This past Saturday, November 3, marked 100 days since a federal judge’s deadline for the Trump administration to return migrant children they kidnapped at the southern border back to their parents, yet 47 of these children continue to remain under U.S. custody, according to the most recently available numbers.
Of these children, the parents of 33 have already been deported, lengthening the time these kids will have to stay in custody—and increasing their risk of harm. Just in the past few days alone, two Arizona facilities owned by “non-profit” profiteers Southwest Key—the company holds a nearly $460 million dollar government contract to detain migrant kids—were forced to give up their licenses over failing to show it properly vetted employees.
In early October, one of these facilities, Hacienda del Sol, had transferred kids under its custody to other locations and abruptly shut down without any explanation. Days later, officials finally revealed why: a number of facility staffers have been fired for physically abusing three migrant children. At the time, Southwest Key “did not release additional details about the incident or how many staff members were involved,” or if any will be charged.
This is criminal, yet not one Trump official, including Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen and Health and Human Services (HHS) Sec. Alex Azar, has been held accountable by Congress, while Judge Dana Sabraw has declined to punish them for violating his order. Tomorrow, November 6, we get our chance to defend these kids and hold officials accountable. “We cannot forget about and turn our backs on these children,” tweeted Congress member Barbara Lee of California on Saturday.
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