Nearly a dozen Senate Democrats have condemned the Trump administration’s heinous use of confidential therapy notes against detained kids in immigration court, telling Office of Refugee Resettlement director Jonathan Hayes that “sharing confidential psychotherapy information undermines its missions and violates the rights of minors under its custody and care.” The senators, who include current 2020 presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, also demand answers regarding the extent of the deeply unethical but “technically legal” practice.
“At a recent Senate hearing, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar acknowledged that the practice had occurred and called it a ‘mistake’ that ‘going forward … shouldn’t be happening,’” the senators wrote in a joint statement received by Daily Kos. But, they said, “In a recent Washington Post story, it was reported that ICE used the information of one child’s self-disclosed trauma to advocate for his continued detention and deportation.”
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Among the young people profiled in Hannah Dreier’s report in The Washington Post last month was Kevin, who was 17 when he fled Honduras after a gang forced him into membership and then tried to make him kill someone to prove his loyalty. But because Kevin disclosed his (forced) gang ties during his therapy sessions, information that the boy revealed was then shared with ICE under government policy. ICE lawyers then literally pulled out the notes on his therapy in immigration court in front of him to use against him, first appealing his ordered release from detention, and then appealing his successful asylum ruling. He’s still detained.
The senators—Ed Markey, Richard Blumenthal, Bob Casey, Tina Smith, Kirsten Gillibrand, Warren, Sanders, Kamala Harris, Jacky Rosen, Cory Booker, Chris Van Hollen, Amy Klobuchar, and Jeff Merkley—note that, while Azar acknowledged this breach of confidentiality during a recent Senate hearing and claimed it was corrected last summer, “reports suggest that this practice may be continuing today.” Remember, Azar hasn’t been the most trustworthy person, especially when it comes to detained migrant kids. “Has ORR halted the practice of sharing information from confidential psychotherapy notes with ICE, as suggested by Secretary Azar?” the senators ask. “If so, what steps has ORR taken to ensure ORR staff and contractors have stopped this practice?”
The practice has been further condemned by professional organizations such as the American Psychological Association, which said in a statement following the release of The Washington Post’s report, "For this administration to weaponize these therapy sessions by ordering that the psychotherapy notes be passed to ICE is appalling,” and called “on ICE to release any immigrants who have had their asylum requests denied as a result.”
These kids, who came here alone, are depending on adults for their safety. Instead, they have become the latest victims of this administration’s official policy of state-sanctioned child abuse. In a separate statement, Warren and Sen. Ron Wyden said, “Children must have the opportunity to openly share their experiences with their therapists and care providers. They must be able to do so without the fear that what they disclose will later influence their asylum applications. The practice of sharing confidential clinical notes discourages these children from confiding in their therapists and care providers to get the help they need.”