it?
Come to us for asylum, and we'll lock you up and take your kids and then maybe lose them in the bureaucracy ... good ole U.S.A.
But btw ... Obama had nothing to do with these human rights abuses.
Let go of the hatred, and you'll see more clearly.
16
American sovereignty and border security trumps a "immigration policy that has drawn international condemnation."
All should have been turned back immediately and never been allow to enter.
Parents should have thought about the possible outcome of showing up at a US border without visa in hand. End of story.
18
@Alice's Restaurant - we heard you the first time and still, our "sovereign" law is clear -- people have a right to ask for asylum without fear of their children being removed from them.
12
Keep running these poor illegal immigrant stories and this paper will end up like The Daily News. Take a hint, Americans would like to see the same coverage and investigative journalism on issues affecting American citizens. Give it a try.
25
@Hellen this is affecting us as US citizens. It is a crime committed by our so called government. It is horrendously expensive to taxpayers. And it has done zero to in any way benefit to the immigration situation.
22
@mkm
Not to mention the profits being made by these "detention centers", in which Sessions has investments.
1
@mkm How's that homeless situation in SF these days anyway? Do you think there might be a connection?
Hold up some more signs in Spanish. That'll win them the support of the American public of course. Or maybe next time let them go places that share their culture, background and educational level. Why on earth do so many people from Central America think they can unilaterally declare themselves "asylum seekers" and move here?
28
@Name Required, but look how quickly they’ve assimilated. Out, dressed in red, protesting in the streets like they born here. No necesita hablar ingles.
12
Maybe they are coming here as the gangs are threatening to kill their children in their own country and the government can't protect them. Would you stay? good thing your family got here when they could.
9
I'm assuming, from your use of quotes around the term asylum seekers that you see that request as unwarranted. There are many books I could recommend, but I will resist that temptation. Instead this is off the top of my head and will fall within the allowed space. I encourage you to investigate every point I make. The United States has manipulated every country in Central America for more than a century. The derogatory label "banana republic" was a result of the fact that an American based United Fruit brutally controlled both these countries and their governments for decades. Among the many important stockholders in United Fruit was Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. The United States has meddled in elections and sponsored the overthrow of elected governments. The overthrow of the democratically elected President of Guatemala, Jacobo Arbenz, in 1954 was only the most widely known example and that led to 50 years of brutal dictators all sponsored and armed by this country. The vicious gangs that terrorize countries like El Salvador were created in Los Angeles. This country is largely responsible for the hellish conditions that asylum seekers are fleeing. And, by the way, the right to seek asylum is protected by international law. Look it up. Really, look it up.
9
As this article and the one above point out today, the u.s. is in the process of basically moving the poverty, squalor, violence and over population of Central America here. The left is fond of pointing out how wonderful diversity is, but the pictures and articles show that this is basically a wholesale transfer of Hispanics to the u.s. As the over population and poverty in that part of the world show no sign of even slowing down perhaps it's time to debate whether just moving everybody here is any kind of a longterm solution to our or central Americas problems.
26
@Al They should stay where they are, organize and fight back. I am not my brother's keeper especially when my brother doesn't look for my best interest either.
18
@JG. I agree, but a world of people in better conditions would benefit all of us. I would be willing for some of my taxes to go to help these people in their home countries while helping our people as well.
Most issues of immigration coming from the south moving north are about global climate change and poverty coupled with America making money off of the exportation of weaponry. We make weapons to fuel their problems. We elect a president who ignores and denies global climate change and has never tasted poverty. Of course we have this disaster. We have to secure democratic elections in America and take our country back.
10
What a terrible mess. The government must confirm the identity of 'parents' before children are turned over to them. One of the biggest problems is that these 'parents' are all demonstrated liars and criminals.
While I would love to blame Trump, exclusively, for this mess I cannot honestly do so. This is a problem made, in great part, by the illegal economic migrant industries- lawyers and 'advocates' who entice people to break the law. Lawyers and 'advocates' who coach illegal economic migrants on the many ways they can game the system.
Many millions of citizens, like me, are sickened by the images of children being taken from their (purported) parents and confined. But we, too, are being manipulated by the lawyers and 'advocates.' Anything less than the complete transfer of entire populations would be considered 'racist' or 'evil' by the lawyers and 'advocates.'
What we have is organized crime on a massive scale being portrayed as 'kindness.' The poorest and weakest citizens in our society are the folks who are harmed by the open borders crew. The Democratic Party has almost been completely taken over by these people- and our democracy, and the rule of law itself, is at risk.
Trump is awful. He is a callous fool. But his actions in regards to illegal economic migration fall within the realm of self-preservation. Citizens in this country have allowed fringe radical groups manipulate our society into eroding our democratic principles.
18
@WillT26
The parents are all liars and criminals? You must have documented evidence needed by immigration judges. Suggest you present your evidence asap. That might require that you leave your Mom's basement; the sacrifice will be worth it.
3
@WillT26, hey there, RTP here, totally agree with your argument. I am very much in favor of President Trump's immigration policies, the Democrats have become unhinged by the influence of the children of recent illegal immigrants and they have cast off their constituency for "los nuevos Americanos."
Democrats have taken poor black and white Americans' vote for nothing in return.
Poor whites have mostly left Democrats; I have changed my voter registration to unaffiliated, but there is no place to run right now.
5
Oh, I see. "The data is dynamic." This usage is bureaucratic obfuscation and leaves me wondering what we are supposed to understand about "the data." The word dynamic is a "good" word in the sense that we often apply it in a positive way, e.g., "a dynamic personality." Actually dynamic describes a process that is "ever-changing" and that sure is what "the data" on these refugees seems to be doing. HHS and ICE don't know the numbers with certainty. They failed to establish and record the actual numbers in the first place, and now they just don't know for sure. We are going to be hearing a lot more of this deceptive language as the government continues trying to cover up what it has actually done. And what it has done is called "damage." A lot of it.
9
What more basic, non-partisan moral issue has been before us this year than taking children from their parents and locking them up in cages? Yet, the screeching voices of our "moral" housekeepers--the "christian right"--have been silent on this. Their complicity confirms one thing for me: their absolute rejection of Enligtenment ideals, specifically here, the ideal of individual liberty and dignity. They don't see these children and parents as individuals, but as a collective threat. Nor is their concern about Christian ideals, it's about worldly power, maintaining their racial entitlement as their dear leader, the Russian puppet, promised they would. "Clinging to their guns and bibles" was a compliment in light of what they really cling to.
20
More lying in plain sight. So disappointed that most who work for this administration follow the lying lead from the top.
12
@Carolyn C One of the reasons Trump was elected was to put an end to illegal migration. He will be elected again for the same reason. Who owned the land in the past is totally irrelevant. We have to deal with the present and the presence doesn't look good for the millions of Americans living in abject poverty. Until we solve that problem no one should be allowed in without following immigration rules. Every one of these so-called refugees should be sent back immediately. I cannot afford to pay more taxes than I do without jeopardizing my own existence. Charity begins at home.
17
@JG None of that is an excuse for this President and his minions lying several times a day to the citizens of this country. Without facts, we are clueless about what our own government is doing. Thankfully we have the free press.
1
@JG
But you're ok with white farmers in the Midwest getting 12 billion in tax dollars...
Of all the 7.6 billion human earth inhabitants, we will assume that all caring and responsible parents will not put their kids in danger. Crossing illegally to another country is considered a crime and if a family with kids decide to do this, they are placing their kids in danger. Some parents say that they left their country because they feared the drug cartels, gangs, crooked government, and bad police and military.
The issue today is that our southern border must be protected. What needs to be done when an illegal immigrant family with kids is captured at the border, then the entire family (parents and kids) must be returned to their country (TOGETHER).
Why do most governments not care for the needs of their own people?
Perhaps only two choices are left for humanity, either follow the boisterous rule of man to a final global holistic nuclear holocaust, or follow God’s Holy words to love one another and not kill. What’s your choice?
13
@manoflamancha
"God's holy words" is a collection of stories and quotes collected and transcribed decades after the people who listened to Jesus were dead. Jesus was quoted as referring to the "least of thee". He was a preacher who unsettled the rich and entitled; they eventually convinced the Romans to march him through the streets to be beaten and belittled until he was executed with other "criminals"; he was nailed to a cross and left to die of thirst and eventual strangulation. Not sure what "God's holy words" you reference. New Testament or Old Testament?
1
I know this won't make me Mr Congeniality...
I do not like what Trump and the Republicans are doing to parent/s child/ren coming together, it is unacceptable.
However, I do not like the spin from many Democrats either. It is correct that requesting asylum is legal, but nobody seems to be asking how many of these asylum-seekers are spinning the truth or outright lying; we know (almost) all of them are just escaping poverty, and that in almost all cases, the violence in their country is not directed towards them.
I agree that the United States must have an asylum policy with a generous quota, but it cannot accept everyone nor should be under the obligation to host thousands of poverty migrants. Also, poverty migrants delay applications of honest asylum seekers.
In summary, a transparent and humane process and no spin from either side, pretty pink please.
26
@Ricardo Are you saying only "pink" people should get in???
2
@Ricardo
You kind of gloss over the fact that all asylum petitions are supposed to be reviewed by a court, whose JOB it is to determine which asylum seekers are "spinning the truth" or not.
You are spinning a false narrative that "nobody" knows if the asylum requests are valid, while ignoring the reality that the Trump administration is working specifically to deny any legal hearing to asylum seekers (such as demanding that such seekers give up their rights to an asylum hearing in exchange for having their kidnapped children being returned to them).
Stop trying to rationalize evil.
7
and how do you know this? Been to Guatemala lately?
4
New York Times, your wording is so soft to the point of being inaccurate. Please edit your article title to reflect the facts, not what the administration wants us to think. That's good reporting. Otherwise, you're being a mouthpiece for the administration. Plus, it's not a "contentious" policy - it's a harmful and cruel one condemned roundly by the UN and pediatricians, to name just a few.
6
While would-be immigrants should definitely be vetted before being accepted as U.S. residents, forcefully separating them from their children is cruel and inhumane. This situation was made even more horrific by the manner in which the children were taken from their parents and the fact that there seems to have been no system in place for keeping track of where the children and their parents were sent and which children belonged to which adults. This is a mess of huge proportions and in no way should the people in charge take credit for repairing it - this is the least they can do for inflicting pain and anguish on innocent children and their parents. They should all be fired and rules must be put in place to assure that this never happens again, regardless of who's in charge.
15
@Sheila Dropkin
We have a Depression history of the Orphan Trains taking children off the streets of NYC and dumping them in various Western outposts; most were never able to find their parents again. We also have a WWII history of rounding up Japanese American citizens, putting them in internment camps, looting their homes and bank accounts, and offering some reparations at a later date, rejected by the Japanese affected by that atrocity.
So what is the US government going to do with kids ineligible to be reunited? If we keep them, it is a moral crime against humanity. It also means we "bought" the responsibility to take care of them. This seems like some surreal fantasy story!
Alternatively, how do you return them? This administration and its sicko Republican enablers will probably just dump them on the roadside in Mexico knowing their twisted beliefs. In a good world, all involved with creating this mess from Trump and Sessions to ICE would go to jail. Now they have a Hobsons Choice.
We used to be a "Christian" nation in the eyes of Republicans. I wonder what we are now? Hypocrites doesn't adequately capture the cruelty.
17
I wonder just how many of these people who are typing the garbage supporting Trump and the governments actions, typing things like we owe them nothing, and they (the immigrants) are criminals, and all the other trash, call themselves Christian or good people? How do you realize just how racist and evil you truly are? Because you have to be racist and evil to defend these actions against HUMAN BEINGS, God’s Children. They, for some reason, don’t find it ludicrous that just walking over here from somewhere else is a CRIME in this supposed land of the free that was built by these same people (immigrants) into the nation it now is. Did so many of you forget that? I know that not 100% of the people who cross our boarders are good people, and I’ll bet you anything that some of the responders to this article are even worse people, but the vast majority of the people coming here just want a better life and they do their best to make that happen. They work, they pay taxes, they attend church, they buy homes, and they live nice lives, which is more than I can say for some “Americans”. Am I a bleeding heart, maybe, but I am more of a realist and kind person than anything. And being kind mean not supporting the heinous acts our government is doing to these human beings.
19
@Dave P. We have immigration laws )thankfully we are also NOT a theocracy) like everywhere on earth. Are you suggesting we take everybody who shows up or has a tough life on earth because a 150 years ago when our population was 1/6 th what it is now we had loose immigration laws? If you feel the need to move to a country without borders feel free, but the rest of us want a process built on common sense, laws and what's best for this country not just immigrants. This country resettles more people than everywhere on earth combined. There is growing evidence that this may not be a good policy for the country.
19
@Dave P.
Bringing up God? Really? Religions are behind a lot of the ignorance, poverty and overpopulation afflicting these nations. On top of it a lot of religious organizations make money off supposedly helping them. It's a grand scam.
8
Yes, I am suggesting that anybody in this world of our who wants a better life should be allowed to seek it here if they so choose. You act like that is unreasonable. And your 150 years ago reasoning about how this country was built by immigrants is way off. It was actually 526 years ago that the first European’s settled here. Maybe you should crack a history book once in a while. But how long ago doesn’t change the fact that you are the ancestor of a immigrant, and that the only true America is a native American. And this huge hodgepodge of mixed races of people is what has made the United States so wonderful in the first place. But sadly, we have so many racists who think they are the only ones who belong here. And no, I don’t want a “country” without boarders, I want a planet without boarders. But until the rest of the planet stops wanting so badly to be enemies with each other and puts their trust into corrupt governments and the ultra-wealth, I’ll settle for our country to be without boarders. And, “The rest of us” don’t want open boarders isn’t true. That is only the small-minded individuals such as yourself. And you are correct that the United States resettle more migrants than any other country, at approximately 46 million, but Germany resettles about 7 million, and when you consider that Germany is about 221,834 sq. mi. in size and that the United States is about 6,110,270 sq. mi. in size, well than Germany has many more immigrants than we do.
