US asylum laws foster child trafficking at southern border, Utah Sen. Mike Lee says

Left unchanged, U.S. asylum laws will continue to let human traffickers bring children across the southern border and sell them as sex slaves, Sen. Mike Lee told a U.S. Senate committee Thursday.

"Children are brought to the border by cartels who know the U.S. government will essentially complete the trafficking route for them at the end of the road by releasing the child into the interior, in some cases to sponsors who claim to be relatives but in fact are only the final link in the trafficking chain," he said.

More >> US asylum laws foster child trafficking at southern border, Utah Sen. Mike Lee says

• Doctors call for investigation after 3 migrant children in custody die of flu
• These Horrifying Family Separation Cases Have All Happened Since Trump “Ended” the Policy
• 'Timely Action Is Critical': Doctors Call On Congress to Investigate Children's Deaths In Migrant Detention Centers
• ‘Why did you leave me?’ In new testimonies, migrants describe the ‘torment’ of child separation

Texas pediatrician on border crisis: ‘Kids don’t go in cages’

Over a 13-year career as a pediatrician in Texas, Dr. Marsha Griffin has visited every government facility that could hold newly arrived migrant children in the Rio Grande Valley.

She visited U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities during the 2013 and 2014 surge in unaccompanied minors arriving from Central America, when the agency retrofitted a warehouse in McAllen, Texas, into its largest detention center for unauthorized immigrants. Over the past 12 months, she has been visiting the facilities again – including a new temporary CBP facility in Donna, Texas, amid another surge in unaccompanied minors and families from Central America.

More >> Texas pediatrician on border crisis: ‘Kids don’t go in cages’

• Advocates: 'Horrible deja vu' in continued family separation
• ACLU says Trump admin has separated over 900 migrant children in past year
• Editorial: The Trump administration is using any excuse it can find to separate migrant families
• US has taken nearly 1,000 child migrants from their parents since judge ordered stop to border separations, ACLU says
• Booker on detention facilities for unauthorized border crossings
• N.C. shut down a group home last year. The US just gave it a contract to house migrant children
• Lindsey Graham to change rules, break ties with Democrats to curb asylum seekers at US border
• Her toddler died weeks after leaving ICE custody. She's suing a private prison company for $40 million

ACLU Says Trump Admin Has Separated 900 Migrant Children Despite Court Order

The American Civil Liberties Union told a judge Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s administration has separated more than 900 migrant children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border since June 2018, despite a court order for the government to slow down the practice.

In its 200-plus-page filing, the ACLU alleges that the government has separated 911 children by way of a loophole the court allowed for children whose parents had a criminal history or showed signs of disease or neglect.

More >> ACLU Says Trump Admin Has Separated 900 Migrant Children Despite Court Order

• ‘I was scared I’d get sick’: the pregnant migrant women detained by the US

Amy Schumer, Andy Cohen and More Stars Speak Out About Reuniting Migrant Families Separated at Border

A star-studded roster of celebrities has teamed up with the organization Immigrant Families Together as part of a new campaign dedicated to reuniting every single migrant family that has been separated at the southern border.

To mark the launch of IFT’s Every. Last. One campaign, nearly 60 famous faces banded together for a video released Monday pushing their message forward.

More >> Amy Schumer, Andy Cohen and More Stars Speak Out About Reuniting Migrant Families Separated at Border

US migrant detention centres are overcrowded and families are still being separated

It has fake grass, a pop-up medical clinic and a soccer pitch. It sits at the end of a dry and dusty road in southwest Texas, near some old lodging that was once used by oil workers.

More >> US migrant detention centres are overcrowded and families are still being separated

• 'I Know That They're Cared For." Why One Mom Has Chosen To Foster Migrant Children
• Their children cry at night after border separation. These fathers are seeking damages for the harm they suffered
• Plan halted to house migrant kids at Oklahoma’s Fort Sill
• Senator Dianne Feinstein Speaks Against Bill Ending Protections for Immigrant Children and Families
• Senator intervenes at border to help Mexican family apply for asylum

U.S., Guatemala Sign Treaty Denying U.S. Asylum to Migrants

Guatemala has signed a comprehensive migration reform deal which allows U.S. border officials to legally block asylum claims by migrants who pass through that country, President Donald Trump said Friday.

