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In recent days we've been covering the record-high number of unaccompanied migrant children stuck in Border Patrol custody; the overcrowding they are facing; and the scramble to find shelter beds.
I wanted to share some reporting on the policy some see as the solution. A thread:
I wanted to share some reporting on the policy some see as the solution. A thread:
Some argue that the Biden admin. should expel unaccompanied migrant children under a Trump-era pandemic policy authorized by the CDC that is currently being used to expel most migrant adults and some families.
Three federal judges have said that practice is likely illegal.
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Three federal judges have said that practice is likely illegal.
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Between March and November 2020, the Trump admin. expelled 15,000 + unaccompanied children without allowing them to request US refuge until a federal judge blocked the policy.
An appeals court lifted that order in January, but the Biden admin. declined to revive the policy. 3/
An appeals court lifted that order in January, but the Biden admin. declined to revive the policy. 3/
The Trump admin. invoked a 19th century public health authority to suspend the safeguards Congress created to protect migrant children from trafficking and persecution.
10-year-old Jesús was expelled to Honduras alone while his mother was in Mexico. 4/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-immigration-migrant-children-protections-border/
10-year-old Jesús was expelled to Honduras alone while his mother was in Mexico. 4/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-immigration-migrant-children-protections-border/
The U.S. granted Magdalena, a former police officer in El Salvador, legal refuge from gangs.
But her 13-year-old daughter was expelled alone under the Trump-era pandemic policy after asking for protection at the U.S.-Mexico border. 5/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/13-year-old-daughter-refugee-expelled-trump-new-border-policy/
But her 13-year-old daughter was expelled alone under the Trump-era pandemic policy after asking for protection at the U.S.-Mexico border. 5/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/13-year-old-daughter-refugee-expelled-trump-new-border-policy/
15-year-old Marjory came to the U.S. border in November fleeing sexual abuse and hoping to reunite with her father in Pennsylvania.
But she was not allowed to seek U.S. protection and was expelled to Guatemala. 6/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-expelled-girl-reports-sexual-abuse-covid-19/
But she was not allowed to seek U.S. protection and was expelled to Guatemala. 6/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-expelled-girl-reports-sexual-abuse-covid-19/
We also reported that CDC officials were pressured by the Trump White House to approve the expulsions policy, which a former CDC official called a "misappropriation" of public health law.
"We were forced to do it," another former CDC official told me. 7/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-administration-closed-borders-migrant-children-covid-19/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7e&linkId=103488432
"We were forced to do it," another former CDC official told me. 7/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-administration-closed-borders-migrant-children-covid-19/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7e&linkId=103488432
Gustavo, a largely non-verbal 12-year-old boy with physical and learning disabilities, was expelled to Guatemala alone, after his asylum-seeking mother in Mexico, citing desperation, allowed him to present himself to U.S. border officials. 8/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-administration-closed-borders-migrant-children-covid-19/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7e&linkId=103488432
Hopefully these stories, which did not receive the same attention as ones about minors in border custody, offer some insight into what some see as the alternative to sheltering unaccompanied migrant children and allowing them seek US refuge — both obligations under US law.
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