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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"Shockingly difficult" to locate separated children
@ksieff
It is shockingly difficult for immigration attorneys to locate children separated from their parents at the border. Today I spoke to lawyers who represent more than 400 parents. They've located two children.
Some of the bureaucratic failures are remarkable: Border Patrol agents who forgot to note that a child crossed the border with a parent. Mothers who were never given the toll-free phone number where they can ask about their kids.
US officials often don't answer that toll-free number. When attorneys get through, officials respond that their client's child is "in the United States."
In other cases, children are transferred from one shelter to another, and the new facilities don't make note that the child was separated from a parent. Meaning they could be mistakenly considered an unaccompanied minor.
Much of the government's information about the child's parent -- necessary for reunification -- comes directly from the child. What kind of information can a toddler provide? And what if that toddler speaks an obscure indigenous language?
So what do attorneys tell their clients? One lawyer at @TRLA says this: We have to say we dont know where your child is. The government is responsible for keeping your child safe. No parent would be satisfied with that.
Here's the story we just published. It's clear to me that there is no plan to reunify these families.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/the-chaotic-effort-to-reunite-immigrant-parents-with-their-separated-kids/2018/06/21/325cceb2-7563-11e8-bda1-18e53a448a14_story.html
Link to tweet
nature-lover
(1,471 posts)defacto7
(13,485 posts)Demsrule86
(68,715 posts)their kids again, and there is a reason they are sneaking them out at night with no paperwork.
RandomAccess
(5,210 posts)Someone said (and I keep repeating this):
It's not that this results in cruelty, cruelty was the intention.
Demsrule86
(68,715 posts)child/parent separation as a weapon against dissenters or folks he hates.
RandomAccess
(5,210 posts)JI7
(89,279 posts)with the govt in how to do things. but there is no way i can see trump allowing that.
struggle4progress
(118,379 posts)"I put all those kids on a plane without documentation!" Oh, really?
"I escorted all those kids across the country without documentation!" Oh, really?
"I accepted custody of all those kids from who-knows-where without documentation!" Oh, really?
"I placed all those kids into foster care without documentation!" Oh, really?
Tipperary
(6,930 posts)Some form of identification with DOB, parents name, childs name. God, the incompetence and utter disregard for human rights.
I cannot wrap my mind around the fact this is happening.