3
Why does the headline report what federal authorities have claimed, when there is substantial evidence to cast doubt on the truth of that claim? Media like the NYT has a responsibility to report facts, not the spin (and often outright lies) from this administration.
19
Last May, about 6,000 unaccompanied minors were found at our border, that we know of. They were sent here illegally by their parents, not Donald Trump. How do we manage this ongoing ordeal? Mostly economic migrants are making false asylum claims. We can't let this continue endlessly. Why are some so supportive of illegal entrants? Do they approve of child smuggling and desire unfettered crossings of people who have no rights to be within our country? No, the majority are not legitimate asylum seekers either, tired of that argument.
Return them along with their children to Mexico or where ever. We owe them absolutely nothing.
24
@CC That is a completely different issue. First, the unaccompanied minors are generally much, much older (since they are unaccompanied, duh). Second, they were not forceably taken from their parents. Third, this was a deliberate policy to use children as a threat to other parents. Fourth, most of these people ARE fleeing from different types of terrible situations. They want a better life, just like our forefathers did. What gives our government the right to take a two year old away from its mother because some people (like you) don't want more immigrants? And if you want to be selfish about it, what's to prevent the government from taking YOUR child if it decides you don't fit their ideal of a "good American?"
19
Spoken like a true humanitarian. We pride ourselves as being "The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave." Yet we cannot seem to separate "Free"from "White, or distinguish "Brave" from "Afraid." People do not send their children out into the world alone without having made the heart wrenching decision that America was their only hope for survival. We, ourselves, perpetuate the myth that we take freedom to the world, that people cheer the great American liberators as we march through their countries. How can we be surprised when in desperation others send their children to us? I guess we don't owe them anything, but then we need to admit to ourselves and the world that brown children scare us.
12
@CC
"We owe them absolutely nothing."
So I guess that you don't believe that you are your brother's (or sister's) keeper?
That you don't believe that "whatever you do to these least of my brothers (& sisters) that you do unto me?"
That you don't do unto others as you would like to be dealt with?
OK. Got it.
4
Back when the rule of law mattered to our government, some bureaucrat, even one with the lofty goal of inflicting pain and anguish on a targeted ethnic group, could not just declare a child, let alone over 900 children, ineligible to stay with their parents. That determination could only be made in a custody hearing with the burden of proof on those who would separate a family.
Come on man!
19
Will we ever know how much all of this taking, hiding, moving, and reuniting cost the taxpayers? This was a disastrous mess and a horrible view of the 'Ugly American', a la Trump and Sessions.
17
To The Editors and Writers of these stories at the NYT:
Why don't you explain the laws to the reasders? Why don't you tell them that the same thing happens to American mother who break the law and go to prison?
You slyly want to give the impression that this is some unique event manufactures by Trump and Session. All it is really is carrying out US law which is on the books. Remember with Zero Tolerance these mother have been convicted of illegal entry and thus may be sent to prisons as opposed to turning them loose as Obama did.
17
@ judyweller
"..these mother have been convicted of illegal entry"
No, they haven't been convicted of illegal entry. They've been accused, but they've not yet had their day in court.
Anyone who truly respects the rule of law would understand the difference.
13
When a mother is incarcerated she decides where her child will go-to relatives, friends, the foster care system if there is no other recourse (I work with this population). She is not tricked by the courts saying her child needs a bath or medical care, and she makes the ultimate decision. She always knows where the child is living even if the child is in the foster care system. Every effort is made for family visits as often as feasible. Your attempt at equivalence is false.
12
@NYCSandi
You have a real rosy view of the foster care system. You also ignore the fact that Americans would be put in jail for what some of these so called parents did with their children.
1
Calling these criminals "undocumented" is misleading. And the so-called "children" of the illegal aliens are also illegal. Show the birth certificates if they are actually their kids. This whole distraction, from one of the most corrupt nations on the planet, Mexico, is a total sham and farce. Have the Central Americans and Mexicans apply for citizenship legally. Enough is enough, we owe these people nothing more.
23
When taken into custody by ICE agents, everything that immigrants have is confiscated from their wedding rings to the birth certificates and other identification documents that they have to their shoe strings. Only their clothes are left.
These immigrants are for the most part refugees seeking asylum. That is legal. It is not a crime.
Taking children en masse like this has never been done by any American government before. It is a violation of human rights according to international law.
The crime is by Trump officials, not by the refugees, and certainly not by the children who include toddlers and babies ripped from their mother's arms.
The present system means that children are carried into immigration courts with no attorneys or adult representatives and are asked legal questions. One one-year-old immigrant baby was on his own in court. He climbed on top of the table. A little 3 or 4-year-old girl who was videotaped was asked by the prosecutor what country she would like to be repatriated to. She looked confused, and then said triumphantly, "Pizza!"
It is a crime to deport minor children without giving them proper legal representation.
Child abuse by the government is a crime also.
Trump is a traitor, but he and his officials are guilty of crimes against humanity also.
10
This is a crises of the Trump Administration’s careless, inefficient policy. Labeing parents ineligible to have their children returned should not be accepted by the court due to the faulty record keeping and premature deporting of separated families by the U.S. federal government. In a just world, even in a semi just world (ha) the court would find department heads Alex Azar and Kristjin Nielsen in contempt of court. This is no remarkable achievement Judge Spabraw!
As one Mother rightly stated, her son was returned sick, beaten (black eye);and traumatized and they are two of the lucky ones to be reunited. The trauma will be permanent for these children, making their already difficult life circumstances worse, it’s deplorable. On a callous financial level, it is also costing taxpayers more than doing it right would have, the Trump Administration is loaded with ‘losers’ at the top starting with the president himself, thanks Donald!
17
Just do what people south of the border do everyday when sending their kids to America.
Pin a note to them and send them back across the border and let them sort it out.
15
Where was the outrage under Obama - check here - aclu.org/news/aclu-obtains-documents-showing-widespread-abuse-child-immi...
I agree that Trump made it worse but everyone is assuming it wasn't already bad.
20
What the right wing must understand, and find the moral strength to buck the Trump/Russia propaganda that is telling them otherwise: not everyone protesting Trump's inhumanity is demanding open borders. And it's democratic to disagree about immigration. But whether or not an individual believes that immigration should be more or less regulated - all people MUST absolutely believe that government-sanctioned kidnapping, theft of children, is criminal. The federal government did not keep basic data on where they put these children and their parents. If it's not kidnapping - then it is absolutely criminal negligence.
Right wing propaganda believers don't know that Obama got "tremendous numbers of people out of the country" according to Trump in August 2016 (Fox News/NPR). But Obama didn't kidnap or lose them - and that's where policy enforcement separates from crimes committed.
Voting entirely Democratic in November is our first step to removing the power of this administration of criminals. For those who look down their noses at the Democratic slate being not progressive enough or too progressive - remember - our job is to vote Democratic to restore our democracy - and take power away from criminals.
The bar may seem like it's set too low for you - and I understand that, but - with the horror of the crimes committed daily by this Trump administration, with free reign from this complicit Congress - the stakes have never been higher.
19
For crying out loud, Trump et.al. When hundreds of parents were deported in past weeks and kids left in USA, you claim success?
6
And what will happen to these kids left behind? It’s you and me who will pay for their food, clothing, medical care, mental health treatment. Since they have no legal status what future are they looking at here in the US? This plan was not thought out at all!
6
@NYCSandi No one knows if these children are actually the children of the adults who showed up at the border ?
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency = repressive, repugnant, reprehensible and disgusting. Kidnapping charges should be filed immediately and enforced.
7
The families should never have been separated... they should have been walked all together back over the border and asked to apply for asylum in Mexico or a VISA LEGALLY!! People are essentially belittling a very enterprising group of people by excusing their transgressions... I understand they're poor and seek a better life but they are NOT huddled masses of martyred souls... those poor saps are stuck in the countries they're fleeing from waiting to hear if their VISAs are approved by a broken immigration bureaucracy overwhelmed by the flood of illegal border crossers claiming "asylum"; their actions are very thought out and deliberate. And we need people like that however it is not fair to those waiting to come. We cannot increase the amount of people allowed to immigrate (and we should) without first enforcing our laws and securing our borders!
27
A missing stat is how many children were found to not belong to their purported parents. how many of these adults jumped back across and left the kids hanging
27
@Tim
Ha! It's not missing, it's deliberately left out: an inconvenient truth.
15
Yes I hear all about it in Fox and OAN. Show me proof from reputable sources, show me actual numbers.
3
@Tim So please share the stat with us--how many?
We are told of the awful conditions under which these people have lived in their native countries. We are told of the terrible conditions of their journey from Central America...but we are to believe that this past month is what will traumatize them for the rest of their lives? The press is always able to find the very worst case & publicize it. If 716 people haven’t been able to verify their relationships to the children or have criminal backgrounds, those children have probably been saved from worse fates.
18
@Gailmd Would "probably saved" be enough for you if they took a child of yours? I don't have kids, but I would be traumatized if the government took away a pet of mine! I can't imagine the suffering of mothers and fathers, most of whom likely love their children as much as Americans do.
Absolutely sickening how we (USA) are treating other human beings.
9
I don't know the legal status of people who arrive at the border... I thought that as soon as they ask for asylum the process of evaluating their status starts and can either establish entry or rejection. But what is their status as soon as they ask? Because if they have are protected then what the government of the United States has done is kidnapping pure and simple.
7
What's an acceptable number of children who have been orphaned (temporarily or permanently) by our government?
ZERO.
We should be ashamed of ourselves for letting this happen, and for letting it continue.
16
@Sarah: The parents who put their kids in jeopardy should be ashamed and maybe the bleeding heart apologists for them should take them in. Maybe those bleeding heart apologists start fixing America and tell the illegals to fix theirs.
20
@Larry
How do you suggest fixing their own countries; most of which are run by corrupt military dictatorships. They are not armed, because they are not allowed to have arms. Our original settlers were armed; many of them were sharpshooters, e.g. Jim Bowie. If they were mostly illiterate, there were literate leaders among them; they had leaders. The current migrants are not armed; they are without leadership; they fled with what little they had, most of which was taken by thieves on the 2,000 mile journey. They are exhausted; they are no threat. Perhaps you subscribe to Gohmert's theory that Jihadis were invading L.A. disguised as gardeners. They are fleeing poverty and drug gang violence; they seek safety and the opportunity to work and raise families in peace. It costs more than $10,000 to hire attorneys and apply for citizenship; the volunteers are overwhelmed. It is a mess on both sides of the border.
Are you trying to wear us out, NYT, with your daily stories in favoe of the migrant families? Well it is not working!!!!
28
@Chris Anderson
They already have you referring to them as "migrants" which is completely deceptive. They are not migrants, they are illegal immigrants.
21
The facts are that from the very beginning these children were seized swiftly from the custody and proximity of their families.
That abduction was done with an indistinct numbering system that was never intended to return these children anyone. This was brutal and unconscionable. We, the people, did not deserve to have this black mark placed on our souls and the poisonous memory should never have been marked on the immigrants.
Now, the number is at least 1,000 and that ids not reliable. And our government has lied and been deceptive in this criminal activity from the very start. I know we will not forget nor forgive.
13
"...expected to complete all “eligible” reunifications ..."
A court, not some administration flunkies should decide who is and isn't eligible...or do you trust them with YOUR kids?
12
If these individuals get sent back to Mexico, guess where the children are going? They will be dumped across the US border and left to fend for themselves. This whole, shameless crying children propaganda by the liberal press is exploitation at it's worst.
21
@bill t, And you know this exactly how?
1
These are illegal aliens. It is important that we process the credible fear interviews as quickly as possible so that those who fail can be quickly deported.
We don't need these illiterate peasants in this country who will mostly depend on welfare and taxpayer largess if they are allowed to state. With these illegal aliens from central America our goal should be deportation as quickly as possible.
it is unfortunately that this stupid child separation policy is standing in the way of quickly deporting these illegal aliens.
25
@ judyweller
Really, illegal aliens? I guess they would send ET home. These are problably the people who the U.S. should want the most. They are more willing than many current citizens to embrace freedom and to work hard at any job to contribute to society.
Yes, there should be an immigration policy that deals with who comes in and how, and how everyone is treated. What we have now is a fake issue of demonizing people who are in trouble. The Republicans have refused to establish a policy, and Trump is the biggest law-breaker of them all.
11
@Donald Bermont There is a policy it seems you are unfamiliar with it.
Anyone can apply for Asylum but they are given a credible Fear Test and if they fail that - they cannot go forward with an asylum application. THey are then eligible for deportation. Most central American FAIL the credible fear test.
Do you like strawberries from California? How about tomatoes from Arizona and Texas? Know anyone whose elderly parents need 24 hour care but can’t afford a safe nursing home? These and others are the jobs immigrants because Americans are too lazy to work and account for the greatest number of welfare/food stamp/ food pantry recipients. That’s not propaganda: that’s fact.
8
Deport Donald Trump and his trashy administration.
Surly this country is better than what this incompetent fool has to offer.
11
A botched political stunt that is doing permanent damage to parents and their children. The headline of this article fails to alert us to the disturbing details contained within.
I'd like to see a special series that deals with the nefarious meddling the United States has done in Central America in the past century that has led to the poverty, gangs and violence people are now fleeing. While on the subject, the United States is directly responsible for the incredible refugee situation in the Middle East that is roiling Europe.