More >> U.S., Guatemala Sign Treaty Denying U.S. Asylum to Migrants

• Rep. Karen Bass: Trump admin. engaging in 'state-sponsored child abuse' by separating migrant kids
• Exclusive: Red flags on family separation were raised internally in Trump admin, documents show
• Trump’s Declaration of Inhuman Rights Includes Children in Migrant Jails
• Trump Is Targeting the Most Vulnerable Among Us
• Their children cry at night after border separation. These fathers are seeking damages for the harm they suffered
• Inhofe spokesperson: Plans to house migrant children at Ft. Sill 'on hold'
• After 3 children who are U.S. citizens were detained at O’Hare, Illinois lawmakers are pressing border patrol for answers

Thousands of unaccompanied migrant children could be detained indefinitely

An unprecedented number of unaccompanied migrant children are at risk of spending the rest of their childhoods in federal custody, CBS News learned in an exclusive interview with the head of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), the agency that cares for these children.

The federal government is required to pursue "prompt and continuous efforts toward family reunification" of unaccompanied migrant children, according to a landmark court settlement, but for thousands of kids in ORR care, that reunion may never happen.

More >> Thousands of unaccompanied migrant children could be detained indefinitely

• A growing number of migrant children might spend their entire childhoods in U.S. custody
• Number of detained migrant children without U.S. sponsors spikes, federal official says
• VIDEO: Mother of 2 taken into custody by ICE in Los Angeles as neighbor tries to intervene
• They're immigrants. Their kids are US citizens. And they're scared
• 18-Year-Old U.S. Citizen Was Detained By ICE For Nearly A Month Despite 

Countless migrant children could soon be headed to Fort Worth. Here’s why

Fort Worth for years has been a temporary home to countless unaccompanied migrant children.

And it could soon house even more.

More >> Countless migrant children could soon be headed to Fort Worth. Here’s why

• Opponents of U.S. border policy chant ‘Never again is now’
• How detention centers affect the health of immigrant children: A research roundup
• Ocasio-Cortez calls for an independent investigation into child separation policies

The Trump Administration Isn’t Providing Legal Aid To Migrant Children In Temporary Shelter

The Trump administration is not providing legal services to migrant children in a newly opened temporary facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, in what advocates say is a violation of law.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement, the government agency that operates all shelters for migrant children, has confirmed it has not yet contracted with any legal aid providers to give the kids access to counsel. The children face deportation proceedings and are already getting court dates, according to the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), which has stepped in to offer free legal counsel in the absence of a contract.

More >> The Trump Administration Isn’t Providing Legal Aid To Migrant Children In Temporary Shelter

• US immigration agents use children to inflict terror on migrant families
• Japanese Americans among hundreds protesting plan to detain migrant children at Fort Sill
• REPORT: Trump Administration Has Reunited 95% Of Migrant Children With Their Families Or Sponsors

Private Companies Are Cashing in on ICE's Detention Centers

When employees at Wayfair, a swanky furniture and interior decorating company, discovered earlier this month that they had unknowingly been responsible for providing bedding to immigrant detention centers run by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), they demanded that executives break off ties with the agency. When the higher-ups refused, the employees staged a walk-out in Boston.

It's a strange disconnect, that this company that sells accent chairs and floral-patterned credenzas was connected to the latest iteration of American concentration camps. But the truth is that there's a lot of money to make in the immigrant detention business, and plenty of the companies cashing in are household names.

More >> Private Companies Are Cashing in on ICE's Detention Centers

Foster parents needed for unaccompanied migrant children

Across the country, people are opening up their homes and becoming foster parents for migrant children who entered the United States unaccompanied by an adult and with no one willing to sponsor them.

And in many of those cases, a network of Catholic and other Christian social service agencies are working with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to place unaccompanied migrant children and refugee minors in safe home environments.

