More Than 700 Children Separated From Parents at U.S.-Mexico Border

Chicago Immigration Protest May 1, 2006” by jvoves licensed under CC BY 2.0

Source: New York Times

The Office of Refugee Resettlement recently found that more than 700 children have been taken away from their parents in the process of immigration processing, many of them under the age of 4.

Congress has been demanding data on the number of cases in which children have been taken from their guardians, but the Department of Homeland Security had not responded.

Immigration officials and the Trump administration has suggested in the past they would use the tactic of taking children away from their guardians to deter illegal immigration.

Children who are removed from their parents are taken to shelters overseen by nonprofit organizations while case workers seek to legal guardians in the U.S. to look after them.

Immigration officials have defended the move as a protective measure if officials cannot immediately identify the child’s parent.

Read Full Story: New York Times

Children & Families, Justice & Poverty, News
Children & Families, Justice & Poverty, News