8
The parents who brought these kids with them should be charged with child abuse and turned away at the border with kids in tow. They are the cause of this separation, which was not started by Trump, but by Obama. We are not able to fix every problem in the world and can't take in everybody who is unable to live in the conditions their country is in. Put the blame where it belongs--with the parents. They were told not to come here and did anyway.
21
@themoi
The parents came seeking asylum. Many are running from gangs that are making money meeting the demands for the drug addictions of Americans. In stead of dealing with any of those problems, the Republicans decide to blame people who had beleived that the U.S. was a place of freedom and compassion.
Ye, let's follow the law: get Rump to stop lying, stop obstructing justice. Get his adminstration t o stop robbing the U.S. taxpaying. Get his family to stop making money from being the the White House.
Also: Establish a reasonable immigration policy. The Republicans have refused to do that for fifteen years, voting down plans the even GWB proposed.
7
@Donald Bermonts As I recall the last time any kind of immigration reform bill came up for a vote during the Trump administration it was turned down by the Democrats. So put all this on the Republicans who are trying to keep our country from being overrun when we can't even take care of our own is liberalism at its best.
@themoi I agree it is the Democrats who messed up. I am a Democrat and have been pretty much most of my life. I will not for vote for them on the issue of immigration. What they want is another amnesty. I am sure I am not the only liberal against illegal immigration. It is and will continue to be for both parties.
This chaotic, damaging, totally avoidable catastrophe (like the farmers damaged by tariffs who now will be bailed out by billions of tax-payer dollars) of public policy shows that we, the American people, have now become Donald Trump’s “fixers.”
12
As I peruse the comments to this piece it is disturbing that the nativist, racist and bigotry towards immigrants is alive and well due to the Trump administration.
I don't believe in open borders, in unfettered immigration, that the Trump wall will stop all illegal immigration.
I do believe in humane treatment, something that appears to be lost on Trump, his courtiers and fellow Americans.
20
@Dan
I voted Obama twice. These illegals need to be stopped at the border, and turned back. They're illegal, and have no right to enter the USA without proper processing. They are NOT the burden of the American taxpayer. If you personally feel so strongly, then reach into your pocket and help them. Don't force your benevolent ideas on me. I have other worries.
17
Agreed. Sent back with their children. So the taxes you and I (but not Con Man Don as he himself said) will not be used to feed and clothe them.
5
@Bill Crosby I have no children and yet pay taxes for education. I pay to subsidize oil companies. And since I live in a blue state, some of my taxes have to go to subsidizing government programs in red states that can't support themselves on their own tax base. Personally, I'd like all my taxes back that have gone to private weapons manufacturing corporations and the 7 or 8 wars we are involved in. I have never minded paying taxes to take care of the poor in this country, maybe because I have been there myself.
Historians are writing new curriculum text books that will include this evil time in America. Trump's grandchildren will read the truth about their heritage and they will have to live with it. There will come a time of truth and reconciliation as there has been in Europe with the Jews and Canada with the First Nations. The US is a generation behind the rest of the developed world. Cruelty and incompetence is not sustainable. It certainly isn't leadership.
8
Now that there are empty cages let’s put them good use for Nielsen, Trump, Sessions and Kelly. LOCK EM UP!
7
This is a crime against humanity plain and simple. Those in the administration who perpetrated this crime should be brought to justice and sent to prison.
12
How is physically and mentally traumatizing children with the express intent of inflicting emotional punishment on their parents different in any significant way from torturing detainees in a conflict situation? What is the offense that these children were guilty of that justifies this inhumane treatment? Were they supposed to somehow prevent their parents from bringing them across our borders without following every required step in the bureaucratic process?
17
Don't know HOW she did it, but this is Hillary's fault.
5
AT first glance it appears that it would be simple to reunite the children with their parents if ID bracelets or a similar process had been used for the children when their parents and the children were apprehended and processed after illegally crossing the border outside of the ports of entry (according to all reports, families asking for asylum at ports of entry have not been separated). But this article states, "At least 711 other parents of children older than 5 were not cleared to recover their children this week because they failed criminal background or parental verification checks. The parents of 46 children under 5 years of age were similarly excluded." These numbers indicate that a significant percentage of the 2,200 children were not separated from their actual "parents" or that the parents were criminals who, just like many American citizen criminals, should not have custody of the children.
10
oh. are we going to start removing children when a parent has a DUI. These are their parents. they are not applying to adopt them.
3
The whole episode of separating children from parents and then reuniting them, even using the DNA etc ,have doubled or tripled the cost to government. How efficient is our government to handle our tax payers money;first bring bad name internationally and then have plenty of monetary loss in waste of expenses. Where is the wisdom of running our country?
5
“At least 711 other parents of children older than 5 were not cleared to recover their children this week because they failed criminal background or parental verification checks. The parents of 46 children under 5 years of age were similarly excluded.”
Where and what are the details on the criminal offenses and other reasons (failed background checks) preventing reunification. Are we talking about serious offenses or traffic tickets?
9
With so much money spent the job of reuniting children with parents is not complete.So where is the efficiency in the government functioning and who is accountable for all this waste when so much is needed for poor and needy families to support them throughout the country?
7
When I hear Jeff Sessions speak about this it is painful and it hurts that the person in charge of law enforcement in the country created this policy, defends this policy gleefully, and fails to understand our own laws (calling international human rights and the US asylum process, "loop holes"). I hope the press continues to cover this every day and look forward to the time when Sessions and Nielsen face criminal charges for kidnapping.
Can any of us imagine the pain of being accused of a misdemeanor offense and as a result never seeing or finding our babies again? Once we allow due process to erode for anyone we lose it for everyone.
13
Trump keeps on proving how easy it is to break things, and how hard (or impossible) it is to try to put the pieces back together again.
What a deeply damaged - and damaging - person Trump is.
The heedless, reckless damage he's inflicted on these adults & children is unconscionable and unforgivable.
44
@L, not to mention what he’s done to you. Consider for a moment that your response is total emotion and nothing else. It’s like it hardly matters that these kids and parents are not laying dead somewhere in El Salvador, the only pain they’ll feel is the pain you’re imagining for them.
2
And now US citizens are supposed to accept that over 400 refugee children may never be reunited with their parents? This is an unfathomable disaster of our inept government's own making.
The Christian adoption agency Bethany Christian Services, an anti-choice organization with a record of coercive adoption practices, has ongoing contracts with the Department of Health and Human Services to provide refugee resettlement services.
Bethany has financial ties to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Connect the dots.
34
@Sunny
Or, Bethany Christian Services is very well equipped to handle this crisis. I have two social worker friends that work there, both incredibly caring, selfless people. West Michigan has a large Hispanic population. Betsy DeVos is not behind this - she doesn’t need the money, the hassle, or you giving her grief. I don’t care for her either, but try to inform yourself a bit better.
7
@Sunny, or 400 children who survived the unthinkable and now will have hopefully have a safer life in America with someone in a position to take care of them. It feels more sometimes from the teary reactions as if a masked gunman had just stormed a mommy and me class and started shooting with an automatic weapon.
3
@Midwest Josh I'm sure there are good people working at Bethany. It's their mission I question. This article touches on the conflicts of interest of evangelical adoption agencies. The bottom line is- what's best for the children?https://newrepublic.com/article/127311/trouble-christian-adoption-movement
A gorilla (no offense to gorillas) could have figured it out. The government never intended to reunite these families or they would have put in place a simple measure like ID bracelets. The Miller/Trump administration is cruel, vindictive and venal...(follow the money). People who seek asylum here are legally allowed to have asylum hearings to determine if they have a "well founded fear of persecution" if they return to their home countries. These children will likely have PTSD for the rest of their lives.
25
Taking children away from their families- without maintaining data on where those broken families were sent to-is kidnapping.
Federal criminal code (18 U.S.C. § 1201) makes kidnapping a serious felony offense, with prison sentences of 20 or more years, depending on prior convictions and the circumstances of the case.
32
@common sense advocate. Sorry, but that response doesn’t juxtapose very well with the name. Try, @ irrational but with heart in right place.
1
I want Democrats to explain their plan that prevents immigrants from gaming the system. How do you prevent abuse of the system - open borders?
25
@Mr. Slater Immigrants game the system regardless of the party in power. Trump and Sessions politicized it beyond belief. Open borders? I don't believe any of us want that. However, at what cost are we willing to secure those borders, and please do not insult us by preaching the Trump Wall. I ask, however, is this how America treats others? We have stooped to being no better than some dictatorship in the former Soviet bloc.
29
@Dan That is simply untrue. Soviet block ALWAYS kept track of its citizens and its system of identity cards helped make that possible.
In Most European countries citizens carry identity cards, This is something we need to have in this country too.
@Mr. Slater How about we take responsibility for the meddling we've done in the past century in Central America? Do you know the history of our unsavory actions in Guatemala and Nicaragua?
11
This is Trump’s way of thumbing his nose at the United States legal and justice systems, and to those from foreign lands he picks and chooses and discards.
Nothing will be done and he knew that going in to his inhumane zero tolerance regime.
19
Outside of the emotionalism, I find myself wondering.
Those claiming asylum, did they go through the proper channels, or did they seek to cross the border illegally and then claimed asylum when they got caught? If they are economic migrants, they have no basis for asylum.
It is also known that people send their children with coyotes--traffickers--so it is not surprising that the people claiming the children might have criminal records or might not be the real parents. They might believe their claims will get heard quicker if they have children with them.
This matter of separating children from their ostensible parents dates back to previous administrations prior to Trump and lawsuits filed by immigration rights activists. The policy was the result of a consent decree from 1997.
No one said a word back then. Very telling.
Zero tolerance is a problem? Enforcing the law is a problem?
25
@Barbara From what I heard from the ACLU who is representing many of these children, many parents with legitimate asylum claims were asked to sign away their right to seek asylum and separated from their children anyway. The process they were allowed by both international and national law was flouted by our government. It seems likely that some of these people will pay for this with their life when returned to the violent situations they were fleeing.
20
@Barbara
Many were blocked at the border when they tried to cross at official crossings and seek asylum. Others have simply been denied the hearings they are entitled to. Others were asked to sign documents they couldn't read. A number of these migrants do not speak or read Spanish but use an indigenous language. Many cannot read and have been tricked into signing documents they don't comprehend.
8
so are you defending the policy of separating children from parents? young children some as young as 3 or 4... The most powerful country on the planet has no other way to deal with immigration other than separating babies from their parents? ohh the hipocrasy...
7
The fact that parents may never be reunited with their children is disgusting, unAmerican, and should be considered a crime against humanity.
31
"On Tuesday, two siblings, 9 and 14, were abruptly flown from New York to be reunited with their mother in the Southwest — but the mother may have already been deported, according to the children’s lawyer, Priya Konings."
The heartbreak for those children - not only to be kidnapped from their mother - but then to rush across the country to meet her and find out our government LOST THEIR MOTHER?!
The data is NOT "dynamic" - as the government official told reporters. This is basic subtraction and addition. The Trump administration did NOT track who they subtracted and now can't add the numbers - the families - back together.
Cruel and incompetent.
38
@common sense advocate send the children back to their mother in her come country. Insist that the government of that country see that the mother is reunited with her children, Our consular officials should be able to see that the government carries out that obligation.
11
@common sense advocate Many of the parents refused to get their children. If a parent was deported and had children they were asked to take their children with them at that time. Many of them simply said no.
12
@ judyweller thank you for your note - because this connects directly to another comment I just wrote - whether or not people agree on immigration is not the point. No matter what their immigration stance is - nobody should believe that keeping babies and children away from their parents is legal or moral. Nobody. Our government has committed horrific crimes by taking children from their families and losing the data on where they put the different family members. They must be reunited.
Last, a note to propaganda believers that Obama opened the borders wide:
Trump himself said told Fox/O'Reilly that Obama deported "tremendous" numbers of immigrants in August 2016.
Policy differences are democratic - @judyweller and I may disagree on immigration - but we can both agree that kidnapping is not democratic or moral.
1
The tragic deportation of asylum-seekers and their separation from their children is continuing, in spite of a unanimous condemnation from around the world.
Donald Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Trump White House and the Department of Homeland Security are changing the rules, the facts and the numbers on a daily basis.
Very troubling is the recent inconsistency of Federal District Judge Dana M. Sabraw in San Diego, whose early courage slowed down the Trump-Sessions steamroller.
Judge Sabraw now seems to be saying that ICE is working very hard to solve the problem, but she also says that they are encountering difficulty.
The A.C.L.U., the victims’ other lawyers and the news media have to remind Judge Sabraw that “the problem” is one created by Trump and Sessions to curry favor with their xenophobic Republican base, in violation of U.S. and international law.
21
The data is dynamic? The truth is not.
The sloppiness and ineptitude of this program is a clear example of why this administration should no longer be allowed to form policy on National Security, they national economy, the Environment.
I wish we had the option of a No Confidence vote.
27
@Jann McCarthy
Exactly. In a Parliamentary system you have the option of a No Confidence vote and the PM must then resign. The party is defeated and an election is called. The US made a huge error by not adopting the British system. So much time and resources wasted. Too much heartbreak as a result of the US Presidential system. Too much power in the hands of one and very little recourse to get rid of a mentally ill and incompetent bully.
5
The government’s reckless and immoral behavior can be likened to an American milestone, dragging our country’s international reputation to the bottom of the sea. Every child must be reunited. No excuses.
22
This is one cruel, unthinking act by Trump which we cannot blame on Russian influence.He and the incompetents who work for him thought up this nasty scheme all by themselves.Remember the hue and cry from Republicans when Obamacare had a rocky rollout? The Republicans heaped scorn and derision.Now that their own administration has created a humanitarian crisis they are silent.Thanks to all the thinking and kind hearted people who rushed in to help the families and children They represent the best of who we are and deserve our recognition.Trump and cabinet represent the worst.