More >> Foster parents needed for unaccompanied migrant children

• L.A. County Aims to Recruit Relatives, Family Friends to Foster Immigrant Kids
• Half of unaccompanied minors left Homestead facility but U.S. officials won't say where they went, Pocan says
• Here’s what a new shelter for migrant children in D-FW would look like
• Acting DHS chief worried about more migrant child deaths

House Report Reveals More Detailed, Disturbing Picture Of Family Separations Under ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy

The House Oversight Committee’s investigation into the Trump administration’s 2018 policy shows that many children were kept in government custody far longer than previously known. At least 18 infants and toddlers under two years old were separated from their parents and "kept apart for 20 days to half a year." Meanwhile, the Trump administration agrees to allow a Stanford University pediatrician to conduct an independent investigation into health conditions for migrant children at the detention facilities.

More >> House Report Reveals More Detailed, Disturbing Picture Of Family Separations Under ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy

• Trump Administration Plans Tighter Asylum Rules at Southern Border
• Homestead Migrant Shelter No Longer Taking in New Children: Officials
• DeLauro, fellow Democrats, decry conditions at center for migrant youth
• Fearing deportation, parents make plans for children who could be left behind

3-Year-Old Asked To Pick Parent In Attempted Family Separation, Her Parents Say

At a Border Patrol holding facility in El Paso, Texas, an agent told a Honduran family that one parent would be sent to Mexico while the other parent and their three children could stay in the United States, according to the family. The agent turned to the couple's youngest daughter — 3-year-old Sofia, whom they call Sofi — and asked her to make a choice.

"The agent asked her who she wanted to go with, mom or dad," her mother, Tania, told NPR through an interpreter. "And the girl, because she is more attached to me, she said mom. But when they started to take [my husband] away, the girl started to cry. The officer said, 'You said [you want to go] with mom.' "

More >> 3-Year-Old Asked To Pick Parent In Attempted Family Separation, Her Parents Say

Are immigrant children free to leave shelters ‘at anytime,’ as a Republican Congressman said?

The claim: At shelters for migrant children, “There's not a lock on the door. Any child is free to leave at anytime, but they don't. You know why? Because they are well taken care of. And yes, at some point they’re going to live with family, generally not mother or father, but some family member, that’s a good thing." — Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Denton, during a June 24 MSNBC interview. "

More >> Are immigrant children free to leave shelters ‘at anytime,’ as a Republican Congressman said?

• Schumer Pushes Bill to Protect Migrants After Facing Heat from Local Activists
• Ex-CEO of nonprofit that houses migrant children earned over $3.5 million: report
• Cuccinelli won’t rule out separating children from parents in ICE raids
• New Texas child detention center is clean and bright – but it's still a jail

The Trump Administration Separated At Least 18 Immigrant Toddlers From Their Parents

Many immigrant children separated from their parents at the border last year were kept in government custody far longer than previously known, including at least 679 minors who were detained between 46 and 75 days, according to a report released Friday by the House Oversight Committee.

The report also found that at least 18 infants and toddlers under 2 years old were separated from their parents and kept apart for 20 days to half a year.

More >> The Trump Administration Separated At Least 18 Immigrant Toddlers From Their Parents

• Children still in custody and infants held for months: Report details scope of family separation policy
• Arizona Dems want Ducey, AG to investigate child abuse allegations at Yuma Border Patrol facility
• MIGRANT DETENTION CENTER INSPECTOR SAYS CHILDREN ARE UNWASHED, SOBBING AND CRITICALLY ILL
• Feminist Organizations are Fighting for Migrant Children at the Border
• Impassioned AOC, fellow Democrats zero in on Trump's practice of separating families at border
• 
  

If You're Shocked by Reports on Children at the Border, You Haven't Paid Attention to American History

Americans love their children, agonizing about offering them a hopeful path to the future. But since the nation’s beginnings, we have been at once sympathetic to images of childhood and unkind in our treatment of “other” people’s children. For migrants at the southern border, this seeming paradox is playing out once again.

