More than three weeks after the court-mandated deadline for all migrant children to be reunited with their families, over 500 children are still separated and in federal custody. More than 360 of these children have parents who have already been removed (deported, as it’s commonly called) from the US. Trump administration officials initially argued that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other groups should be responsible for locating these parents; however, US District Judge Dana Sabraw from California ordered the government to take responsibility.
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CNN: “Trump: Immigration is ‘changing the culture’ of Europe”
Last week during President Trump’s trip to Europe for a NATO summit and to England—where he was met with hundreds of thousands of protestors—for talks with Prime Minister Theresa May, the president spoke out against immigration in Europe and the United States. At a news conference, Trump claimed that immigration was a "negative thing" and that it was hurting Germany and other parts of Europe, seemingly referring to refugees who have fled to Europe from Syria and other parts of the Middle East and North Africa.
Read moreSomething of Ourselves
Time: “Children ‘Don’t Need Jail.’ Immigration Advocates Say President Trump’s Executive Order Creates Even More Problems”
Last month President Trump signed an executive order that ends the separation of children from their parents under the zero-tolerance policy, which criminally prosecutes immigrants that cross the border without documentation. While President Trump made it clear that the zero-tolerance policy will remain in effect, the executive order states that it is now the administration’s intention to keep immigrant families together throughout the criminal proceedings process. “I didn’t like the sight or the feeling of families being separated,” Trump said at the signing. “At the same time, we are keeping a very powerful border, but continue to be zero tolerance.”
Read moreThe Center of the Universe
The Washington Post: “’They just took them?’ Frantic parents separated from their kids fill courts on the border”
Under the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy, federal courts across Texas have become flooded with undocumented immigrant mothers and fathers that have been separated from their children and criminally charged for illegally crossing the US border. This new policy shift has become an increasingly popular tactic amongst border patrol officials as a way to stop undocumented immigrants and their families from entering the US. “If you’re smuggling a child, then we’re going to prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions says. “If you don’t want your child to be separated, then don’t bring him across the border illegally.”
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