21
The people causing this mess should be jailed from the top down. The very top down. Nothing is being done to them; the only ones being punished are those who came here asking for asylum when this government simply pretends that they didn't come for that reason or that coming for asylum is against the law. Shameless!
21
Wnen actually did it become wicked for a sovereign nation to decide when others might migrate across its borders and establish residence? The rules must have changed without some of us being notified.
26
@Penseur
Frustration over illegal immigration is not an excuse for the permanent and extrajudicial separation of hundreds of children from their parents.
True respect for laws includes laws that require due process, ban cruel and unusual punishment, and the humane treatment of prisoners and detainees. "They broke the law, so we can do anything we want to them" is not an accurate statement of U.S. law.
22
@Penseur
Violating human rights and kidnapping children has always been wicked.
6
This whole court scene shows what a joke the Federal courts have become. The government's lawyers keep failing to meet the court's orders. What happens? Other than running the legal clock and the till; nothing. Everyone in a suit goes home. None of them go to jail. The courts are a joke. If this was more than an expensive show the heads of the agencies involved would be in jail.
12
Where can I volunteer to data match kids, or escort them back to their parents?
10
It's a failure , plain and simple. The Trump administration--the rigid thoughtless who largely surround and advise him--make too many mistakes. And this was such a cruel mistake, an inhumane act that they said could very easily corrected. They said they knew exactly where each child and each parent could be located. Such damn liars. Do you trust the numbers , their statistics? Trump, the constant liar, is becoming too authoritarian, thinking and acting like the dictators he prefers to democratic leaders . Ruining the entire lives of so many innocent children, starting a bestial policy, and then unable to correct it! I dread the amount of power we have given to this incompetent imbecile. He by himself can decide when, where to drop nuclear bombs. Pray!!
18
This is the work of a brutal regime. It is a permanent stain in American history. If you don't vote them out of office you are complicit with these crimes against humanity.
28
Very well put, and dead on.
3
@Mark If we were a brutal regime as you maintain you would never dare express this specific opinion so freely.
1
I'm no lawyer, so maybe someone can answer these questions for me: How is separating a child from its parent(s), sending it hundreds to thousands of miles away from the parent, and then deporting the parent while the child is still in someone else's hands different from kidnapping? Our government did this, so who should be prosecuted, fined and jailed if found guilty? Trump? Sessions? Who?
27
@Stephen Beard
The people now in charge are committing many, many crimes, but we expect politicians to be crooked and rarely prosecute them. Especially when they have a loud and public voice with non-too-smart supporters joining in, supporters blind to all the criminal and unethical actions. Politics is a field today where unscrupulous people can feather their nest with gold.
7
@Stephen Beard US law does NOT allow the incarceration of children. When a mother is convicted of a crime and must go to jail, social services steps in to deal with the children. That is the way the law works for US citizens and illegal aliens.
In Europe the law do allow children, especially the very young, to be incarcerated with their mother. The Older children are allowed visitation rights to the jailed parent. Of course if there is not family member to assume responsibility then that countries social services step in. That is why there are orphanages in many countries.
6
The federal government did not meet their court mandated deadline to reunite children who had been needlessly torn from their families. What should the consequence be for those who ordered this cruel plan? They announced Zero Tolerance for those who came to this country without papers they were unable to get. Well, then the Trump administration should get Zero Tolerance for their failure to meet the conditions of this order.
20
Could there be any better illustration of the Trump administration’s “malevolence combined with incompetence” than what is STILL going on at our Southwest border? As an American, the shame I feel is beyond words.
22
Zero Tolerance will be our domestic Abu Ghraib. It will claim a shameful permanence in our nations' story .People around the world will see Zero Tolerance as the dark reality of America , personified by an unhinged President , which has finally supplanted the inspirational promise of the Statue of Liberty.
17
I find myself questioning why, when 68,000 unaccompanied minors flooded our borders, there wasn't any response like this. The only conclusion is that this is more about Trump than those poor children.
19
@AACNY
It can be about poor children, and also about a 13 yr. tax cheat who won't release his tax records, or bank records from The Bank of Cyprus and Deutsche Bank. Or a list of those who visit him often at Mar-a-Lago, or a list of which plutocrats are part of the shell companies washing money through Trump Tower buying apts. which remain empty. So much winning by plutocrats; so much losing by ordinary taxpayers.
This should never have happened in the first place, and was against domestic and international law.
Of course, I want to hear that every single child has been reunited with their parent(s), however I now want to see ALL of the people responsible for breaking the law held responsible.
The ''story'' is not over 4th estate. Stay on it, and do not be led by the next shiny object/tweet. Do your job.
26
@FunkyIrishman The law was not broken. If the parent is convicted of a crime and goes to jail, the children are dealt with by social services if there is no responsible family member to take care of them. That is the law for US citizens and illegal aliens. Plenty of US citizens lose their children too - it is just that the ACLU and the Press don't write about it or get involved.
9
@ judyweller, we must resign ourselves to the obvious, there is no means by which the two sides can discuss this issue, likewise any others where Trump is involved. People have positioned themselves and the cannon fire has begun. Words only fall on deafened ears.
@ judyweller
Crossing a border illegally is a misdemeanor, not a felony; we do not imprison people for misdemeanors; we do not take their children away; if you appear in Court for a traffic ticket, your children are not taken away from you.
What does the government mean when they say a parent has a criminal record and the child can't be returned? What is the standard? Many people with criminal records have children and many successfully raise them, so are we talking people convicted of murder or shoplifting?
25
Very good point. I bet in most cases it’s minor offenses. The government is simply looking for excuses not to return the children to their parents.
3
I hope Trump is asked to talk about this every day for the rest of his life.
16
The whole point of 'zero tolerance' was to be a cruel and inhumane as possible. The Trump Administration was sending a message.
It's a crime against humanity, the International Court of Justice should begin a case immediately.
24
Will we ever find out what happens to those who were deported, once they returned to their home country? So many lines of this tragedy to follow up on...the long-term psychological damage to both children and parents, the fear and distrust engendered by merely approaching the border, death upon return to their homes, and on and on. If there is karma, may it be visited in huge quantities on the people responsible for this fiasco.
13
No surprise the Trump administration couldn't reunite all the families in a timely manner. They never intended to do it in the first place and consequently had no provisions in place before the judge's order.
Not only did the administration fail on a grand scale, it was maliciously unlawful in separating most families in the first place. Remember, seeking asylum is not a crime, even if it's subsequently denied.
The judge should grant asylum to the entire class of asylum seekers, excluding felons, to teach Trump et al a lesson. They'll be unlikely to make the same mistake again.
15
I agree as was previously stated this needs to stay on the front page until this has been completely cleared. The kids should not have been separated from parents in the first place. This is not who we are nor should we aspire to be. These people should be treated with some level of humanity.
13
Please keep this on the front page and continue to follow the story, including the more difficult one to cover, those parents who were deported and forced to leave children behind. How old are those children? What is happening to them now? If we want to have an international, humane society, the story will have to be followed across the border.
And I wonder why the immigrants who were waiting for their children were not allowed showers, phones, or religious services? The core problem of treating them as dangerous criminals needs to be addressed. I can't imagine how I would survive this situation as a parent. Empathy should not be so difficult to come by.
51
@Chris W
You've never lived in Guatemala or Nicaragua, have you? Ever studied what we've done to this countries? Ever traveled there or known someone who lived there?
@Chris W
You are assuming that the status quo was safe for these parents and kids. Every parent will grab their kids and run from violence.
@Chris W
Let's play out a hypothetical...
Imagine if an Ohio gang told your two boys that they needed to join the gang or else they would be killed, and as an incentive let's assume the gang attacked and beat both you and your wife to drive home the threat. The local police and government were in the pocket of the gang, so you can't go to them for help.
Now, let's also assume that Pennsylvania is a safe state that the gang can't reach you in, but they don't want YOUR kind crossing their border, and have set up all sorts of draconian laws to prevent dirty Ohioians from moving there.
Would you stay in Ohio and watch your boys possibly get murdered, or would you flee to Pennsylvania and take your chances? Pretty sure you would take your chances in Pennsylvania.
For every hour past deadline, Trump should spend 24 hours in a lockup. No Twitter and no phone until every single abducted child is reunited with parents.
35
After they are re-united, the entire family should be deported together, immediately.
29
Sorry but they have asylum claims. Why do you hate the law? Why do you think brown people have no rights? Sad.
6
@Olivia
Its NOT illegal to come to the US and seek asylum.
This episode is shameful. Living outside my country, I am embarrassed and saddened by this despicable administration. The whole world is watching. Where is your heart?
I would think first compassion could be used by all Americans.
11
@Olivia
Yes, Olivia, we certanly must move forward on a program of language reform. Your proposed new meaning supplied to the word "refugee" is just the sort of initiative the Administration needs.
4
This whole despicable chapter of American history did not have to happen. This was absolutely shameful and cooked up by men who had no game plan whatsoever except to hurt and scare immigrants fleeing the horrors of their own countries, only to be met with horrors here. Trump has no shame or feelings of empathy. This is observable from the way he acts and what he says. But for other Republicans to go along with the so-called "zero tolerance" policy show just how immoral the Republicans have become. Lives have been irreparably altered. What this country has done to these people is unimaginable. AND, in addition, how much did this cost the American people? Follow the money, journalists. Where were these people housed, who were the people in charge who were hired to mismanage all this and what's the final tally? Yet another failed venture from the man who's a very stable genius with the best people! What, oh what is it going to take to rid ourselves of this horrible excuse for a President?
50
@Kathryn - I am an immigrant, I came here legally. Shame on those people who try to come here illegally. They are criminals and they put their own children into danger. They all should be deported and let them sort out their kids on the other side of the border - until they learn how to immigrate here legally. - And if YOU have a "moral issue" with the enforcement of our laws, go and try to change those laws.
17
@Les It is not illegal to come here to ask for asylum.
1
The despicable chapter wouldn’t have happened if President Obama didn’t go out of his way with his ridiculous ‘catch & release’ program to enthusiastically welcome all illegal aliens and their human trafficking herders. He assured them that laws mean nothing in the United States. Also sharing responsibility are all those who support illegal aliens who think nothing of using their kids as pawns in the ‘game’. As for all the crocodile tear dripping folks wailing about ‘immigrants’ escaping “horrors” south of the border, I’m sure there is some of that, but having lived in Mexico for 40 years, most of them are playing you for chumps. For unless individuals seek out the drug trade in Mexico, life is actually quite nice down there. It’s true the murder rate in rural Mexico is staggering, indicative of how large of the population is willing to do anything, including murder and maim, for money. So sure, let’s let any and all in without any vetting at all.
11
I truly hope the Trump administration re-evaluates the manner in which they handle these children and return them to their parents. These are real human beings seeking refuge from poverty-stricken lives, only to be met with cruel treatment once they cross the border. As someone with immigrant ancestors, it hurts me to see these children face oppression when they mean no harm to anyone or anything, they simply want an escape and a bright future for their family. My wish is that the individuals that mistreat these children reflect on their actions as well. Trafficking vulnerable children is unacceptable and should be stopped immediately. My prayers are with all of these children.
17
@Mahli At least you admit the truth. These people are economic migrants and do not qualify for asylum. If you feel you have too much, you always have the right to sell all of your possessions and send the proceeds to help poor people in poor countries. You don't have the right to give my tax dollars and my country to whomever you choose. We elect government to pass laws. These people broke the law and don't qualify to stay in America. You said it. They are fleeing poverty stricken lives.
16
@Michael Green We actually have court systems to adjudicate the truth. We don't just get to guess at it ourselves. Until these people have presented their claims for asylum, we don't know what kind of migrants they are. All persons in this country are entitled to due process -- which is notice and an opportunity to be heard.
@December You don't get to apply for Asylum unless you can pass the Credible Fear Test - most illegal aliens fail this test.
Two visuals come into my head:(1) Trump holding up his "Executive Order" with its kindergarten big maker slashes as a signature, and with his dufus grin and (2) wailing toddlers and babies, separated from their parents, thanks to Trump's EO.
This man has no concept of the evil he is foisting upon humanity. And he is in the Oval Office, nary a care except for his tv ratings.
Trump's reign of terror must end. Vote.
29
@Katherine
Trump is now on TV again, ranting about something. He has the most dissolute face of any President in my lifetime. He is always on TV, except when he is riding around in a golf cart in FL. When was the last time we saw an elegant gracious man address us from the WH? When was the last time we saw a real family in the WH, bound by real love for each other? When was the last time we had a President who spoke to us, rather than shouted at us?
12
@Linda Miilu Well, less than two years ago, actually -- although it seems like a lifetime.
@December
It is an emotional and intellectual lifetime ago. As the grifter would say, Sad.
Clearly the incompetent administration and its minions in several cabinet departments completely messed up this entire escapade in their evil minded haste to intimidate and punish people for just seeking asylum. These are not illegals sneaking across the border; they are simply people searching for safety and a refuge for their family. Trump's angry attitude and oppression will be a millstone around his neck for the rest of his life. This is certainly NOT how a real president should act.
20
Sorry, but they knew that things might not turn out as anticipated when they took their first step, which can be viewed as cognizant child abuse.
More important, this goes to the heart of the problem: America's southern border is an attractive nuisance and should be protected as such--a very high fence. Works for backyard swimming pools.
31
@Alice's Restaurant
Hard to ignore that thousands of foreign parents would willingly send their kids here without any supervision given the chance. After all, that's just what they did in 2014. Those kids were flung into communities without any warning to local municipalities. This uproar is pure political theater.
