Public outrage is growing against US President Donald Trump’s Administration’s hardline approach being taken in relation to the thousands of immigrant children and their parents, who have been separated at mostly the southern Mexico border. It had been reported last week that the US military has been asked to get ready to house these children who have been separated from their families at the border since the implementation of Trump’s zero-tolerance policy, in which anyone caught entering the US illegally is criminally prosecuted.
According to the United Nations, US Immigration authorities have detained almost 2,000 children in the past six weeks alone. And for quite some time now, the debates have been raging in various quarters as to the best approach the US authorities could take in handling the matter, so as to ensure the children’s interests are taken into consideration.
A few days ago, a top UN official called for an immediate halt to the practice, which he condemned as abuse. Children cannot be jailed with their parents; instead, according to official sources, after the adult is charged, children are held briefly by Homeland Security officials before being transferred to Health and Human Services, which operate more than 100 shelters for minors in 17 states.
President Trump has signed an executive order rolling back his own policy of separating parents from their children — claiming to solve a problem that was of his own creation. But experts have pointed out that this order is no solution at all; it still leaves open the long-term detention of immigrant children.
The executive order includes no plan to reunite these children with their parents; something that should be done as quickly as possible. Further, some legal experts have pointed out that the wording of the executive order is ambiguous, and that family separations could continue. It was also not clear if the Government would keep prosecuting cases against people caught crossing the border illegally.
Writing in an Op-ed in the New York Times, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo referred to the fact that, to make matters worse, the federal Government is prohibiting his State from providing health and mental health services to the hundreds of children who have already been placed by the Federal Office of Refugee Resettlement in centers around the State.
It is well known that Trump campaigned on a narrow anti-immigrant and American nationalistic agenda, and it was bought by a majority of American voters. It therefore came as no surprise when he signed a sweeping executive order on immigration, expansively defining the “criminal aliens” he intends to target.
Caribbean nationals, including Guyanese, are among the millions of illegal immigrants living in the US, and they were anxiously waiting for the time when they could have their status regularised. For many, there are still a lot of uncertainties as they fear that their immigration status could be affected overnight, or the immigration laws which apply to them for certain categories of sponsorship could be changed with very short notice.
Previous US Administrations had focused on removing immigrants with criminal convictions, regardless of whether they have legal residency. However, Trump’s immigration policies prioritise anyone who has been charged with a crime, whether that person is convicted or not. This includes anyone who has committed “acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offence,” whether or not the person has been convicted, charged, or even arrested.
What is of more concern is that the Administration has been relying much more heavily on state and local law enforcement for making such enforcement determinations. As expected, this has raised some level of concern among immigrant communities.
The administration’s immigration policies have indeed caused a great deal of unease for many. It would therefore be in persons’ own interest to take all the necessary precautions to ensure they are not affected unnecessarily, especially those who are yet to get their immigration status “regularised”.
Certainly, many are rightfully concerned about the long-term impact and trauma, including the irreparable harm that these forcible separations will have on children.
