Cruel - from policy to practice
The news cycle continues to move at a dizzying pace as the rhetoric out of the White House grows increasingly hateful on the immigration front.
Kirstjen Nielsen has been forced to resign because the president wants someone even tougher. Immigration policy is rumored to be under the control of hard-liner and white nationalist Stephen Miller.(1)
There was talk of separating more children,(2) and deporting unaccompanied minors fleeing violence,(3) in a system so cruel it would consider deporting an 11-year old girl without her family.(4)
Trump has threatened to close our borders completely because “Our country is full.”(5)
The President has cut off funding that would help stabilize conditions in countries of the northern triangle, forcing families to flee to safety.(6)
Meanwhile the nation’s largest holding facility is set to expand again.(7)
Instead of living in communities with relatives, these children are being detained for months on end in unlicensed, fenced in, for-profit detention centers not subject to inspections by child welfare agencies. Three visiting congresswomen were recently denied entry to the Homestead detention facility in Florida.(8)
We are a nation of immigrants and the policies favored by this administration run antithetical to our nation’s values and to humanity.
We must demand that instead of funding troops at the border, we supply the courts with immigration lawyers and judges to process asylum claims.
We must demand that instead of building more tent cities and keeping thousands of children in detention facilities, they be allowed to live in welcoming communities while they await their asylum hearings.
TAKE ACTION:
Support the ‘Families Not Facilities Act’
HR. 2217 and S.388. Let’s make sure our members of Congress sign on to this bill that would allow sponsors to come forward to get children out of detention without risking deportation because of their own immigration status. The bills are being sponsored by Debbie Wasserman Schulz in the House and Kamala Harris in the Senate.(9)
We must tell our members of Congress that we want funding to the northern triangle countries to help stabilize conditions that are forcing families to flee their homes.
PLEASE share this post with a friend and let them know about these atrocities. Take action by calling your members of Congress to demand that we strive to be a nation of compassion and humanity and a country that welcomes and values immigrants.
Sources:
1. https://www.businessinsider.com/after-nielsen-out-miller-controls-immigration-and-borders-report-2019-4
2. https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/08/politics/trump-family-separation-el-paso-kirstjen-nielsen/index.html
3. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/dhs-ask-congress-sweeping-authority-deport-unaccompanied-migrant-children-n988651
4. https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Eleven-year-old-ordered-deported-without-her-13760566.php
5. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/09/upshot/trump-america-full-or-emptying.html
6. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-cuts-direct-assistance-honduras-el-salvador-guatemala/story?id=62051082
7. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/homestead-nations-largest-holding-facility-for-migrant-children-expands-again/
8. https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Florida-Congresswomen-Will-Attempt-to-Visit-Unaccompanied-Minors-Migrant-Facility-in-Homestead-508246771.html
9. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/fl-ne-wasserman-schultz-trump-migrant-children-20190411-story.html