17
People are allowed to request political asylum. It is not illegal.
1
I suppose you don't realize that leaving the children in the unsafe areas where they started might be regarded as "cognizant child abuse".
11
Here's Trump's pattern: First, throw a bomb into any policy or program crafted by his predecessor, loudly insulting him and loudly complaining about what a mess he was handed. Second, craft some ill-conceived, half-baked plan based on the last piece of advice given to him by whomever he currently favors and ignoring the collective advice and wisdom of legions of respected experts and career diplomats. Third, ignore the often horrific results of his actions and do nothing until the polls indicate that America demands action. Finally, claim to have single-handedly solved the problems caused by his incompetence and ignorance, declaring victory and again blaming and throwing shade on Obama, Democrats, the media, Robert Mueller, and any Republicans who have dared to question his Godlike omniscience. Charlottesville, North Korea, G-8 Summit, Helsinki. . .for these history will judge him. But for the systematic destruction of families and the creation of hundreds of orphans, he will one day stand before the Throne of God and be judged.
34
Separating children from parents happens all the time with criminals and their families, this isn't unheard of. A lot of the parents are to blame for putting their children in these situations in the first place.
30
Because of course mentally and physically traumatizing a child, probably leaving lifetime damage, is a trivial consequence compared to the monstrous offense that child has committed by allowing its parent to bring it into the USA without following all the proper procedures...
(And that's without even looking at the appalling evil of deporting a child's parent with no plan and apparently no intention to ever reunite the family.)
22
Wrong on at least two counts. Parents that are incarcerated still have visitation with their children and the parent and child each know where the other is. Asylum seekers must enter the United States to request asylum which means the parent did NOT commit a criime.
25
@Don Q
You are talking about Americans prosecuted for breaking the law. Yes, that's what normally happens to Americans who break the law, and, yes, the damage to their families is well-documented.
If these incarcerated Americans are responsible for their families' suffering, then certainly these immigrant parents are equally responsible. Interestingly, critics are loathe to hold them accountable. Much more gratifying to rage against Trump.
8
Of all the destructive things heaped on this nation by the Trump administration, the permanent emotional destruction of vulnerable children is beyond despicable. The indifference to families frantic for safety and hope, only to lose one another, should make everyone sick to their stomachs; and it does. It's the coldest, hateful, racist, bigoted and evil dismission of human beings - infants, little kids, parents, frantic people -- since the herding of people to dig their own graves before being shot and falling in those vast pits of bodies. The president's reference to asylum-seeking families as "an infestation" is right out of Josef Goebbels' operating manual. The pain inflicted on these people has been done with less thought and attention than Trump gives to daily receipts of wealthy foreigners staying at the Trump-Post Office Hotel.
38
@drjillshackford: You are right, and I think Trump's indifference to *anyone* other than himself is the bottom line. That, and his cruelty.
I don't think Trump even cares about his own children very much (except for his "golden child" Ivanka) - he is disconnected from others in a profoundly disturbing way. And all of his children reflect being raised by such a screwed-up father. I wouldn't trade places with any of them for all the money in the world.
6
@L If you don't really know what the characteristics are of a sociopath -- an old, but understood, reference to individuals with "Antisocial Personality Disorder" p l e a s e google it and look at a few from legitimate sources. Mayo Clinic-anything is perfectly readable and comprehensible. It could easily be his biography. In a simple sentence, DJT is the center of the universe and everyone else exists to serve his vast
superiority & control over his domain.
Please do this. Everything you said is spot-on! For understanding, please read why that so.
There is no great migration of asylum seekers. The numbers comparative to previous years have diminished. Mexico is doing better and many are returning. But Trump like to keep his base well fed with hate mongering red meat disguised as following the letter of the law. Remember, he repeatedly talked about the caravans/ groups of people as they were traveling; then he and his
stooges sat, and plotted how to put a hurt on the vulnerable, weak and desperate brown people..I'll keep saying it - the plan for reunification was 'NO PLAN' thereby inflict as much pain as possible on babies, children, and parents. Then when this administrstion is pinned down on camera, and questioned they have no answers; they give no concrete info, there is no coordination, they spitout stupid talking points trying to double down that we are as stupid as they are and will drink their koolaid. There has to some accountability for this administration. They should not get off Scott free. Because they plotted to cause harm. Children will still be alone tomorrow morning - reporters are saying hundreds.
28
@Sa Ha Your logic is since illegal immigration has decreased, we don't need to worry about it and should ignore the problem. I believe rape and murder have decreased 75% over the last decades. Does that mean we don't need to reduce them further? We should tolerate rapists because there are fewer of them? If you say the crimes are not comparable, I disagree. But neither of us get to make the laws. The Congress has passed laws and it is for the President to enforce those laws. This is the first President in 50 years to take that job seriously.
12
Michael Green....no logic just real facts.The great emergency of stopping an influx of people crossing our borders is just not true, the numbers are down - not increasing. Also it's not stopping people fleeing for a better chance at life either. The President Trumps m.o. red meat to the base, instill and stoke fear, ie,' all mexicans are rapist and murderers'.., and his rhetoric is meant to poison and diminish the humanity of brown people and justify and have license to deliberately, systematically abuse and harm. Why in the world did they not think there would be a sustained outcry around the world?
1
@Michael Green
"Illegal Immigration" is no longer a legal term; no humans are "illegal". Those crossing the border are called "Undocumented Migrants", meaning they have no papers to present at a Hearing. They are given Hearings; different from a Criminal Court proceeding. I can't speak to your knowledge of the law, so I am addressing your personal opinion.
The people who carried out these separations are real people, public employees, who have names and addresses.
I wish I knew who they were so I could write to each one to urge that they develop a conscience. I would urge them to resist fascism from within. Horrible policies can not be carried out if decent people refuse to act.
28
@mary
It will haunt them for the rest of their days.
5
The Trump Administration is cruel beyond belief and incompetent as well. It managed to deport more than 400 parents without their children and has told the court that it has no obligation to do anything more about either the parents or the children left behind. In other words, it is trafficking children. The judge in this case has kept the government's feet to the fire. We can only hope he will continue to do so
31
@BarbT The administration would have loved to deport the children with the parents but the courts have blocked them from doing it. I'm sure you know that. Dishonest indignation. What you really want is for the parents and children be to be released into the United States with a court appearance in 2 to 3 years.
10
There is no excuse for the inhumane and cruel treatment these asylum seekers have been shown. Trump and his staff responsible for this have committed crimes against humanity and should have to answer for it in a court of law. I have never been so ashamed of my gov't.
34
I have question? What happens to all the children who can't be reunited that are left in this country. I'm hearing they go into the foster system, then get put up for adoption. Are they granted U. S. citizenship?
10
@Ja Koe
How about "are they traumatized"? Do they understand what has happened to their parents? Do they think they have been abandoned? What are the long term consequences of this barbaric behavior, managed by the despicable Stephen Miller? Isn't he the guy who was known in high school to drop trash on the hallway floors so the janitors "would have real work to do"? We are punishing people who are fleeing dangerous home countries, subject to drug gang violence, gangs our drug trade supports. There is so much corruption in this Administration, it will be written about for decades by historians, worse than even Jackson's Trail of Tears forcing Indians off their lands so oil interests could drill for oil, and pay no royalties to those who actually owned that land by treaties and rights. Cruelty and corruption on steroids; a shame which will dwarf the Japanese Internment camps.
25
@Ja Koe Generally they are placed with relatives who aided in their illegal entry and the government gives them money for their care.
9
What a mess! Maybe it is time to have a United Nation inquiry about the situation because the Trump administration has no credibility and poor people are still suffering from this cruel act! Shame on you Trump, Session and the GOP; this will be in the USA history for ever.
33
This would have never happened if the people at the border were caucasian immigrants from Norway.
26
@mrpisces Caucasian immigrants from Norway wouldn’t enter our country illegally. They’re law abiding people.
8
One of my Norwegian ancestors apparently entered the U.S. illegally through Canada. And back then Norwegians were discriminated against here.
7
That's right. Norwegians are law-abiding people. Now, Latin Americans on the other hand, as we all know,...
A perfect demonstration of what's going wrong in your country (and, sadly, more and more western societies in general), thank you for providing this "perfect" example.
10
What student of American history could ever have envisioned a president like trump? Perhaps of all the many egregious activities he's inspired nothing quite compares to his misanthropic separation of children from their parents. This is a truly a crime against humanity. And how bungled the whole criminal procedure has been! In their rush to obey the god-king trump, they didn't keep proper records about these children and now hundreds are still stranded. Cruel, messy, impulsive evil.
25
Apparently the government wants recognition for meeting a deadline. Clap. Clap. No, wait, let me take that back. The government created a problem. They created it with malice aforethought. They, suddenly, with no indication that this was the new protocol, made what had been vaguely permissable outright criminal. One day getting across the border, albeit difficult, was doable. If arressted there was still a possibility of asylum or at least a forum for pleading a case for asylum. Then, in a split second, in the space of a speech it becomes a heinous criminal act where things such as parental rights are erased and everyone is arrested and thrown into jail -- adults and children alike. They separated children from their families with NO PLAN for reunification. None. These people struggling their way over so many thousands of miles could not plan for this change in policy. The administration could have said the situation was going to change and give a date so people would understand the new situation. Zero tolerance. Kids will be taken. Come at your own risk. But not only did they institute the policy with no warning, not only did they continue to separate children and their families for a very long time, they had to scramble to come up with enough housing not just for the adullts who were being jailed but they had to scramble to find housing for all the children. What were they think? That this solution they so glibly designed had no human consequences? Did they really ima
15
@Jo Trafford- Totally agree. On the ground--Trump's cynical policy has had border agents force asylum seekers through certain ports of entry. The moment they step foot on U.S. soil as directed by border agents, they are hit with a misdemeanor (or felony) charge. Based on this criminal charge, the children are taken from their parents and categorized as "unaccompanied" and moved into detention centers. Some in Texas have been given drugs morning and night without the permission of their parents and beaten. Some detainees have been kept in a prison. The Trump administration's separation and immigration policies need to stopped. And enough funds to help these traumatized children and their parents needs to become available immediately.
8
The beaucratic kidnappers return half of their hostages and congratulate themselves on a job well done. I can't believe their shamelessness.
24
Earlier this month, Judge Sabraw basically undermined expectations by characterizing the government's responsibility as "the enormity of the undertaking".
This spring, historically lower numbers were arriving; and still Trump decided to use "zero tolerance" to send a message to his base apparently (because the arrivals were unaware).
Thousands of children, toddlers that can't communicate, breast-feeding infants, and still Trump refuted need for additional judges to speed-up processing for family unit.
Today, the Trump Adminstration expressed its commitment to responsiveness:
Conference call with reporters.
Unnamed government official.
"The data is dynamic" NON-ANSWER as to WHY government progress is now counted in children rather than parents, a reversal from prior reports.
Obviously, Nielson and Azar HAD NOT created and coordinated A FAIL-SAFE LEVEL PROCEDURE for reunification / tracking.
Their Non-Plan (we can now call "Zero Accountability") is the White House's disgraceful performance on behalf of the People.
17
At the eulogies of all of these evil Republicans who have brought this inhumane and evil situation to life, I hope all of those mourning their deaths will also know of the Republicans' dire deeds. This is true particularly for Trump and Sessions.
16
@dolly patterson I agree 3 years of this is too long.
4
To lay it out in terms that Donald Trump would pretend to understand, how much did this cruel, horrible "mistake" cost the American tax payers? Setting aside the psychological damage this did both to parents and children, wouldn't it have been cheaper to leave them together while cases were being reviewed?
This is not what most Americans would ever have allowed to happen at all.
18
@dutchiris - "The government pays a private jail contractor about $320 dollars per night — as much as a five-star hotel — to detain a mother and her children in what ICE calls a family residential center....Compare that to an electronic ankle monitor at $4.12 a day....The Family Case Management program, a pilot project used case workers in five U.S. cities to help migrants navigate the immigration court system. The program cost less than $10 a day and had a 99 percent success rate with court appearances and ICE check-ins. ICE cancelled the program last year.
https://www.npr.org/2018/07/18/629496174/alternatives-to-detention-are-c...
11
@Ann
The Program should have found a way for Sessions to make a profit, big mistake.
As long as the poor, the lower middle class, the middle class and the upper middle class are concerned with social issues, the money for the very rich gets taken care of-- 1 trillion in debt so far, to give additional money to those that don't need it. Indifference for social justice, for democracy for the people for a republic where representatives represent us.
11
@4Average Joe Economics IS a social issue.
4
The reports of what our governemnt is doing to these children and families should remain in a prominent spot on your front page every day until it is resolved. Our governemnt has committed grievous crimes of kidnapping, child abuse, deception and entrapment. The people who devised and carried out these policies should be held accountable and punished for these crimes.
What's even more ironic, is that the families who risk their lives to come here are probably the people we should most want to have in our country. 99.9% of them would place a high value on real freedom and be more than willing to work hard at almost any job to become contributing members of our society.
We need a coherent, humane, immigration policy. What we have now is criminal.
24
@Donald Bermont
This reminds me of the refusal to admit Jews fleeing Hitler's Third Reich; we sent them back to certain death. Now, we are sending families and children back to drug infested, violent gangs, corrupt lawless States. How many of them will survive? How many of the left behind children will grow up believing their parents abandoned them? Barbarity; cruelty, sociopathic behavior on the part of a United States government.
12
@Linda Miilu - Well, most cities of the United States are "drug infested, violent gangs, corrupt, lawless", so what's your point?
@Les
I don't know where you live or what you've seen, but the biggest drug problems are now in rural areas. The cities are vibrant, diverse, creative, and that is where the economy is booming. Sure there are problems, but this administration is doing nothing to address them.
