Following on from my last two posts about the rendering of children from families seeking asylum in the USA.
It has been confirmed that the government does not have a process for re-uniting the families. Border control separated the children from their parents for the misdemeanor of entering the USA illegally. These are families that are so desperate that they left their home countries due to violence and when they arrive at the USA border they are turned away. So they cross the border illegally as this is their only chance to a half-way decent life. Some of the families have been re-united and there are heart-breaking stories all over the internet about children having not been cared for or washed while they were in US custody and are returned to their parents, filthy with lice.
There is a video showing the reunification of a mother and daughter, while heart-warming, it also shows a child who appears deeply traumatized. I would say that these videos should’t be shown for the sake of the child’s privacy, but we need witnesses to the horrors that the US government has inflicted on these refugees.
Furthermore, there is now evidence that children were taken to an office building and held there. This building was not approved to childcare and lacked facilities for children to stay overnight or for a long-time.
Additionally in one of the Texas “shelters” children were given anti-psychotic drugs to keep them docile. Some were told to take the drugs or never see their families again.
We need to do better.
#familiesbelongtogether
Lab Cat 