‘Deficiencies Persist’ In Government’s Treatment Of Migrant Children, Bipartisan Senate Report Finds
The report faults the government for not having a single agency that is taking responsibility for the safety of the children, which makes them vulnerable to abuse and human trafficking. Agencies fired back, saying that the report didn't address congressional failures over the crisis. Meanwhile, a group of Democrats is demanding the government immediately reunite the children who are still in custody because of the zero tolerance policy with their families.
The government has made only incremental improvements to its troubled efforts to care for thousands of migrant children detained entering the U.S. without their parents, perpetuating a problem the Trump administration has aggravated with its 鈥渮ero tolerance鈥 immigration crackdown, a bipartisan Senate report said Wednesday. The 52-page study said no federal agency takes responsibility for making sure children aren鈥檛 abused or used in human trafficking once the government places them with sponsors, who sometimes aren鈥檛 their parents or close relatives. (Fram, 8/15)
A group of Senate Democrats is聽demanding that the Trump administration immediately work to reunify the more than 500 immigrant children in federal custody who were separated from their parents after crossing the southern border. The 17 Democrats, led by Sen. Kamala Harris (Calif.) sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen calling for immediate action to reunite the families of 539 immigrant children still in government custody because of the Trump administration鈥檚 鈥渮ero tolerance鈥 policy. (Weixel, 8/15)
In other news聽鈥
Long before he began studying for a career in health care, Marlon Munoz performed one of the most sensitive roles in the field: delivering diagnoses to patients. As an informal interpreter between English-speaking doctors and his Spanish-speaking family and friends, Munoz knew well the burden that comes with the job. He still becomes emotional when he remembers having to tell his wife, Aibi Perez, she had breast cancer. (Eldred, 8/15)
