Reports about the separation of families under the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy continue to have an impact. While federal officials say they are trying to work out how to reunite immigrant children and parents who have been detained in separate facilities, a news show host has been reduced to tears on live TV while reading an Associated Press account of those divisions. A look at the latest developments:
Will be ‘signing something’: Trump
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has drafted an executive action for President Donald Trump that would direct her department to keep families together after they are detained crossing the border illegally. She was at the White House where Trump told reporters he would be “signing something” shortly.
The effort to end what has become a major crisis for the Trump administration was outlined by two people familiar with Nielsen’s thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the effort before its official announcement.
It’s unclear exactly what the president might be supporting, but he said he would be signing something “in a little while.”
‘Tender age’ shelters
The Associated Press has learned that babies and other young children forcibly separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border are being sent to “tender age” shelters in South Texas.
Play rooms of crying preschool-age children in crisis were described by lawyers and medical providers who visited the Rio Grande Valley shelters. The Government plans to open a fourth shelter to house hundreds of young migrant children in Houston, where city leaders denounced the move on Tuesday.
Dueling Congressional action
GOP leaders in the House are trying to pull together a revised version of a broad immigration bill that would mandate keeping immigrant children in detention indefinitely, but housed with their parents. In the Senate, Republicans are backing a narrower bill that would allow detained families to stay together in custody while expediting their hearings and possible deportation proceedings.
Trump declared on Tuesday he is “1,000 perc ent” behind the rival bills .
No plans on how to reunite families
Trump administration officials say they haven’t yet figured out how to reunite the thousands of children separated from their families at the border. “We’re still working through the experience of reunifying kids with their parents after adjudication,” said Steven Wagner, an acting assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Impact on children grim
The American Medical Association’s chief executive officer is demanding an end to the practice of separating children from their parents at the southern border.
Dr James Madara said in the letter to the Trump administration that childhood trauma and adverse childhood experiences created by inhumane treatment often create negative health impacts that can last a lifetime. Madara sent the letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Some argue that the policy is nothing new and that the United States of America has a history of breaking up families, detaining children and sanctioning others who do so .
Business leaders blast policy
Some business leaders have condemned the “zero tolerance” policy, but the potential impact of their complaints is unclear. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he’s donating money to groups that provide legal advice and translation services for immigrant families at the border. He asked others to do the same.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai tweeted that the stories and images about separated families are “gut-wrenching.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook said the policy is “inhumane” and must stop. And in a joint statement, the three founders of Airbnb said separating kids from their families is “heartless, cruel, immoral and counter to the American values of belonging.”
US House to vote today on Bill: Ryan
US lawmakers will vote Thursday on a bill that would end the controversial practice of separating migrant children from parents caught entering the country without papers, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Wednesday. “We do not want children taken away from their parents. We can enforce our immigration laws without breaking families apart. The administration says it wants Congress to act and we are,” Ryan said.
Global outcry rises
International condemnation is growing against the US policy of separating migrant families at its border.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May said holding children “in what appear to be cages [is] deeply disturbing” and “wrong”.
Pope Francis said he supported US Catholic bishops who said it was “immoral”.
The Republican-controlled Congress is under pressure to change President Donald Trump’s policy. Republicans are scrambling to draft a new immigration bill to address the growing outcry.