Kidnapped<\/p>\n
The Government of the United States, acting in the name of the American people (our name) implemented a policy of removing children from their parents at the Southern border.\u00a0This \u201cchild separation\u201d policy was prosecuted mostly on families crossing the border illegally (a misdemeanor offense) though some legal crossers were separated as well.\u00a0 The children were removed from the parents, sometimes forcibly, and transported across the country, often thousands of miles to far-away locations.\u00a0 At the time of the implementation, there was no procedure established to eventually return the children to their parents.<\/p>\n
This policy was implemented to \u201cmake a statement\u201d to potential migrants from Central America:\u00a0come to the border and you might lose your children.\u00a0 When the policy was actually enforced there was a national outcry, and a Federal Court in San Diego intervened, instructing the US government to return the children to their parents.<\/p>\n
Whatever your view of the policy, or the legality of the government\u2019s actions, or the entire immigration issue; most reasonable people would agree that the children belong with their parents.\u00a0 This is not just an emotional response; it\u2019s the best for the mental and physical health of the children.\u00a0 It also is the least expensive outcome, with the United States currently paying as much as $700\/day\/child for food, housing and care.\u00a0 It is literally costing US (that\u2019s you and me, us) billions of dollars to prosecute, and now try to undo, this policy.<\/p>\n
While the numbers still are vague, approximately 2600 kids were separated, ranging in age from eight months to seventeen years.\u00a0 The Federal Judge in San Diego has given the government until Thursday, July 26th\u00a0<\/sup>to return the children to their parents.\u00a0 The US Government has established two \u201cclasses\u201d of children:\u00a0those eligible to be returned, and those not.\u00a0 The first class, about 1500 kids, are on track to be returned.<\/p>\n This leaves about one thousand kids who are still in government custody.<\/p>\n There are several reasons why the Government says these children are not eligible to be returned at this time.\u00a0 One is that the parents are in some way not qualified.\u00a0 This includes parents who have committed felony offenses, and adults who are not readily identifiable as the parents. This seems shaky, it fits in too well with the political view of the current Administration, that the migrants are somehow MS-13 members and rapists, rather than families fleeing violence. But in all fairness, the US Government should NOT return kids to folks that can\u2019t by determined to be their parents.<\/p>\n But the second class of ineligible kids is the one that raises the most concern.\u00a0 The Immigration Agency (ICE) was desperate to move adults out of the country, often disregarding their legal right to request asylum and have that request adjudicated.\u00a0 This wasn\u2019t just a policy determination, getting the migrants out, but also a practical one.\u00a0 As ICE was holding all illegal crossers, they were placing a whole lot of adults in jail, as well as taking the children.\u00a0 The sooner they could get those adults out of the country, the less they were spending in custodial fees.<\/p>\n So there is a group of children, probably in the hundreds, whose parents have already been deported from the US.\u00a0 The US government has shown no willingness to develop a process of returning children to parents out of the country (in fact, they are charging huge fees to return children to parents still in the country.)\u00a0 As things stand right now, WE are keeping these kids.<\/p>\n Spread throughout the country, subject to the foster and adoption codes of various states; these kids are slowly being absorbed into \u201cthe system.\u201d\u00a0 In many states, kids are fostered out to families within six months, and as soon as twelve months they may be considered \u201cabandoned\u201d and eligible for adoption.\u00a0 Our government is on the road to taking those children from their parents, forever.<\/p>\n The legal definition of kidnapping includes two elements:\u00a0 the unlawful taking of a victim, and, a \u201cnefarious\u201d motive (such as for ransom.) \u00a0\u00a0When the Trump Administration is finally done, will they be accountable for their actions?\u00a0 If Courts find that the \u201cchild separation policy\u201d was unlawful, and that the motive of setting \u201can example\u201d so other migrants wouldn\u2019t come as nefarious:\u00a0 who in the Administration will be going to jail?<\/p>\n And meanwhile, what happens to the stolen kids?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"