Every day, our government is separating vulnerable refugee children from their parents.
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We are sending children into foster care who have loving parents who have the capacity and the desire to take care of them.
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We are putting parents behind bars whose only crime is seeking safety and survival for themselves and their children.
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This situation is no tragedy though–it is intentional cruelty. Official policy has engineered it to be horrific on purpose. The logic behind this policy of separating families at the border is that if we do such a horrible thing–taking children away from their parents and providing no clear mechanism for ever reuniting them–that these parents will stop taking the risk of crossing the U.S. border with their children. But this strategy of deterring vulnerable families from making refugee claims is not only inhumane–it’s also illegal, and ineffective.
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HOW IS THIS POLICY ILLEGAL?
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It’s important to understand that crossing the border to seek asylum is legal–even if a person has not crossed at an official border checkpoint or with a visa, the moment they mention that they fear for their lives and are seeking asylum, they are supposed to be sent to an asylum officer so that their refugee claim can be assessed. Claiming asylum is not a guarantee that asylum will be granted–every person who makes a claim must still go through the process of being vetted, and–if their story doesn’t check out or if their situation doesn’t fit within the parameters of the U.N. Refugee Convention (to which the U.S. is a signatory)–their claim will be denied and they will be deported.
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However, instead of following the legal process, the current government is ignoring refugee law altogether and charging asylum seekers with the federal offense of entering the country illegally. This criminal charge is then used as an excuse to separate children from their parents, allowing the children of these refugee claimants to be reclassified as “unaccompanied minors” and sent to what is essentially foster care, with no clear mechanism for ever reuniting them with their families.
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WHY IS IT INEFFECTIVE AT DETERRING REFUGEE CLAIMANTS FROM CROSSING THE BORDER?
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The family separation strategy is based on ignorance. It’s premised on the idea that parents are only bringing children with them because they believe this will heighten their chances of being let into the country. In reality, people are bringing their children with them because these families are running for their lives. When you face almost certain death or brutality in your home country, the chance, however slim, that you may find safety in the U.S. will still be the best option you have, regardless of how cruel the immigration policy may be. Taking your chances with ICE and immigration detention is better than being murdered by an abusive partner. It’s better than being killed drug cartels, or raped in the midst of a gang war.
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HOW CAN WE RESPOND AS CHRISTIANS AND AS COMPASSIONATE HUMAN BEINGS?
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Stand up for vulnerable families. Make some noise, and take action!
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– Call your representatives to register your opposition to the “zero tolerance” policy at the border.
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– Whether you’re a parent, an aunt or uncle, a teach, a mentor, or any other human with kids in your life whom you love, join me in participating in the Not Without My Child Campaign by signing their letters to DHS Secretary Nielsen and Attorney General Sessions condemning this heartless policy and sending pictures of yourself with the children you love to @SecNielsen @DHSgov @USAGSessions & @TheJusticeDept.
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– Take compassionate action by donating to an organization that provides legal representation to the children trapped in immigration detention alone.
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Let’s show these families they aren’t in this alone.