2,000 kids separated from family at border
WASHINGTON • Nearly 2,000 children have been separated from their families at the U.S. border over a six-week period during a crackdown on illegal entries, according to Department of Homeland Security figures.
The figures show that 1,995 minors were separated from 1,940 adults from April 19 through May 31. The separations were not broken down by age, and included separations for illegal entry, immigration violations or possible criminal conduct by the adult.
Under a “zero tolerance” policy announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Department of Homeland Security officials are now referring all cases of illegal entry for criminal prosecution. U.S. protocol prohibits detaining children with their parents because the children are not charged with a crime and the parents are.
Sessions announced the effort April 6, and Homeland Security began stepping up referrals in early May, effectively putting the policy into action.
Since then, stories of weeping children torn from the arms of their frightened parents have flooded the media and the policy has been widely criticized by church groups, politicians and children’s advocates who say it is inhumane. A battle in Congress is brewing in part over the issue.
Some immigrant advocates have said women were being separated from their infants — a charge Homeland Security and Justice officials denied. They also said the children were being well cared for and disputed reports of disorder and mistreatment at the border.
On Thursday, Sessions cited the Bible in defending the policy, arguing the recent criticisms were not “fair or logical and some are contrary to law.”
“I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13, to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order,” he said.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders backed Sessions. “I can say that it is very biblical to enforce the law. That is actually repeated a number of times throughout the Bible,” she said. “It’s a moral policy to follow and enforce the law.”
The Council of Bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, as well as the Revs. Jesse Jackson and William Barber, called Sessions’ use of biblical scripture incorrect.
“The Bible does not justify discrimination masked as racism, sexism, economic inequality, oppression or the abuse of children,” said the council, leaders of the denomination.
The bishops called for House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republican lawmakers to reprimand Sessions.
“Why are Black and Brown immigrants living in America with fear that the American dream has become a nightmare for the least, the last, and left out?” the AME clergy said in a statement.