Democrats, activists rally against Donald Trump’s family separation policy

Society 09:56 18.06.2018
Democratic lawmakers joined protesters outside immigration detention facilities in New Jersey and Texas on Sunday for Father’s Day demonstrations against the Trump administration’s practice of separating children from their parents at the US-Mexico border.
 
“This must not be who we are as a nation,” said Representative Jerrold Nadler, one of seven members of Congress from New York and New Jersey who met with five detainees inside a facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, including three who said they had young relatives removed from their care after seeking asylum at the border.
 
The events came as news stories highlighting the family separations intensified political pressure on the White House, even from some of President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans.
 
US officials said on Friday that nearly 2,000 children were separated from adults at the border between mid-April and the end of May.
 
In May, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a “zero tolerance” policy in which all those apprehended entering the United States illegally, including those seeking asylum, would be criminally charged, which generally leads to children being separated from their parents.
 
United States, Trump family separation policy, family separation, immigrant family, immigration detention facility, US President, Donald Trump, Trump administration, world news
 
Administration officials have defended the tactic as necessary to secure the border and suggested it would act as a deterrent to illegal immigration.
 
But the policy has drawn condemnation from medical professionals, religious leaders and immigration activists, who warn that some children could suffer lasting psychological trauma. The children are held in government facilities, released to adult sponsors or placed in temporary foster care.
 
In South Texas on Sunday, several Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Jeff Merkley, visited a Border Patrol Processing Center in McAllen to call attention to the policy, while Representative Beto O’Rourke, who is running for the US Senate in Texas, led a protest march to a temporary detention facility for immigrant children set up near El Paso.
 
O’Rourke told the demonstrators they had to bear the burden of “what we now know to be happening.”
 
“I want that burden to be so uncomfortable for so many of us that it forces us to act, it places the public pressure on those in positions of public trust and power to do the right thing for our country,” O’Rourke, who is seeking to unseat Republican Senator Ted Cruz, said to applause.
 
Some moderate Republicans have also called on Trump to stop the separations. Senators Susan Collins and Jeff Flake wrote to White House officials on Saturday seeking more information on the policy.
 
“It is inconsistent with our American values to separate these children from their parents,” Collins said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
 
‘Stop lying’
 
Trump has sought to blame Democrats, saying their support for passage of a broader immigration bill would end the separations.
 
White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday: “As a mother, as a Catholic, as somebody who has got a conscience. … I will tell you that nobody likes this policy.”
 
“You saw the president (say) on camera that he wants this to end,” she added.
 
A spokeswoman for Melania Trump told CNN on Sunday that the first lady “hates to see children separated from their families” and hopes lawmakers from both parties can agree on immigration reform.
 
In an opinion piece in the Washington Post, former first lady Laura Bush, wife of the previous Republican president, George W. Bush, said she lives in a border state and appreciates the need to enforce and protect the US borders.
 
“But this zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart,” Bush wrote, adding the images were “eerily reminiscent of the Japanese American internment camps of World War II, now considered to have been one of the most shameful episodes in US history.”
 
Democrats have accused the president of effectively turning the children into political hostages to secure stricter immigration measures, such as funding for a US-Mexico border wall.
 
“Stop lying to the American people. This is your policy,” Democratic US Representative Hakeem Jeffries said in New Jersey.
 
Democrats in the US House of Representatives will introduce legislation this week aimed at stopping separations, mirroring a similar Senate bill sponsored by Democrat Dianne Feinstein. But neither bill has much hope of securing enough support in the Republican-controlled Congress, let alone surviving Trump’s veto pen.
 
Roy Garcia, 43, attended the New Jersey protest with his wife, Linda, and their sons, 8-year-old Julian and 11-year-old Sebastian.
 