Don't blame the White House policy... put the blame where it belongs On the parents of the kids. They were the ones who crossed illegally dragging their litter of kids with them. They knew full well they would be separated. OK now lets see The parents get deported..... how about posting the names of the kids being held on a list hung up at the border.... simply state if this is your kid tell the agent and he will make sure you can pick the kid (or kids) up at the port of entry and then you go home.... no asylum or visa.... just take your kid and go back where you came from. Those unclaimed kids go up for adoption in 30 days of posting of list.
21
You are a cold cold man Mr. Cunnane. Life must be pretty simple in your balck and white, good versus evil world. You are who has emerged from the shadows in this presidency. I am sure your children love you and maybe you are even a good father or brother or son. But I pray you are never faced with a choice such as those these parents have been faced with. Do you have a daughter? No, wait, I wouldn't go there because you would not have the capacity to imagine what these souls have witnessed. It's a good thing you live in such a forgiving country. You would be crushed in a world like where these "criminals" have come from.
8
@Bill Cunnane So, to be clear, their parents, who almost universally presented themselves to border patrol at a legal crossing point and asked for asylum, those are the ones we should blame? No! I blame you and your hate.
4
"litter of kids"?
Please do not imply that children or immigrants are animals.
1
Once again trump plays games with desperate children's lives.
For the last 2 years he has maintained that the meeting at Trump Tower with the Russians was about "adoptions of orphans in Russia". He used those desperate children to hide behind, because not once, ever, has he ever shown any care for any child anywhere on this planet - including his own children.
Shame on every one of those sick people.
But this is a thousand times worse: A thousand children gone? Disappeared? Shuffled off to some cult? Stuck in some pipeline to Middle-east brothels? Being experimented on?
No - NOTHING is too grim and hideous to speculate on!
These children were indifferently torn from their parents, they were casually put in cages. They never had showers. Did they get food?
This is comparable to the treatment of families in the Third Reich. Torn apart. No identification. Now they are being told that they are "INELIGIBLE" to be re-united with mothers and fathers.
I get it that trump doesn't give a fig about his children.
But trump is not the one who is hiding these children.
Those children have caretakers that WE are paying for.
Those people know where those children are.
I call on the United Nations to come here.
There are crimes being done by the highest in this land.
Come here, I beg you, and find out where those children are gone.
Find their parents.
I call on the United Nations and all decent countries to enter this land and find these parents and children!
I beg you.
Please.
29
This is the biggest crime of the Trump administration. It is an atrocity that will be chronicled in future history books. Only about half of the children have been reunited, if some 3,000 were originally taken.
That one little boy was returned to his mother bruised and sick is alarming. There have been stories about drugged children, those who were not bathed, who had lice.
If children in a normal household were treated like this, there would be charges of child abuse.
If children were physically taken from their families, normally there would be charges of kidnapping.
In what universe do Trump officials and supporters think this cruelty was anything reflecting a normal governmental action? There is no precedent. Who deliberately harms children like this but sadistic psychopaths?
This Trump Trail of Tears will scar the children involved forever, will orphan many of them, and will damage the United States as an advocate of global human rights.
44
@smb This US government doesn't even bother to pretend they advocate for global human rights. That's why they withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council.
17
@Maureen Hawkins - The US also refuses to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Children--along with Somalia, the only other country failing to sign.
This Zero Tolerance fiasco will go down in American history as one of its darkest periods. The GOP will lie and attempt to shun responsibility. We can never, never let them get away with that.
29
@pb - Yeah, compare that to the 10 million Native Americans exterminated by the earlier US governments.
4
@Les
Try to stay in the moment; we are not addressing the Trail of Tears. We are addressing detention camps, and the recent appearance of a toddler at a Hearing who said she was from pizza when asked about her country of origin.
I would like my liberal friends to answer some basic questions.
On what authority did this so called judge decide that his personal opinion overides U S law?
On what Authority did this judge order the taxpayers to pay for his personal whim?
Why didn't our Southern neighbor provide asylum?
This is another example of out of control judicial activism that needs to be curbed.... and before squeals of protest...let me give a hypothetical... suppose one of the five hundred federal judges tomorrow issues a nation wide ban on abortions or any other social issues... is this how our federal system works?
20
@obummer (1) It's not a personal opinion, it's a legal opinion. (2) I'm not your friend and not a liberal, but we do have a constitution and a role for the judiciary. Nothing of that was violated, just you don't agree with it. And since you are not a federal judge, your statement is the only one you cited that is a matter of opinion.
17
@obummer (1) It's not a personal opinion, it's a legal opinion. We have a constitution and a judiciary and nothing of those were violated here. (2) Your statements are the only thing you cited that are in fact a personal opinion. (3) I'm not a liberal but I do have friends who were in Japanese internment camps, and this is worse. (4) If a federal judge did do one of the things you mention, the issue could be brought before another court, likely all the way to SCOTUS, which the administration - or you - are free to do. But you notice they did not. They are trying to end this mess of their own making as fast as they can, as it has them in dutch with the voters.
10
It would have been infinitely better to either:
-detain the children together with their parents until their case is adjudicated and most likely rejected for lack of merit (but cannot be done because of the Flores v. Reno Settlement Agreement).
-immediately deport those who cross the border illegally, families intact. (cannot be done unless voluntary, again because of some or another ruling).
-Or build a wall would to prevent irregular crossings in the first place
It is obvious to some that the advocates, including some advocate judges, want nothing less than open borders and to allow permanent entry to any and all who want to come here.
Yesterday in the NYT, we saw a young Swedish woman prevent a failed asylum seeker from being deported, by refusing to sit down on the commercial flight to Istanbul, claiming without proof that the failed asylum seeker would be killed if he returned home to Afghanistan. This has happened a few times before, and is evidently a new tactic. Believe me, if über liberal Sweden determines that an asylum case lacks merit, it lacks merit. It a country of laws, this is determined by the authorities and not a young advocate who dramatically prevented the deportation by taking the laws into her own hands because she did not like the result of the ruling.
This just illustrates the tremendous obstacles that exist in enforcing immigration law and border control, even though most people want controlled borders and not open borders.
18
@Philly If you believe a wall will stop people from crossing the border, I've got a lovely bridge I'd like to sell you.
13
@Philly
You are confusing Sweden with Norway which did open its borders until it could no longer absorb the thousands who wanted entry. Sweden never opened its doors; Sweden's history in WWII is not stellar either, compared to Norway and The Netherlands. Don't hold Sweden as a benchmark for humanity, or even as part of the sacrifices made during WWII.
6
@Philly - No one is advocating for open borders. We have laws allowing asylum seekers a hearing to have their case heard and evidence evaluated.
You might also want to review this:
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/08/asians-now-outpace-...
3
So, the judge orders the government to meet a deadline. Let’s assume they don’t; and that is a distinct possibility. What’s the penalty for missing that deadline? I haven’t seen anything anywhere as to what the consequences are, if any.
14
@Mark R.--
I've read and heard nothing about any discussion by this judge of consequences for a failure to unite parents with children by tonight's deadline. What I have seen is this judge has avoided being too confrontational with the government to avoid having the appeallate court get involved.
2
@Bjhlodnicki The judge could find the agency heads in contempt and both fine and jail them.
@Mikee
Wishful thinking but highly doubtful.
As I've said, I've heard nothing re: consequences.
The 7/16 NYT article "Deported From U.S., and Picking Up Pieces of a Shattered Dream" said that a Guatemalan family decided their economic situation and lives, in general, would improve if they moved to the U.S. Instead of applying for green cards, they decided to cross illegally. They knew that if they were caught that they could ask for asylum, and that having children with them would mean that they would be released, in the U.S., until their hearing could be held. They also knew that immigration courts were so backlogged that it would be years until their case could be heard.
"Until the Trump administration began to separate families at the border, exceptions to criminal prosecutions of anyone crossing the border unlawfully were generally made for adults traveling with their minor children. Central Americans were familiar with this practice, and it became part of their planning."
Unfortunately for this family and many others, Trump decided to start detaining all adults who were being caught illegally crossing the border, even it that meant separating them from their children. He knew that continuing the policy of “catch & release” was encouraging more illegal migration.
What can be done to discourage people from moving here illegally?
25
How nice if it was as simple as applying for a visa in their home country. It might help if the government wasn't corrupt. It would certainly help if they could get a visa at all. The level of corruption and violence in countries like Guatemala is staggering. We have nothing in our lives to compare it to. The government controls their citizens through fear, intimidation and lack of education. Here is an example. In the remote parts of the jungle in Guatemala the government allocates $10 per YEAR per student for supplies including text books. The average level of education is 6th grade because after that it becomes cost prohibitive to go to school. It is much easier to intimidate uneducated people.
It is easy to pass judgement from the comfort of your living room sitting in front of your flat screen TV with your air conditioner blasting. Spend some time walking in the shoes of the immigrant. Just for a minute.
20
Better living conditions in their native countries.
12
@Jane K
Generations of Guatemalans, Salvadorans, and Hondurans have had such large families that their countries are over-populated. Each generation, the family farm has to be subdivided between all of the grown children and their families. There are only so many times a farm can be divided before it becomes too small to feed a family, especially one with many children.
To make matters worse, a dry corridor runs through wide swaths of the 3 countries, so there is never much water for crops. The Dry Corridor dries out even more during El Nino years. The U.N. issued a report last August, "FOOD SECURITY AND EMIGRATION - Why people flee and the impact on family members left behind in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras” which said that emigration peaks during El Nino years when people need to find work to earn enough to eat and to help people back home sustain themselves.
Donor countries could introduce crops that require less water, help build systems which would catch and store every drop of moisture, introduce micro-loans to allow people to start or expand small businesses, make family planning available to everyone, and support the local school systems.
While these programs are being instituted, we could contribute food to desperate families in the Dry Corridor so they would not need to emigrate. We could send some of the food our government will be buying from farmers whose sales will be hurt by tariffs.
1
I am afraid the babies, some taken to Bethany Christian Services in Michigan, a foster and adoption agency supported in great part by the DeVos family, are lost to their mothers. Some were as young as three months, almost certainly nursing. And if by some miracle the babies are returned to their mothers, will they be able to nurse?
My heart aches for the mothers and it aches in an entirely different way toward Jeff Sessions. The Methodist Church needs to expel him from their membership.
59
@Kristine Walls -This sounds like a crime to me, taking away (kidnapping) babies from their mothers. The Bethany Christian Services should have a record of these children and get in touch with the government about returning the children to their mothers.
These asylum seekers are human beings, they are not animals and they have human rights. It's unbelievable how Trump and Sessions are handling this matter, like Nazis or Stalinists.
Trump is a cruel, incompetent madman. He creates chaos everywhere he goes and needs to be voted out of office.
13
@Kristine Walls
Thank you for sharing the information. I hope the Times follows up. They need to be returned to their mothers. Removing such young children, completely defenseless, unable to speak, is unimaginable. This group may mean well, and will find good care for the children, but the parents did not intend to leave them in the U.S. The connection with the DeVos family is also suspicious. The parents have a right to have their children returned.
10
Not true!! Hundreds and hundreds of children determined “ineligible” for reunification. What is that supposed to mean and who are they to make that decision??? The USA has committed an inexcusable and disgraceful act in separating children from their parents. It’s shameful and embarrassing. Why isn’t Stephen Miller and the rest of the White House anti-immigration crew being brought to task for this?
29
@nps They deported a lot of them, making them ineligible. How convenient.
4
No country has open borders, and ours certainly should not, either. Most Americans welcome legal immigrants, but not illegals. US laws allow foreigners (aliens) to seek entry and citizenship. Those who do not follow these laws are in this country illegally (i.e., illegal aliens) and should be detained and deported, as is policy in other countries, too.
We cannot support our own citizens: the poor, the ill, elderly, disabled, veterans, et al. It is thus utterly impossible for US taxpayers to support the hundreds of millions of foreigners who would like to come here.
The cruelty lies not in detaining and deporting illegal aliens, or separating children from parents who have broken our laws. What is cruel, unethical and probably illegal is encouraging parents to bring their children on the dangerous trek to US borders and teaching adults how to game the system to enter the US by falsely claiming asylum, persecution, abuse, etc. Indeed, many believe that subjecting children to such an arduous journey constitutes child abuse.
Abolishing ICE makes sense only to advocates of open borders, a policy no nation will ever accept.
If open borders is made a plank of the Democratic Party we are doomed to lose the midterm and 2020 elections.
25
We can support veterans, the poor, the disabled. We cannot do it all, but we can do better. We have chosen instead to prioritize tax cuts and the financing of the military instead.
15
We absolutely can afford to support our own citizens, but we choose not to. The money is there - we are one of the richest countries in the world - but it goes to the latest and greatest in toys for the Penatgon, pointless wars overseas, and low tax rates for corporations and the rich. If we got our priorities in order we could provide universal healthcare and education like most of Europe does. There’s no money for veterans or the old or the sick because the GOP doesn’t want there to be.
20
@Mon Ray Just the millions that trump has spent going to his golf courses and Mar-a-Lago could have supported hundreds of needy families.
18
This wonderful plan has accomplished what ?
10
There are not enough excuses to pretend that this administration can justify any of this. This will go down in American History as a major inhuman action.
26
So ashamed of this country maiming children purposely. And yes, this whole program has maimed, and possibly leaving permanent damage prescribed by Donald J. Trump.
21
So long as they are "reunited" across the border into Mexico or further south, it's all good.
16
Trump, Kirsten Nielson, Betsy Devos are nasty human beings and sloppy administrators. Right now, I'm not sure which is worse.
