President Donald Trump rode anti-immigrant hatred all the way to the White House. Since he took office, deportations of non-criminal undocumented immigrants have risen drastically. Now, with his decision to undo DACA, Immigration and Customs Enforcement will force people brought to the United States as children will back into the shadows.
The current administration has no qualms about separating immigrant families. We see story after story of children, many of whom are United States citizens, being ripped from their parents and deported.
The assault on immigrant families looks to be gaining in force. ICE approved a plan that would rip apart immigrant families caught at the border.
They would detain parents awaiting deportation and place their children in protective custody at shelters, or with an approved sponsor.
Separating children from their parents is especially cruel. The administration argues that the policy would prove a deterrent to entire families crossing the border illegally. History does not suggest this to be accurate, though, especially since many who risk crossing the border illegally do so because they are fleeing violence and extreme poverty in their home country.
This is not the first time the administration discussed implementing this policy. When Chief of Staff John Kelly was head of the Department of Homeland Security, he talked about the plan’s possibility.
Kelly did not remain committed to the policy after it received significant criticism. Kelly, at that time representing DHS, assured Democrats in the Senate that this policy was not intended to separate mothers from their children.
It is unclear how he thought that to be the case. With the full support of the White House and the approval of ICE, the plan needs only the approval of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielson to move forward.
Featured Image via YouTube Video.
