The Trump administration appears to have been blocked from jailing as many as 200 migrant children in Washington, D.C., following Mayor Muriel Bowser enacting emergency regulations that would “prohibit the city’s child welfare agency from licensing facilities housing more than 15 residents,” The Washington Post reports.
“The facility was to be run by Dynamic Service Solutions, a Maryland-based contractor,” DCist said, “which got a $20.5 million contract this month from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to operate a shelter in D.C. for unaccompanied immigrant kids aged 12 to 17.” If you’re asking yourself what’s in it for companies to get in business with this vile administration, there’s one answer: $20.5 million.
The federal government should really be focusing on reuniting these children with family members already here or other qualified sponsors, but instead has been scouting various locations in order to jail more kids, including the D.C. area. But like in D.C., other local leaders have also spoken out in opposition to child jails in their communities.
“I am extremely concerned about your administration’s policy of separating children from their families when they cross the border into the U.S.,” Fairfax County, Virginia Board of Supervisors chair Sharon Bulova wrote last week regarding a plan to jail as many as 440 kids there, saying her county “wants no part in this heartless practice.”
“Received an email from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) letting local lawmakers know that they are exploring Central [Florida] as an option for opening a migrant detention camp for undocumented children,” tweeted state Rep. Anna V. Eskamani. “No. We should be closing camps, not opening new ones.” She’s right.
The Post reports that back in D.C., “the landlord of the proposed shelter site, Douglas Development, also has been facing pressure to back out of the deal.” While the new rules go only through December, a permanent version is expected to be unveiled for public comment by then, and it should go into effect. Making money off the misery of kids should never be a thing.