They should be personally responsible for telling every child what they have done.
18
@Myra
Didn't the fake evangelical "Christian" de Vos rob the public school system in Detroit to finance her private religious charter schools? She and Nielson and Trump have set a benchmark which we will be ashamed of when the history is written.
7
Your government, lying to you once again.
21
It reminds me of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping.
7
Don’t care.
Don’t enter America illegally and dump your kids on us taxpayers.
Follow the law and wait your turn. Millions of others did.
19
@Outraged American But the children are blameless. They certainly don't deserve this inhumane treatment.
8
@Outraged American - The majority of these people came through the powers of entry. The minute they stepped on U.S. soil they were classified as criminals, even those with legitimate asylum cases.
4
@Outraged American
Perhaps if they stay long enough, they can mow your lawn, clean the toilets in the motels and hotels you stay in when traveling, wash dishes in kitchens of fast food places, wash your car at the car wash, pick fruit in orchards in hot weather, or do stoop labor in fields picking crops too fragile for industrial harvesting. If they stay long enough they might even benefit from the trickle down the top 10% allows.
7
This whole horrible immigration screw-up falls directly onto the shoulders of the erratic 'stable genius' POTUS ,who has no basic humanity ,and refuses to take responsibility for the cruelty to these children and their parents.Even now 2 weeks after the deadline they continue to fabricate success.People everywhere will never forget this blot on the history of this country that is supposed to be the 'shining star'.and it's failed leadership.
18
Here's a question we should all be asking right now: there were at least 431 children who were kept in the United States while their parents were deported to another country. There are hundreds of other children who the United States is saying they will not unite with their parents, for whatever reason.
What was the United States' original plan for these children? There used to be 3000 of them. The original plan was to deport all of their parents without a proper trial. Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions have said, multiple times on multiple records, that this was their plan in order to prevent immigration.
So now that we have this conclusion, we should be looking at two things: first to get these families back together.
And second, to figure out what in the world the Trump administration planned to do with 3000 artificially orphaned children that nobody in the United States knew existed.
28
Will someone please explain what is going to happen to the children not reunited with their families? Are they deported, kept in detention here, put into foster care? And for that matter what was the plan initially for all the separated children, if there was any plan. I cannot get my head around the thoughtless cruelty of the zero-tolerance policy. What were they thinking?
27
Where would we be if the Trump Administration's plan had not been confronted by those who wanted a better solution? Answer: with even more disastorous results, much how this administration handled what happened to Puerto Rico last summer after it was pummeled during the 'hurricane season'.
When it comes to dark-skinned complected people the Trump Administration has a problem.
23
As long as the US government keeps a single child apart from his or her family, then the reunification process is not complete. This situation is intolerable.
29
I don't believe that they have met the deadline.
32
This lack of justice for these families should make every one of us rise and complain to our elected leaders no matter party affiliation. This is a terrible stain on our country. How does the President and his administration's managers implementing this plan sleep at night knowing they separated babies from their families? Please join me contacting our elected leaders.
30
Our government has gone on a campaign of terror. We must own that the US is now the face of terrorism.
32
@Rita Anything that keeps the invaders out is fine. They don't have any business coming here in the first place.
9
@Spook--
Every American's ancestors were in your terms "invaders" except those with Native American roots. Most of our parents, grandparents, etc. were economic migrants.
These migrants are no different.
1
@Spook-The Russian trolls have found their way into the pages of the New York Times. Sigh.
this diletant handling of the reunification effort makes the Katrina response look professional. this is the second government crisis response that completely faltered due to lack of leadership. don't forget Puerto Rico.
63
What about the other thousands that ICE and HHS and DOJ are not talking about? These are only the children covered under this court order. There are others Nielsen, Sessions, Azar are "hiding" .... and are being abused?
29
@PMM-Thanks for pointing this out. I too wonder about the others. The NY Times needs to keep this front-and-center.
6
Obama was called the "deporter in chief" but the utterly heartless cruelty of Donald Trump and his lackeys and henchmen in the current operation is unparalleled. This swamp creature ( he does not deserve to be called a man) cares about absolutely nothing other than himself and his miserable spawn. I sincerely hope the quicksand at the bottom of the swamp swallows him whole.
47
Trump's abhorrent record on truthfulness and compassion infects his cabinet and administration at large.
On what grounds are we meant to believe any numbers this administration releases? Regarding our current immigration crisis, it has been secretive even with members of Congress who have asked to see migrant living conditions; secretive about where the children it kidnapped have been placed throughout the United States; secretive and defensive about the numbers of parents and children it has meaninglessly ripped apart.
The heartbreaking migrant and migrant-advocate reports of prison conditions, uneatable food, children crying from hunger, children forced to clean toilets, instances of sexual abuse....So much horror has leaked out from these FOR-PROFIT-CORPORATION-RUN "shelters," why should we believe anything this administration disgorges as truth?
The only concern of this administration is the PR-value of its pronouncements. Ethics are out. Cohorent, thoughtful policy is out, Empathy is out. Kindness is out. TRANSPARENCY is out. AMERICAN VALUES are out. What matters is how well any Trump-Administration statement edifies the president or his equally psychopathic lackeys.
Meanwhile, who knows how many children and parents have really been reunited and how many will tragically never see each other again?
THIS in our country, the historically "shining light on the hill" for those seeking refuge. The lies and heartbreak of this are beyond shame.
73
I got an email yesterday from a reputable group to whom I have donated in the past asking me to contribute to a fund for travel costs for parents to be reunited with their children. The government's separation policy was found to be in violation of the law and ordered reversed by Judge Sabraw. Why isn't the government covering the costs of reversing its illegal policy?
93
The federal government did not meet the deadline, and will not, until every child they forcibly removed from his or her parents is safely returned to their parents' custody. Period.
29
The plan all along was ' NO PLAN' To inflict as much pain as possible to these poor people, to send the message, " no refuge!' it is beyond justification how so called officials could say over 400 children are not eligible to be returned to their families. It makes me dizzy just thinking about it. And frankly I have a hard time believing the lock-steppers of a pathological liar. What does that mean? Criminalized for a traffic ticket? So you are not worthy of getting your child back... deported without your child..circumventing justice by having them sign away rights written in english to people who are not english speaking....this is the darkest period in American history in 50 years..With all our smarts we choose not to learn. No matter what happens, ICE needs to be reformed.
76
@Sa Ha: because those kids were unaccompanied TEENS -- some have no families -- some are fleeing abusive families -- some were being trafficked for sex slavery or slave labor.
4
And my question is: what did this entire event---separating the children from their parents and then scrambling to reunite them (and possibly failing some)---achieve? Anything other than disrupting lives and traumatizing everyone involved, including many federal employees who had to execute orders for these actions, and spending millions (maybe more) of taxpayers' money in the process? To what end???
44
@say what
There were two points:
1. To terrorize anyone trying to seek asylum.
2. To numb us to other practices that will come.
You can see where this is leading.
3
So, when do Nielsen and key I.C.E. and H.H.S officials go to jail for contempt of court? This evening, I trust?
93
If I recall, the deadline was July 10. Many immigrants/asylum-seekers were forced to pay for/crowdfund their flights to reunite with their families. Absolutely barbaric. We should have received them with open arms, this is abhorrent and unacceptable. We must abolish and prosecute ICE.
49
Such unabashed cruelty, and they never really had a plan to reunite the families. Cruelty and incompetence make a toxic mix.
101
@James Panico
Well said. But isn’t that part of the Trump family crest?
‘Cruelty and Incompetence’?
Written in big gold letters.
13
This started under Obama, it just got worse under Trump.
4
@Stephen.... When Obama left office illegal immigration into the U.S. was at a 40 year low. Trump is hyping illegal immigration because it plays well to his no nothing base.
2
Except for the children who will never be reunited with their parents. We have effectively kidnapped children. Just like slave children, Native American children, the orphan trains of the the depression..we should be ashamed.
161
So, the parents who are picking up their kids on the way out now realize the jig is up and they won't be considered as needing asylum after all?
They tried to use their children as a tool to gain access to the US. They need to go home and cultivate a better government and life where they live.
22
@Margo We need to cultivate a better government where we live, too.
15
Perhaps - but that doesn't in any way justify our behavior. Protection of our borders does not require cruelty. In fact if you want to create the next generation of angry terrorists ..... Separating children from their parents as we're doing can do just that. Our Republican leadership is failing us with their agenda of hate.
20
@Sue-1 We need to cultivate a stinkin' wall and we need to fully implement the modern, biometric visa tracking system and we need to increase the number of immigration judges and ICE agents.
1
Let's fix that headline: Feds falsely claim they have met deadline to reunite migrant families.
137
Concerned that children were being brought here to be trafficked as sex workers, in 2008 Congress passed a trafficking victims protection act. It required that children from countries other than Canada and Mexico apply for permission to stay here.
In 2012, President Obama instituted DACA to provide undocumented migrants (who had arrived before turning age 16) protection from deportation and the papers to legally work here. He also tried (unsuccessfully) to institute DAPA to protect undocumented migrants whose children were here.
Word spread that the U.S. was giving green cards to minors and their parents. Undocumented adult migrants sent word back to their homes for their children to come here, in the expectation that they and their children would given permission to live and work here. It was widely reported that the undocumented adults paid Central American drug cartels to bring their children to the U.S. border. Rather than rescuing children from cartels, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act was encouraging parents to pay cartels to transport their children.
Soon minors with no parent in the U.S. and entire families were coming here for their green cards. According to USCIS, in the 2 years after President Obama created DACA, the number of Guatemalans, Salvadorans, and Hondurans seeking asylum was more than in the 15 prior years combined.
While violence has not increased in these countries, many there now think it is easy to get into the U.S.
25
It's very well documented that the Northern Triangle region of Central America is amongst the most violent in the world.
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/central-americas-violent-northern-triangle
7
The closer you look - the more horrific the story becomes. The people behind this policy, and every single participant in the process (“it’s just my job”) are guilty of a crime... and the problem is these people think they are on some sort of righteous path - God help us all. What have we become?
69
@dlamison Yes, they are guilty of a crime. I keep thinking of the ICE and CPB agents doing the separating, and Nielsen, and reflect how in Nuremberg it was ruled that "just following orders" is no defence for a crime against humanity.
I just hope that some of these evil people are actually punished for their crime.
The Trump Administration is in contempt of court. Are they above the law? What would happen to you or I if we were found in contempt of a court order? Jail for us, but nothing for Trump and his minions of terror?
43
SURE they did. Yup. Of course they did.
7
“Federal Authorities Say They Have Met Deadline to Reunite Migrant Families”
They lie.
90
Lies as usual. Horribly, I fear that some children will never see their parents again. More horribly some may end up in situations like sex or slave trafficking. This man and his administration are morally and spiritually bankrupt.
40
On whose authority are children "ineligible" to be reunited with their parents? On whose authority are criminals not entitled to their children? Not that it matters, but who has proven any of the parents are criminals? Who kidnapped these children from their parents in the first place and has been abusing them since, damaging some of them perhaps for life? Since when did the judge give DHS the authority to determine that ANY of them are "ineligible" to be reunited? If DHS deported the parents without their children why is DHS not responsible for finding the parents wherever they may be and reuniting them with their children?
Obviously, they are spinning and fabricating the conditions in order to then claim they met the deadline when in fact the spin and fabrication are illegitimate and they are NOT meeting the deadline. What happens then? Does Nielsen get charged with contempt of court, tried and jailed? Does anyone cite these people for criminal investigation by the ICJ? Why should anyone pay any head whatsoever to all the self-imposed difficulties the Administration has itself created when it's irrelevant to the fundamental legal requirement of reuniting the families? A lot of unanswered questions that Dana Sabraw needs to consider carefully, and the country and the international community evaluate for veracity and restitution.
70
The tactics employed in jailing families, sending the children to opposite corners of the nation, expelling the parents and then not knowing whose child is whose and only reuniting one in three as well as determining that some will never be returned, as DOJ has, is what the second coming of Jim Crow looks like.
This is a time when DHS employees who are not Trump hires should quit en masse, along with as many other civil servants in government in general. We need to start seeing massive anti-Trump actions on a scale not before seen, if we truly feel that this kind of governance is not who we are.
At what point will we see mass-protests? What is the breaking point for the party in the minority to start leading?
---
www.rimaregas.com
122
We live under fascist dictator rule and the American public is unmoved.
22
@Vern Remick
Individual voters are moved. We have over 300 million people in this nation. Moving people requires organization and leadership. Every time we had both, millions went out and demonstrated, from the Women's March to the recent anti-migrant children separations protests.
1
@Rima Regas
53%!of white women voted for Trump.
"About 460 others appeared to have been deported without their children, and the government has yet to find them….Government lawyers have said the parents will not be allowed back into the country to retrieve their children…”
Given the relatively small number - and the the particular terror those families must be experiencing - I’m inclined to think that a shred of flexibility and generosity there would be worthwhile. Whad'ya think, government lawyers?
76
@Jonathan Give them all green cards.
2
What will happen if this deadline is not met?
24
Nothing. Trump is supreme ruler answerable to no one.
12
I don’t see any reason for optimism.
This “zero tolerance” absurdity was dreamed up by Stephen Bannon and Stephen Miller. They knew (and know) what their master wants. Jefferson Davis Beauregard Sessions III has his fingerprints all over this diabolical scheme. It has worked far beyond their dreams—they simply didn’t have the time to do more damage before the courts—yes, fancy that: a court—put a stop to the madness.
The separated children—the intended targets of the mean-spirited thrust—are the vulnerable ones here. It was clearly the Trump administration’s purpose to maim the young psyches of the migrant children. After all, they’re “animals,” aren’t they? Tomorrow’s sleeper cells for MS-13, the dark nightmare of (white) America.
