As if it wasn’t enough that the Trump administration thought it was okay to use children as pawns to coerce lawmakers to sign on to their cruel, racist immigration agenda, now they’re willing to use them to barter with parents seeking asylum to sign voluntary deportation agreements in order to get their children back.
"I think anybody who's been a parent can imagine what it would be like to have your child ripped from your arms and taken away from you." @KimOnKUOW
talks with @RefugeesNW Director
about asylum seekers who are coming to the U.S. from Central America. https://t.co/Bbxw08vuQ2— KUOW Public Radio (@KUOW) June 15, 2018
This would mean forcing parents to make a choice between giving up their children to keep them safe or take them back to countries where they face poverty and violence. The parents are being told that once they sign the voluntary paperwork, their children will be returned to them at the airport. Anyone familiar with this presidential administration knows that believing anything they say is dangerous, so once that paperwork is signed, there’s no guarantee that the promises they’ve been made will be fulfilled at all.
We cannot allow all of these people to invade our Country. When somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no Judges or Court Cases, bring them back from where they came. Our system is a mockery to good immigration policy and Law and Order. Most children come without parents…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 24, 2018
….Our Immigration policy, laughed at all over the world, is very unfair to all of those people who have gone through the system legally and are waiting on line for years! Immigration must be based on merit – we need people who will help to Make America Great Again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 24, 2018
Speaking to The Texas Tribune, one detainee explained the decision he was forced to make under duress.
‘The 24-year-old detainee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity and requested the Tribune use the pseudonym Carlos because he feared retaliation, told the Tribune that he abandoned his asylum case and agreed to sign voluntary deportation paperwork Friday out of “desperation” to see his 6-year-old daughter, who was separated from him after the pair illegally crossed the border in late May. The man said two federal officials suggested he’d be reunited with his daughter at the airport if he agreed to sign the order, which could lead to him being repatriated to his violence-torn home country in less than two weeks.’
SEEKING ASYLUM IS LEGAL
SEEKING ASYLUM IS LEGAL
SEEKING ASYLUM IS LEGAL
SEEKING ASYLUM IS LEGAL
SEEKING ASYLUM IS LEGAL
SEEKING ASYLUM IS LEGAL
SEEKING ASYLUM IS LEGAL
SEEKING ASYLUM IS LEGAL
SEEKING ASYLUM IS LEGAL
SEEKING ASYLUM IS LEGAL
SEEKING ASYLUM IS LEGAL— jordan (@JordanUhl) June 19, 2018
Trump is prepared to violate the U.S. Constitution in order to deny undocumented immigrants who have been detained the right to a fair trial before a judge in order to make their case for asylum. In case anyone is unaware, seeking asylum is an attempt to go “through the system legally” while protecting the children they’ve risked so much to save.
Nothing about this is tolerable and nothing about it is humane. Until the administration that has been inflicted on America is out of office, these human rights abuses will continue.
Featured image via Getty/Bloomberg