Immigration from a Texan
As of late June of this year, more than 2,000 children have been separated from their families at the Mexican-Texas border. Why is this tragedy occurring, you ask? Well, allow me to explain.
The Trump administration announced in April an immigration policy of “zero tolerance” declaring all adults who cross the border illegally between official ports of entry would be criminally prosecuted. Here’s the rub: children can’t legally be sent to jail. Therefore, children who were detained with their parents are being separated from them. As their parents go through the legal system, children are handed over to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement. The Washington Post has reported that at least 2,500 children were separated in the last two months alone.
As firsthand-experience stories of families being separated from their parents have spread, outrage roared across the political spectrum. Across multiple social media platforms, the hashtag #familiesbelongtogether has been shared on a numerous amount of posts. On June 13th, President Trump signed an executive order stating the separations should stop, direction that, “to the extent permitted by law,” immigrant families should be held together in immigration detention facilities run by the Department of Homeland Security.
But federal officials say it’s just a pause. The “zero tolerance” policy remains, unfortunately, in play.
What will happen to the 2,500+ children already separated from their parents? On June 26th, ICE has released some ideas to reunite families so they “can be returned to their home countries together,” however, the government hasn’t outlined a plan to reunify parents and children who are seeking asylum and will stay in the country while their claims are processed.
According to Kaiser Health News, immigrant toddlers are being ordered into court for deportation proceeding while children wait to be reunited with their parents. Requiring accompanied minors to go to court is not a new phenomenon, but the family separation policy mean more young children are being affected.
What will happen to families that cross the border now? Currently there is a lot of uncertainty about how new cases will be approached. Trump’s executive order made crystal clear he didn’t intend on ending the “zero tolerance” policy. If the government wishes to continue to detain families that crossed the border illegally, it will face legal and logistical hurdles.
The fact is migrant families can’t legally be detained for longer than 20 days. Currently, the Justice Department is asking a federal judge to amend the 2015 ruling that set the 20-day limit. If the Justice Department succeeds, the government will need to find a place to house the detained families. There are only three Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities that can house families— two in Texas and one in Pennsylvania. Their combined capacity is only about 3,000.
Why did the Trump administration do this? The policy was meant to deter immigrants from attempting to cross the border illegally.
“If you cross this border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you,” said U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in May. “It’s that simple … If you are smuggling a child, then we will prosecute you and that child will be separated from you as required by law.” Sessions said President Trump won the 2016 election in part due to his strict stance on immigration
“If you want to change our laws, then pass a bill in Congress,” Sessions said. “Persuade your fellow citizens to your point of view.”
How are Texas lawmakers reacting & what are our lawmakers doing to address this? Many are scrambling to come up with any kind of solution, but it hasn’t been easy. The U.S. House rejected two immigration bills addressing border security and neither bill had Democratic support.
Governor Greg Abbott wrote a letter to Texans in congress, asking them to take action and end family separation. He wrote, “This disgraceful condition must end; and it can only end with action by Congress to reform the broken immigration system.”
Meanwhile, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton supported Trump’s actions. “The separation of families should never be a desired outcome and my heart goes out to these children being used as ‘pawns’ in a political debate … The Trump administration is following the law,” he stated.
Democrats are outraged, to say the least. U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, a Democrat from El Paso who is running for U.S. Senate, and former El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar, who is running for Congress, led a protest at the Tornillo tent city. At least six Democratic members of the Texas Legislature sent a letter to two federal agencies calling the tent cities “abhorrent.”
A growing number of Republicans are speaking out as well. Texas house Speaker Joe Straus has opposed the policy from the beginning. He wrote a letter to President Trump asking him to end the “zero tolerance” policy. Laura Bush, the former first lady of the U.S. and of Texas, called the “zero tolerance” policy “cruel” in an op-ed published in The Washington Post.
Even with Trump’s order so-called ending separation, lawmakers from both parties have decided that legislative action is still desperately needed.
Haigh, Marilyn. “What’s Happening at the Border? Here’s What We Know about Immigrant Children and Family Separations.” The Texas Tribune, Texas Tribune, 18 June 2018, www.texastribune.org/2018/06/18/separated-immigrant-children-families-border-mexico/.