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Detained migrant children are sitting ducks. Accelerate their release. Detained migrant children are sitting ducks. Accelerate their release.
(about 2 hours later)
Migrant children and their families held in federal detention facilities are sitting ducks for the pestilence now spreading through communities nationwide. Already, four detained children have tested positive for the novel coronavirus; so have staff members at shelters for unaccompanied minors. Two federal judges, alarmed at what appears to be a disaster in the making, have ordered immigration authorities to accelerate releases of detained migrants who have no criminal records and pose no danger to society. The longer the delay, the greater the risk to both the migrants and others. MIGRANT CHILDREN and their families held in federal detention facilities are sitting ducks for the pestilence now spreading through communities nationwide. Already, four detained children have tested positive for the novel coronavirus; so have staff members at shelters for unaccompanied minors. Two federal judges, alarmed at what appears to be a disaster in the making, have ordered immigration authorities to accelerate releases of detained migrants who have no criminal records and pose no danger to society. The longer the delay, the greater the risk to both the migrants and others.
The judges set April 6 as the date by which two federal agencies — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which operates three migrant family detention facilities, and the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which oversees shelters for unaccompanied minors — must report on their progress.The judges set April 6 as the date by which two federal agencies — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which operates three migrant family detention facilities, and the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which oversees shelters for unaccompanied minors — must report on their progress.
Full coverage of the coronavirus pandemicFull coverage of the coronavirus pandemic
Jails, prisons and other detention facilities, often lacking any realistic means of achieving physical distance among inmates and detainees , are tinderboxes for disease of all sorts. Soap supplies are often inadequate. Jails, prisons and other detention facilities, often lacking any realistic means of achieving physical distance among inmates and detainees, are tinderboxes for disease of all sorts. Soap supplies are often inadequate.
That’s unnerving enough, given that populations in detention are never static, and that the constant transfers of people in and out are a recipe for rapid transmission of pathogens. It’s more frightening still when the potential victims are children — and generally blameless children at that.That’s unnerving enough, given that populations in detention are never static, and that the constant transfers of people in and out are a recipe for rapid transmission of pathogens. It’s more frightening still when the potential victims are children — and generally blameless children at that.
Blameless: That’s an accurate way of describing most of the minors in immigration detention. Some were apprehended with their parents, who were often seeking asylum for the family. Many others entered the country on their own, sent or smuggled with help from their families in hopes of joining relatives living in the United States. Nearly 7,000 children are being held in immigration detention, nearly half of them with one or both parents. Blameless: That’s an accurate way of describing most of the minors in immigration detention. Some were apprehended with their parents, who were often seeking asylum for the family. Many others entered the country on their own, sent or smuggled with help from their families in hopes of joining relatives living in the United States. Nearly 7,000 children are being held in immigration detention, nearly half of them with one or both parents.
A federal lawsuit settled in 1997 set limits on the time migrant minors can be held in detention, in recognition of damage it can do to their emotional and mental health. The Trump administration, seeking ways to deter further illegal immigration, has been bending those rules, even seeking to hold migrant children with their families indefinitely. That was dangerous enough. Subjecting children to a heightened risk of being exposed to a widening pandemic is beyond irresponsible.A federal lawsuit settled in 1997 set limits on the time migrant minors can be held in detention, in recognition of damage it can do to their emotional and mental health. The Trump administration, seeking ways to deter further illegal immigration, has been bending those rules, even seeking to hold migrant children with their families indefinitely. That was dangerous enough. Subjecting children to a heightened risk of being exposed to a widening pandemic is beyond irresponsible.
U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee of Los Angeles, in an order over the weekend, found that family detention facilities run by ICE — two in Texas and one in Pennsylvania — appear “deficient” in terms of adopting standards and protocols, set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that would protect children from disease. Judge Gee ordered federal agencies to make “continuous efforts” to release migrant minors from custody. Ruling separately on Monday in the same lawsuit, U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of the District expanded the order to apply to the minors’ parents detained with them. U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee of Los Angeles, in an order last weekend, found that family detention facilities run by ICE — two in Texas and one in Pennsylvania — appear “deficient” in terms of adopting standards and protocols, set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that would protect children from disease. Judge Gee ordered federal agencies to make “continuous efforts” to release migrant minors from custody. Ruling separately last Monday in the same lawsuit, U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of the District expanded the order to apply to the minors’ parents detained with them.
The Opinions section is looking for stories of how the coronavirus has affected people of all walks of life. Write to us.The Opinions section is looking for stories of how the coronavirus has affected people of all walks of life. Write to us.
The urgency is real. When and if the coronavirus begins spreading inside the facilities, the danger of releasing migrant children may become equal to or greater than the risks posed by continuing to detain them. That’s not a choice the courts should be forced to make. The urgency is real. If and when the coronavirus begins spreading inside the facilities, the danger of releasing migrant children may become equal to or greater than the risks posed by continuing to detain them. That’s not a choice the courts should be forced to make.
Read more:Read more:
J. Larry Brown: Immigrants are in the same boat with the rest of us in this pandemic. The administration doesn’t care.J. Larry Brown: Immigrants are in the same boat with the rest of us in this pandemic. The administration doesn’t care.
The Post’s View: Trump’s immigration policies have already put lives at riskThe Post’s View: Trump’s immigration policies have already put lives at risk
Julio Ricardo Varela: As he bungles this crisis, Trump turns to a familiar scapegoat: ImmigrationJulio Ricardo Varela: As he bungles this crisis, Trump turns to a familiar scapegoat: Immigration
Caroline Fredrickson: Don’t let constitutional rights be a victim of this virusCaroline Fredrickson: Don’t let constitutional rights be a victim of this virus
The Post’s View: The Trump administration’s cruel use of children for leverageThe Post’s View: The Trump administration’s cruel use of children for leverage