According to figures recently released by the United States Health and Human Services Department, the U.S. government is currently imprisoning at least 10,773 undocumented children without their parents in 100 different shelters spread across 40 states. This number is up 21 percent from 8,886 in just a month’s time—showing that ICE and other government agencies have been ramping up their detainment of migrant children.
This recent wave of detainments has come in the aftermath of a push by the Trump administration to separate families at the border, but it is unclear how many of these 10,773 children crossed the border unattended and how many were separated from their parents.
However, according to a report from Business Insider, a Customs and Border Protection official told lawmakers at a hearing last week that 658 children had been separated from 638 adults between May 6 and May 19 under the “zero-tolerance” policy.
The conditions inside many of the facilities where these children are being held are being compared to the concentration camps that imprisoned innocent Japanese immigrants during World War II.
On Monday, ProPublica released an audio recording that was taken inside a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility that appears to substantiate these fears. It is nothing short of heart-breaking. The clip recorded two girls who had just been separated from their parents. They are scared to death and wailing as the border agent jokes, “We have an orchestra here.”
As ProPublica reports, the desperate sobbing of 10 Central American children, separated from their parents one day last week by immigration authorities at the border, makes for excruciating listening. Many of them sound like they’re crying so hard, they can barely breathe. They scream “Mami” and “Papá” over and over again, as if those are the only words they know.
This week, CNN reported on one detention center in McAllen, Texas, where children were held behind chain-link fences in a warehouse setting. Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, who visited the facility earlier this month described the scene, saying that,
“We did see the children who were held inside here. In wire-mesh, chain linked cages that are about 30×30, a lot of young folks put into them. I must say though, far fewer than I was here two weeks ago. I was told that buses full (of children) were taken away before I arrived. That was one of my concerns, that essentially when you have to give lengthy notice, you end up a little bit of a show rather than seeing what’s really going on in these centers.”
Even First Lady Melania Trump has expressed regret over her husband’s zero-tolerance policy.
“Mrs. Trump hates to see children separated from their families and hopes both sides of the aisle can finally come together to achieve successful immigration reform. She believes we need to be a country that follows all laws, but also a country that governs with heart,” the first lady’s spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said in a statement.
Laura Bush, another unlikely critic, also spoke out against the zero-tolerance policy, writing in an op-ed article that, “These images are eerily reminiscent of the Japanese-American internment camps of World War II, now considered to have been one of the most shameful episodes in U.S. history. We also know that this treatment inflicts trauma; interned Japanese have been two times as likely to suffer cardiovascular disease or die prematurely than those who were not interned.”
Former CIA Director Michael Hayden weighed in on Twitter, posting an image of a Nazi concentration camp while referencing the zero-tolerance policy.
“I was trying to point out we need be careful not to move in that direction,” Hayden later told CNN. While this is a policy that Trump is taking to horrific extremes, it is important to point out that families were separated under the Obama administration as well.
In fact, the Obama administration deported more people than any other president in the past century. Although, it is likely that Trump will break Obama’s record, considering his tough talk on the matter. The arguments against an open immigration policy ignore this very real human cost, while instead focusing on imaginary scenarios—many of which have been proven to be false. For example, a series of studies have indicated that immigration does not increase crime and that immigrants are actually far less likely to commit violent crimes than native-born citizens.
Another study revealed that increased levels of immigration do not increase terrorism. Meanwhile, it has been found that you are at least eight times more likely to be killed by a police officer than a terrorist. There are also plenty of faulty economic arguments leveled against an open immigration policy, for those who are willing to trade another person’s life for a few extra dollars on their balance sheet. However, these claims have been shown to be baseless as well, since various studies have indicated that immigration actually drives economic growth and that undocumented residents pay billions in taxes.
This is very bad. How can one separate children from their parents? This is cruelty and this cruelty is being done by the state which was supposed to protect every human beings, including migrants. The USA boasts of a democratic country but what kind of democracy is it? Is it changed into demoncracy?
This is what you fear as a parent most: GOVERNMENT! It makes me so sad for the children and their parents. My daughter suffered 5 months so much while I was caged. Fuck the system, fuck the criminal faggots! I try to to become more emphatic while I get so much anger and rage with a burning desire to torture all uniformed and not uniformed government criminals to death. And for me everybody working for the government is a criminal!
PS: I know I should work on my hate and my rage, but it's not easy in this f***ed up world.
Why not start off you piece by saying, "We should have open borders."?
The vast majority showed up alone. Ask yourself why they are obfuscating that fact.
Why should there be any borders in the world? Why should somebody have the right where YOU can go and where not?
So a bunch of stupid assholes don't come here and ruin it. do you ever lock the doors to your house or car?
Ruin what? The slavery? Comfort of the cost of others? This is what governments and states do! Why have you the right to be in an area and others not?
Yes, sometimes I lock my car, when I'm far away, but it is my property. And I perfectly fine with it that you lock your house (I have none because of fucking borders and governments), but what gives you or others the right to restrict there free movement?
Is it not that you afraid that people want to get a free piece of what government extorted from you? So then the problem is the extortion and not that the theft give it to another person which the theft still not extorted, not?
I am an American citizen so I have the right to live in America and those who are not citizens or have valid visas to live here do not. Indeed what governments do is have borders, good places have them to keep people out, bad places have them to keep people in. America is a nation of by and for the people, it is our property and so we can say who can come here. Borders and governments are not stopping you from having a house, they enable it. Without governments if you did have a house how would you stop someone from taking it?
What is great about living in America is that as a citizen we have a say in how our taxes are spent and we have decided as a nation that we are going to spend them to keep people out of America who suck. We also decided to allow people who don't suck to come here. It is a great system.
You are a native American? I can think of that the native Americans was not so happy about the immigrants, which nowadays forming the state. How I said, I can accept perfectly when it comes to your house or your car, but places in a bigger dimension, I see nobody to have the right to rule who have and who have not.
America is a nation of by and for the people? Sure? First America is a continent to start with, what you are talking about is the United States of America. Second you can say? I doubt, you can vote a party - which changes nothing except names and parties of the proxy for the ruling class. You have no say! Government enables you to be a slave, not more not less. I don't like to be a slave, so, no house for me. First of all I defend myself already all my life, besides that people alone normally are not that bad and criminal. It takes a criminal group called government with a fan club (state) to do really bad things. You think the government is defending you? They defending the extortion the get out of you, like Russian Mafia. You don't pay the extortion fee, you will see you without house - government will take it from you! You have no gun to defend yourself? At least that is in the USA still mostly not disallowed by the criminal gun called government.
Wow, you have a say how extortion money is spent? Really? And you think every American thinks the same? What is about the minority? Doesn't matter? The land of the free, not? Wow, you allow people who don't suck to come there. What is with the people they suck and born there? Great system, where you have your perfect illusion!
Okay, take it from the other side, you say you have the say what happens with the extortion money. So you decided to bomb innocent Syrians away, which cause backfire? You think it is right is okay to suck if it is somewhere? You think it is okay to kill people which did nothing to you? To clarify it, I'm talking about individuals, not countries. You think it is okay to pay and decide to kill people on the other side of the world?
I for myself considered for a time to go to live in New Hampshire where more intelligent and emphatic people a concentrated. Where are people which really want to live free. But I discarded it because of the reason to ask some bully for permission to do so.
I hope for people which really want to be free that the USA will soon abolish the government, because this would make North America great (not again - because it never was, like every fucking country on this planet). Maybe you will consider one day to change fear against freedom ;)
Have a nice day
tldr
Wasted to much time :( If you haven't read so it doesn't matter anyway.
by "migrant" do you mean "illegal alien"?