More >> If You're Shocked by Reports on Children at the Border, You Haven't Paid Attention to American History

• Federal Agencies Trade Blame Over Detention of Migrant Children
• Zero tolerance may be over, but migrant children are still being separated from parents
• New holding center for migrant children opens at former Texas oilfield camp
• One boy’s tale of family separation heads to court
• Reporter Who Helped Expose Conditions At The Border Says Little Has Changed
• 'Our lost son': Migrant boy still separated from parents after dad is deported
• Watch: Asylum-seeker talks about daughter’s death after U.S. custody
• Migrant Whose Daughter Died In Custody Slams "Cruelty" Of US Detention
• US: Family Separation Harming Children, Families
• Former ICE head says raids pose ‘significant risk’ to families with U.S. kids
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Doctors: Trump's detention camps amount to 'child abuse' that will leave 'lasting scars'

Trump's treatment of immigrant children in detention camps amounts to 'deliberate, cruel psychological abuse,' one child psychiatrist said.

More >> Doctors: Trump's detention camps amount to 'child abuse' that will leave 'lasting scars'

• U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan files bill requiring feds to testify about migrant deaths before Congress
• Medi-Cal Enrollment Among Immigrant Kids Stalls, Then Falls. Is Fear To Blame?
• Children sexually assaulted and bullied by US border guards at migrant detention camp, report says
• US opens new child detention center in rural Texas after reports of overcrowding at border facilities
• Treatment of Migrant Children at Border Is 'Child Abuse,' Says House Committee Chairman
• Dozens gather to demand closure of migrant camps in Homestead
• Arizona Border Agents Accused of Groping 15-Year-Old Migrant Girl From Honduras, Mistreating Other Children: Report
• Immigrant Children Sent to Chicago Shelters Are Traumatized and Sick, in Some Instances With Chicken Pox or Tuberculosis
• U.S. says it is holding 200 children at southwest border, down from 2,500 in May

Smithsonian Seeks Depressing Drawings From Migrant Children

After CNN reported on several depressing drawings purportedly drawn by migrant children, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History reached out to potentially obtain the artwork.

More >> Smithsonian Seeks Depressing Drawings From Migrant Children

• Who will answer for child abuse, neglect at southern border?
• Why A Father Fears His Son’s Mental Illness Could Lead To Deportation

Cashing in on child abuse at the border

Under federal law, maximum number of days children captured after crossing the border into the U.S. without authorization are allowed to be held by U.S. Customs and Border Protection before being transferred to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR): 3

Number of weeks some migrant children were held at a border station in Clint, Texas, where visiting lawyers found filthy and overcrowded conditions: 3

More >> INSTITUTE INDEX: Cashing in on child abuse at the border

• Babies left in squalor and ‘traumatised’ children prevented from washing in US border custody, says doctor
• Migrant Children Were Asked to Draw Their Experiences in U.S. Custody. Here's What They Drew
• Keeping children in 'cages' costs American taxpayers more than $4.5 million daily
• Border Pediatrician Says “Severe Trauma” Is Being Done to Kids in Custody There
• Disturbing Drawings By Migrant Children Released From US Border Custody Depict 'Horrific' Life In Cages
• We don't tolerate child abuse by parents, and we shouldn't tolerate it from our government
• Migrant Caregivers Separated From Children At Border, Sent Back to Mexico

Newly minted child detention center in rural Texas draws about 100 at first protest

About 100 activists calling for an end to migrant child detention got a chilly reception in southwest Texas on Wednesday as the first protest against a newly opened migrant holding facility devolved into three arrests and at least two cars being towed.

Speakers drove to this rural community from as far away as Houston and San Antonio, two hours away, to denounce the squalid conditions recently reported by lawyers and doctors who have spoken to migrant children in Border Patrol facilities.

More >> Newly minted child detention center in rural Texas draws about 100 at first protest

• Gillibrand, Harris and Klobuchar call on migrant children shelters to overhaul policies
• Pediatricians share migrant children’s disturbing drawings of their time in US custody
• CHUCK SCHUMER CALLS FOR FIRING OF BORDER PATROL HEAD, ENTIRE LEADERSHIP AMID 'TOXIC CULTURE'
• Rep. Castro reveals migrant facility conditions in secretly filmed video
• Government sends migrant girls to new Florida facility
• Top House Democrat challenges Betsy DeVos on migrant children's education rights
• Migrant children's drawings depict 'horrific' conditions in cages
• Mitch McConnell more worried about a pair of Nikes than child abuse