Most of these youngsters will drift into puberty and adolescence without knowing anything like a stable, solid family structure. So any “scrambling” being done is not by Homeland Security or the State Department. It’s like W. after Katrina: a big, wet “so, what?”
77
@Soxared, '04, '07, '13 Don't forget about how we've planted the seed of hatred in generations of people south of the border. Just like we did in the middle east. It's awful now and will be even more awful when those chickens come home to roost. Heartbreaking.
17
It’s encouraging to see people like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates pitch in to help migrant families already traumatized by the separation of parents from their children. They embody the American spirit of helping strangers and being kind to people who are in dire need. These qualities are what makes America so attractive to immigrants the world over and why they want to come to our country.
If the president and Jeff Sessions had given a little thought to their "zero tolerance" policy towards asylum-seekers they wouldn't have created the mess they made by deliberately separating family units, many of whom are still not reunited with each other. It's the children who will suffer the most from forced separation from their guardians. Unfortunately, these youngsters will never be the same again.
63
@silver vibes Gates and Zuck like cheap labor. Dems like racist Latino identity politics. The rest of are sick of paying for it.
6
Using children as shields against deportation is a losing proposition for advocates and illegal aliens. Endangering them to gain access to the US will never be accepted by the majority of the citizens and advocates attempting to demonize citizens for this stance will cost the Democratic Party votes and further influence for their other positions. Americans have never sided with foreigners against their own, but many find this hard to understand as they wish to frame the conversation only on their terms. They encouraged the aliens to try this tack based on their desperation to gain access for these people. Now both sides have taken hard moral positions and neither accepts the other's point because it still comes down to open or restricted borders even though this Country admits more immigrants than any other.
36
@mikemn....Did you know that many of the families who were separated crossed the border legally seeking asylum? It may well be that most of these families do not qualify for refugee status. But separating parents from children as a method of deterrence is just plain sick. Separating children from their parents has NOTHING to do with having secure borders. There is no "both sides have moral positions." Separating parents from their children is morally wrong period, no exceptions; and those that support this kind of behavior by our government are depraved.
123
@W.A. Spitzer The "asylum" they were seeking should have been applied for in Mexico by law - NOT the US.
@Spook Not true- you are legally allowed to apply for asylum at a port of entry. In this case many ports of entry were illegally closed, and so people sought to go over the border in other places, expecting and planning to be caught so they could apply for asylum that way. It makes sense asylum works this way, otherwise people would die waiting to apply for it in their home country.
And so what if they miss the deadline? No one in government is ever held accountable for anything, and this is no exception.
52
Like the government inflicted lead poisoning in Flint.
11
If only Donald had been separated from Fred and Mart Trump at birth, none of us would have had to suffer the daily black hole that is Donald Trump.
194
@Socrates Or if the Democrats had not fixed the primaries and or HRClinton did not characterize so many as deplorable and or she had campaigned in WI and MI instead of fund raising in CA,. Or . . . .
4
@Socrates: Actually they waited until they could stand him no longer and then shipped him off to military school, which is reform school for rich kids.
4
Reunions are good.
5
And humanity is stripped a little more. In digital age of texting—nuance is a casualty. People are removed from one another. No longer reading faces for emotional reaction, seeing pain, seeing first hand suffering -from separation. A tune of nuance, the art of life is reduced to one note instead of the many required for a melody. All Americans should fight this slaughter of compassion. A slippery slope of no return…….
59
@That's what she said
What will the future reaction of these isolated and caged children when they get older and understand what this abominable government has done to them. Recruiters for MS13 and other violent elements in the world are licking their chops. There is no reason any of this had to happen other than the racist policies of this administration.
17
It is an intractable problem. Nuance would also suggest it is a messy process dealing with large number of people whom you know little about, not even their claimed relations to their children. It has nothing to do with the digital age, but the practical situation at hand.
The Trump administration NEVER had any plans to reunite these children with their parents. Many of them were seized from people legally asking for asylum. And most of the kids were shipped off to orphanages owned by the De Vos family
This is a stain on America that will take a long time to wash away.
Vote Democratic on November 6th.
Changing congress is our best hope.
Use your citizen's voice - vote!
302
The stain will never wash away. Like Native American genocide and slavery and the Vietnam war.
17
@ D. DeMarco:
I completely agree with you.
Yet please provide a reputable source(s) re your claim that "... most of the kids were shipped off to orphanages owned by the De Vos family." I hadn't come across this assertion in any media reports.
It's not that I don't believe it to be possible; rather, providing facts increases both readership knowledge of that family's involvement - and pressure on the de Vos family to be held duly accountable.
17
@D. DeMarco
The bigger stain on America that will take decades to wash away and which is unforgivable is that Donald Trump ever got elected.
2
Judges need to make this administration accountable for the horrors they have imposed on separated families. Without trying to equate false equivalence, they could start by fining the government $100,000 a day for every family that is not reunified by the deadline, with the proceeds going to the traumatized parents and/or college funds for their children.
213
@Christy A contempt citation is warranted. But not a fine. That’s our tax money - why should we pay for the crimes of the gangsters running the government?Jail for Kirsten Nielsen until the order is complied with would be the appropriate coercive remedy. Reparations for the families? Yes,but that’s a separate matter.
4
@al
Perhaps we could spend an amount equal to Trump's million dollar weekly trips to Mar-a-Lago, and the amount needed to detail Secret Service to follow him around in golf carts. Not to mention all that ice cream and french fries. How about matching funds with Minuchin's trips with his wife to various Treasury sites, using military planes? Or Zinke's profits from allowing mining and oil interests in our national parks? Which Cabinet bottom feeder went to Israel in the interests of "defense", even though he had nothing to with national security? Was it the guy who needed "tactical pants" when he raced to NYC restaurants in a bullet proof vehicle? Where are the Marx Bros. when we need them?
@Christy
Or, perhaps the good judge might do what might happen to thee or me if we violated a court order - place us in custody until we complied. I suspect the feds would swiftly find a way to reunite these families if the officials who designed this barbaric policy were themselves interned in these same "detention centers" until all the families were reunited.
2
The shame, humiliation, and anger I feel over this Crime Against Humanity is indescribable. Every last person from #45, to Sessions to Nielsen needs to be tried in a court of law. This is an abomination.
They are testing, on black and brown families, our capacity for barbarity. Sadly, it is clear that what happened in Nazi Germany could easily happed here (again that is). The groundwork is being laid.
295
@C
Yes, the careful ramping up of inhumane practices, the continual denial of visible reality, the dehumanizing of the "other." We have seen it before and its end product is getting closer.
1
Thank heavens for Judge Sabraw and all the volunteers! The Trump Administration needs to be held to account every single day until the fate of every child is secure - hopefully with their parents.
It is still absolutely disgusting that Trump and Sessions/Miller think it is perfectly okay to kidnap innocent children and just shove them in detention centers aka jails. It is equally despicable that 900 children have been forcibly taken and may never be reunited.
What do they think should happen to these children? They have been branded as undesirable second class (at best) immigrant children. What kind of 'reception' will these children receive in Trumpland society? Will they grow up being shunned at every stage in life?
Of course there are many loving and open Americans who could provide good homes and most likely will. They should be with their own families in the first place.
So the half (?) of America that Trump hates, ignores and calls not real America will clean up his horrendous and cruel mess and he will hold rallies with his half of an adoring base and sneer at those who have shown compassion and true kindness to people in real trouble.
I will not make any attempt to 'understand' the Trump supporter on this issue. They are simply hateful, cruel and disgusting.
187
there is clearly a feeling in America that Dismal Donnie has tapped into- sadism, cruelty, barbarity call it what you want- the need to lash out and call someone a name or worse wreak violence on them. I will never forgive him for tapping these feelings and giving voice to them.
2
"The federal government reported Thursday that it was close to reuniting the last migrant families separated at the southwest border who have been deemed “eligible” for reunification"
"The parents of about 431 children appeared to have been deported without them, and the government has yet to find those parents."
Let me see if I have this straight. In order to deter others from coming, the U.S. Trump Administration established a policy of separating families at the border, including the separation of families that entered the country legally seeking refuge status. Those families determined to be eligible have been reunited. But apparently they are still holding 431 children whose parents were deported. Deporting parents without their children is barbaric. Claiming that the 431 children are therefore ineligible to be reunited is a totally sick. That the U.S. government is treating people in this cavalier manner and then attempting to deceive the public abut their culpability is despicable. It is not receiving a tenth of the press coverage it rightly deserves. Where is the shame? Where is the shame?
272
It's worse than that, "The parents who were deemed eligible for reunification represent only about a third of all those who were separated from their children after crossing the border". as the parents who were deported to the ones deemed ineligible, and less than half have been reunited. As a parent, this is absolutely heartbreaking.
23
So what is supposed to happen to those children? Do they wait indefinitely in limbo?
This is unacceptable. Would Melania accept being separated from Barron? Would Ivanka tolerate not knowing where her children are?
5
Has anybody else wondered why the governments of the countries from where these families are fleeing from have not spoken up? It seems pretty clear this is one of a host of reasons people are fleeing those countries. You have to be pretty desperate to leave home, knowing a large group of people including the government in the US don't like you. And if you want this to stop, the US needs to work with these governments to create economic stability and justice.
35
@Yolanda Perez
It would help if we hadn't overthrown duly elected governments (Guatemala, for example), inserted ourselves in civil war (Nicaragua), provided arms to enable dictators to take land from native peoples and so on. Our record in Central America is dismal. Sordid, even.
7
@Yolanda Perez
Or the people an help themselves in their own countries. Just like Americans have stayed and fought for rights on their own soil.
10
@Yolanda Perez There is never any discussion about what the US has done to these countries--creating unstable thug like governments, and making it impossible for people to live there without fear for their lives. The US IS the problem.
4
Trump, his enablers and lackeys, ICE, every State that, at Trump’s direction, sent soldiers to the border to round up immigrants, and every Republican in Congress, are to blame for this child abduction ultra-fiasco.
The cavalier manner in which kids were torn away from their families reeks of the profoundest inhumanity, and recalls the permanent national stain of the Japanese internment camps in WWII.
The fact that the officials running this horror show on the ground have been incapable of undoing the mess they created should hardly come as a surprise to anyone who has watched Trump swing a giant cudgel rather than wield a scalpel at any given problem, whether self-inflicted or otherwise.
Note that Trump has offered comforting words and lots of money to farmers in Iowa, whom he’s screwed with his preposterous trade war. Nary a word, though, to the parents and kids ripped from each other’s arms at the border.
We can’t fix stupid. We can’t fix mean. We can’t fix Incompetent. But what we can do is VOTE.
59
For the amount of money this administration is spending on this ridiculous policy, they could hire and train enough people to process all the people and their kids, and repatriate them quickly. As this paper has noted in it's endless stories of illegal immigrants who are clearly abusing the system, fix the system. Yes, their are some legitimate claims for asylum, fine, but not everyone coming here has fear for their life, or they would stop in Mexica. Hear their cases and turn them around at the border, you don't need a wall and you don't need to take kids away, you need to process them and find their relatives who are already in the country illegally and deport them. But first, everyone who employs an illegal immigrant needs to be fined or go to jail. We could start with the president, who can't seem to find enough experienced American waiters. Give me a break!
30
These people have to stop coming here and fix their countries. We were run by our overlords, the British, until we stepped up and revolted against them. This is what enlightened people do, not enter another country illegally and ask for the services their own country should be providing.
29
@Rich
The Founding Fathers were part of The Enlightenment; they had money and became property owners who later linked the right to vote to property ownership. The Revolution came about because they had no representation in Parliament; they were not altruistic; they murdered Indians, took their land and ran their own schemes. Not all were Thomas Jefferson (who owned slaves himself and fathered children with one of them.) He promised her freedom; he did not honor that promise. The man of honor was Washington who freed his wife's slaves on her death; he owned no slaves himself. We have deified a generation who lived 250 yrs. ago with different social codes. I went through a Revolutionary era hut in the back of a governing land holder; it was a dark hovel with one window high up; the floor was packed dirt; the doorway was so low I had to stoop, and I am barely 5'4". The house servants lived better; however, they were no more than slaves by a different name.
1
You have a very loose grasp of American and world history.
3
Ah yes, those historical bulwarks of enlightenment who pioneered the Triangle Trade and adopted the art of guerrilla warfare...
Things have just been awesome ever since.
1
The government was not prepared for the massive amount of families descending upon our nation and this is what happens when thousands come here unexpectedly. These families were strongly advised not to come but they came anyway. You cannot blame the Trump administration for the chaos at the borders. They were ill prepared to accept these families but they had no other choice.
Hopefully this is a good lesson learned for those who plan to come to our country and cross into our nation illegally. Don't. If you want to come here, apply legally and go through the proper channels. We welcome you gladly but you must follow the rule of law of the US. This is how millions of immigrants have come in the past. It works out very well.
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@WPLMMT. You are exactly right. My grandmother was British (called a “War Bride back in the day.) Had to go through loads of citizenship classes and take a test to be considered as a U.S. citizen. It is very sad that we no longer consider things like this (only in theory) if the democrats get their wish. I’m sorry for all of the poor people in this world, but this country, built by immigrants before our generous social safety net, cannot take them all in. And this paper is only making more and more people callous to illegal immigrants. We are not equipped to take in every poor person in the world.
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@WPLMMT Anyone who can accept a child being ripped away from his/her parents has lost his soul.
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Migrants from Central America come here largely because WE have poisoned their countries and sided with their dictators for many years. Our corporations have used up their natural resources and thrown out the democratic leaders that arise, created conditions for poverty and crime. Read about the Honduras elections this year and see what you think.
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