#Trump #USA #immigration #Mexico #women #children #HumanRights
Under a proposal being considered by the Department of Homeland Security, women and children entering USA illegally could be separated. The parents will be kept in custoday while they contest deportation or wait for asylum hearings. Whereas the children will be put under protective custody with the Department of Health and Human Services in the least restrictive setting.
Such measure might deter mothers from migrating to the USA with their children. Currently, families contesting deportation or applying for asylum are generally released from detention quickly and allowed to remain in the USA because federal appeals court ruling bars prolonged child detention. This will also help in the safety of children, who, often, are exploited, abused or killed by parents, relatives or smugglers.
About 54,000 children and their guardians were apprehended between Oct 1st, 2016 and Jan 31st, 2017, more than double the number caught over the same time period a year earlier.
Republicans in Congress argued that women are willing to risk the dangerous journey with their children because they are assured they will be quickly released from detention and given court dates set years into the future.
LiveSid 