“It’s hard for me to enjoy Father’s Day knowing what’s happening to other children and families,” he said. “It’s heartbreaking.”
10 dead after Malaysian Navy helicopters collide mid-air - VİDEO

News line

US State Department: Ethnic Azerbaijanis are discriminated against in Iran
10:50 23.04.2024
Serbia's president warns of 'unpredictable scenarios with huge consequences' in Balkans
10:39 23.04.2024
Ammunition found in Khankandi
10:25 23.04.2024
Azerbaijani minister meets with UK permanent representative to UN
10:13 23.04.2024
Azerbaijani oil price falls slightly
Azerbaijani oil price falls slightly
10:01 23.04.2024
Jeyhun Bayramov embarks on visit to Czech Republic
09:49 23.04.2024
Another 150 IDPs leave for Fuzuli
09:43 23.04.2024
Azerbaijani and Russian Presidents meet railway veterans and workers to mark 50th anniversary of Baikal-Amur Mainline
09:38 23.04.2024
Armenian journalist living in France denied entry to capital Yerevan - VİDEO
09:28 23.04.2024
10 dead after Malaysian Navy helicopters collide mid-air - VİDEO
09:16 23.04.2024
EU ministers warned not to relax support for Ukraine amid requests for air defence aid
09:00 23.04.2024
Azerbaijan and Russia jointly participate in implementation of North-South Transport Corridor - Putin
23:30 22.04.2024
Georgia welcomes Azerbaijan-Armenia agreement on border delimitation
22:22 22.04.2024
Azerbaijani and Russian Presidents Hold One-on-One Meeting - UPDATED
21:00 22.04.2024
Russian Forces Capture Most Powerful Model of Leopard 2 Transferred to Ukraine
20:00 22.04.2024
283 bodies allegedly found in mass grave in Gaza's Nasser hospital
19:19 22.04.2024
Azerbaijan, WB hold discussions on joint projects
Azerbaijan, WB hold discussions on joint projects
19:00 22.04.2024
German Chancellor: Support for Ukraine will not diminish
18:39 22.04.2024
Armenian PM, EU Special Representative discussed delimitation of borders with Azerbaijan
18:18 22.04.2024
Ljubljana welcomes agreement between Baku and Yerevan
Ljubljana welcomes agreement between Baku and Yerevan
17:55 22.04.2024
Netanyahu vows to fight US sanctions on IDF
17:42 22.04.2024
Russian NGO warns about Cholera and Hepatitis in flood zones in Russia
Russian NGO warns about Cholera and Hepatitis in flood zones in Russia
17:33 22.04.2024
Putin: Heydar Aliyev played significant role in construction of Baikal-Amur Mainline
17:20 22.04.2024
Scholz says era of fossil fuel will be over soon
Scholz says era of fossil fuel will be over soon
17:02 22.04.2024
Putin: Russia-Azerbaijan relations at high level and developing
16:45 22.04.2024
Pakistan-Azerbaijan Economic Integration Model: An Expert Opinion
16:30 22.04.2024
Fikret Sadigov: Peace is close to the South Caucasus
16:00 22.04.2024
US, Yemen Ink 5-Year Assistance Agreement For Economic Development
US, Yemen Ink 5-Year Assistance Agreement For Economic Development
15:44 22.04.2024
Pundit: If peace is not achieved, Azerbaijan will return its lands by force
15:39 22.04.2024
Malaysian Senate president to visit Azerbaijan
Malaysian Senate president to visit Azerbaijan
15:20 22.04.2024
51 mines found in liberated territories last week
51 mines found in liberated territories last week
15:08 22.04.2024
Peskov: Putin and Pashinyan will soon discuss departure of Russian border guards
Peskov: Putin and Pashinyan will soon discuss departure of Russian border guards
14:50 22.04.2024
Armenia clears the border with the Gazakh district of Azerbaijan of mines ahead of delimitation process - VİDEO
14:31 22.04.2024
Armenia, EU discuss regional situation
Armenia, EU discuss regional situation
14:00 22.04.2024
West balancing on edge of direct military confrontation between nuclear powers — Lavrov
West balancing on edge of direct military confrontation between nuclear powers — Lavrov
13:47 22.04.2024
CSTO Secretary-General: Baku alone will ensure security in Karabakh
13:23 22.04.2024
Armenian sappers start demining works in village of Lower Askipara
12:55 22.04.2024
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev arrives in Russia for working visit
12:21 22.04.2024
China may claim land on the Moon, NASA warns
12:12 22.04.2024
Pope: I am observing Middle East in awe
Pope: I am observing Middle East in awe
11:54 22.04.2024
Hamısı