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by Causes | 12.27.18

What’s the story?

Two children died in December while in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the most recent on Christmas day.
In the wake of the second death, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced on Wednesday that “in response to the unprecedented surge of children into our custody, I have directed a series of extraordinary protective measures.”
But should the U.S. even be holding children in detention centers? If not, where should they be held?

What are the numbers?

Almost 15,000 immigrant children are being held in government custody. The national network of more than 100 shelters are 92 percent full.
According to CBP, 10,265 children traveled alone in October and November of this year, which is in contrast with the 7,127 taken into custody over the same two months the previous year.
\n48,287 family units were apprehended during October and November, whereas 11,852 family units apprehended during the same time last year.

Where are the children being held?

Many unauthorized immigrants detained as part of President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy are being held in detention centers run by for-profit prison companies. Migrants refer to them as “hieleras,” which is Spanish for “ice-boxes.”
The largest migrant youth shelter in the country is in Tornillo, a remote area of west Texas; 2,800 children live in heated tents a few hundred yards from the Rio Grande.
In July, immigrant children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border filed a lawsuit alleging that they were given inedible food and undrinkable water, and suffered verbal and physical abuse. The children described frozen food, filthy toilets, overcrowding, guards kicking their feet and mocking their situation, and children crying in cages.
At the time, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) tweeted:

Why are so many children in custody?

Under current law, non-Mexican unaccompanied children cannot be released or removed from the U.S.
In June, the Trump administration implemented a new rule that requires sponsors to be fingerprinted before picking up children, and the information is shared with immigration officials. Between July and September, ICE arrested 41 people who came forward as potential sponsors of unauthorized immigrant children. While some have come forward and been arrested, many are too afraid to claim kids.
There is currently a bill in Congress that would block ICE from arresting unauthorized immigrants who come forward to care for unaccompanied children.

What are both sides saying?

Secretary Nielsen placed the blame for the influx of young children on parents:

“[America] has an immigration system that rewards parents for sending their children across the border alone, a system that prevents parents who bring their children on a dangerous and illegal journey from facing consequences for their actions, an asylum process that is not able to quickly help those who qualify for asylum.\"

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), the incoming chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said he hopes CBP quickly implements its plan to relieve overcrowding issues.

\"I hope that [CBP] will ask Congress for the medical resources and supplies and training and equipment and personnel that they need to properly treat the migrants who are arriving at the U.S. Mexico border,\" Castro said.

What do you think?

Should Congress investigate the conditions of child detention centers? Does it need to hold hearings with the private companies running detention centers? Should Congress pass legislation protecting unauthorized immigrants who come forward to care for unaccompanied children?

Take action above and tell your reps, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman

(Photo Credit: Mike Blake / Reuters)

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