Campaign Action
It’s now 21 days past Judge Dana Sabraw’s migrant family reunification deadline, yet 565 children kidnapped from the arms of their parents continue to remain under U.S. custody. Twenty-four of these children, MSNBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff tweeted Thursday, are five years old or younger. Of the 366 jailed children whose parents have already been deported, six are five years old or younger.
According to Soboroff, the administration also said that “parents of 154 waived the right to reunite,” including one child aged five or under. But, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) “challenged this … saying some were ‘misled or coerced’ into waiving reunification.” One of these parents includes a dad named Ascencion. Soboroff said the man signed a document waiving his reunification with his 15 year old, but that he had no idea what he was signing in the first place.
Soboroff was unable to meet with the dad, who remains in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. But he did manage to send Soboroff a handwritten letter from inside his prison, detailing the anguish he suffers through daily. “They’re deporting me without me knowing,” he wrote. “I feel the government is treating me poorly, they are ignoring me.”
Too many have moved on from the ongoing family separation crisis, and some of that can be blamed on the daily chaos that Donald Trump unleashes on the American people, both purposefully and because of his own thin skin. But this is still a crisis, and we know who must be held accountable. That includes the top administration officials who created this crisis—and the elected leaders now refusing to hold them accountable.
“The Senate has held all of one hearing. Democrats—in the minority for now—continue to be aggressive,” said immigrant rights group America’s Voice. “This week, 17 Democratic senators issued a powerful letter demanding the reunification of all immigrant families. Many have called for [Department of Homeland Security Sec. Kirstjen] Nielsen to resign. All have demanded that the Trump administration fix the crisis. Unfortunately, the vast majority of their colleagues across the aisle have been missing in action.”
For parents who may been coerced or mislead into deportation, the senators—including leading Democrats like Kamala Harris—said they must be returned to the U.S. for reunification and a chance to fight for their day in court. “DHS should offer these parents an opportunity to return to the United States on a grant of humanitarian parole ... to reunite with their child. Such reunited families in turn should be released into the community to pursue claims for asylum or other forms of protection for which they may be eligible.”
“With this President, this administration and this Congress, the buck stops anywhere but with the architects, enablers and defenders of the Trump administration’s monstrous family separation policy,” said America’s Voice leader Frank Sharry. “Twenty days after the court’s deadline, we have more than 550 kids still alone, still separated from their parents and still treated with indifference by our government. Most of the credit for the families that have been reunified goes to the ACLU, Judge [Dana] Sabraw and the tireless and committed non-governmental actors and advocates who have stepped up.”
Judge Sabraw has been more than accommodating for this slow-walking administration, but enough is enough. While Nielsen and Sarah Sanders and Stephen Miller run and cry because they haven’t been able to finish their pricey sushi and free cheese plates, parents like Ascencion wait to hear if they’ll ever get to see their own kids again. “The separation has affected me a lot,” he continued. “When I get out of here, I don’t know if I’ll be able to ever forget about this. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to settle down because I’ve felt like I’m going crazy. I am in an inhumane situation. This has no name.”