They want minors to remain protected by a decades-old settlement governing the detention of immigrant children caught on the border. Under the agreement, children must be placed in age-appropriate facilities and released as quickly as possible. The Trump administration is seeking changes to the settlement in federal court to try to deter more families from making the trip.The Associated Press contributed to this report. … [Read more...] about Lawmakers get a close-up look at border crisis, while protesters call for tolerance
immigration
Texas Tech frat leader steps down after he suggested hunting border crossers for sport in online chat
Late Thursday, the newspaper reported, Tech officials issued a response via email, characterizing the posts as "abhorrent and strongly condemned.""These insensitive and racially charged messages do not reflect the core values of the institution," the statement said.A separate statement from council executive vice president Ethan Louis Smith called the posts "reprehensible," saying such language "has no place ... within our organization, school or society." Nissa Garcia, a senior at the school, posted a series of screenshots on Twitter of the since-deleted exchange that show it devolving into crude, racist and belittling remarks about African Americans as well as unauthorized immigrants, including one student's unsettling comment claiming to have met ranchers "who kill illegals and burry them under cattle graves along the border." … [Read more...] about Texas Tech frat leader steps down after he suggested hunting border crossers for sport in online chat
She Got Asylum After Her Partner Shot Her. Now The U.S. Would Turn Her Away.
POLITICS 06/23/2018 08:00 am ET Aracely Martinez Yanez fled Honduras after surviving severe domestic abuse. A new ruling will shut the door on other women like her. By Melissa Jeltsen BALTIMORE, Md. ― Aracely Martinez Yanez, 33, knows she’s one of the lucky ones. A deep scar that carves a line through her scalp, from crown to cheek, is proof of that fortune. She got lucky when her abusive partner shot her point-blank in the head, and she survived. She got lucky when she escaped her tiny village in Honduras. Local villagers blamed her for her partner’s death; he killed himself and their two young sons after he shot her. She got lucky when she wasn’t harmed as she made the treacherous 2,000-mile journey to America. And she got luckiest of all when she was granted asylum after she got here. If she were to make her journey to America now, she would likely be turned away. Last week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions ruled that … [Read more...] about She Got Asylum After Her Partner Shot Her. Now The U.S. Would Turn Her Away.
More Americans Blame Undocumented Parents Than Trump For Family Separations
POLITICS 06/22/2018 05:54 pm ET The White House has managed to dodge a lot of blame for a deeply unpopular policy. By Ariel Edwards-Levy The Trump administration’s contradictory responses to the outrage over its family separation policy may have clouded public opinion about why the families were separated and who bears responsibility, a new HuffPost/YouGov survey finds. The White House has gone through more than a dozen rationales, changing its story repeatedly on whether separating undocumented children from their parents at the border was an administration policy, whether it was intended as a deterrent, whether it was mandated by law and whether it could be reversed by executive order. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, after defending the policy as a deterrent, claimed Thursday that the administration had never intended to separate families, noting that “the American people don’t like the idea.” The concept of family separation does remain … [Read more...] about More Americans Blame Undocumented Parents Than Trump For Family Separations
This Alternative To Detaining Immigrant Families Works. Trump Just Won’t Use It.
POLITICS 06/22/2018 05:54 pm ET There are much better options than taking kids from their parents or locking them up together. By Elise Foley and Jennifer Bendery The way the Trump administration talks about it, you’d think there are only two ways to respond to families crossing into the U.S. illegally: either separate kids from their parents while the adults are tried as criminals or put entire families into indefinite detention. But there’s an alternative approach that’s cheaper, more humane and incredibly effective. The Trump administration just doesn’t want to use it. The Family Case Management Program, which President Donald Trump ended several months after taking office, was meant to keep track of immigrant parents and kids in removal proceedings without having to keep them locked up. It was relatively small ― about 950 families in five locations. But it was hugely successful: More than 99 percent of families in the program showed up … [Read more...] about This Alternative To Detaining Immigrant Families Works. Trump Just Won’t Use It.