BABIES AT THE GATES

Family Separation - A Humanitarian Crisis at the US/Mexico Border

Immigrant families separated at the border began as a result of the Trump administration’s policies starting back in April of last year (2018), with an aim to prosecute as many border-crossing offenders, as possible. The Justice Department cannot prosecute children along with their parents, so the result of the policy has been family separations. The Trump administration implemented the policy by choice, which left hundreds of children without their parents and unaccounted for. This is a “humanitarian crisis!”

You may recall, President Trump once told lawmakers that the media coverage of “the crying babies doesn’t look good politically.”

Parents are being prosecuted and any conviction in the hearings are grounds for deportation. The Department of Homeland Security claims that it does not have a blanket policy of separating families at the border. However, DHS, according to their website, “does have a responsibility to protect all minors in our custody. This translates to mean that DHS will separate adults and minors under certain circumstances. These circumstances include: 1) when DHS is unable to determine the familial relationship, 2) when DHS determines that a child may be at risk with the parent or legal guardian, or 3) when the parent or legal guardian is referred for criminal prosecution.