The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Contractor tied to family separation
General Dynamics a facilitator in President Trump’s ‘zero tolerance’ border policy
WASHINGTON —General Dynamics, whose Electric Boat subsidiary in Groton is the nation’s premier maker of submarines, has surfaced as a facilitator in aiding “unaccompanied minors” illegally crossing the US-Mexico border, including children caught up in President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy of separating families.
Regularly ranked among the nation’s top five defense contractors, General Dynamics in recent decades has expanded into government services — including work with the Department of Health & Human Services unit that cares for the 2,000 or so children taken from their parents under the Trump initiative.
Now, corporate-responsibility advocates are calling on social media followers to register protests with General Dynamics’ CEO, Phebe Novakovic.
“Any company profiting from this administration’s brutal policy is going to have it heightened, like it or not,” said Shannon Coulter, head of #Grabyourwallet, which calls for consumer product boycotts of companies complicit in what it views as injustices.
Coulter acknowledged that a boycott of General Dynamics’ big-ticket items is not practical.
“What we’re looking for is how can we appeal to these (CEOs) as human beings,” she said. “The ‘ask’ is not to break contracts. That’s not realistic. The ‘ask’ is for them to do what they can do to end this policy.”
Under mounting pressure, General Dynamics Information Technology, the corporate sub-unit under contract to the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), issued a statement Tuesday stating it has “no role in the family separation policy, nor a role in the construction or operation of detention facilities.”
But the company said it has worked with ORR since 2000, doing casework to “help ensure special needs of unaccompanied children are met.”
On Twitter, the company attempted to clear the air by listing “what we do” and “what we don’t do.”
Among the items underneath the heading “what we don’t do,” the company said: “Determine which children are under care of HHS/ORR.” That means General Dynamics has no control over whether its caseworkers minister to minors who arrive unaccompanied or younger children taken from their parents under “zero tolerance.”
Electric Boat is a major player in Connecticut’s substantial network of defense industries, which includes helicopter-maker Sikorsky and jet-enginemaker Pratt & Whitney.
With new contracts to produce submarines well into this century, Electric Boat is expected to pump about $86 billion into the state economy. It employs 11,500 building Virginiaclass attack submarine and planning for the Columbiaclass nuclear ballistic missile submarine for launch by the late 2020s.
“Every American, including all corporate leaders, should strongly and clearly speak out and stand up against this inhumane and immoral policy,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “Businesses share this moral responsibility regardless of the specific services or product they provide. I encourage companies to follow the Chamber of Commerce and others in calling for an end to the Trump Administration’s despicable, unlawful policy of tearing children away from their parents.”
National outcry
Meanwhile on Capitol Hill, Democratic lawmakers have turned “zero-tolerance” into a political crusade. They are calling the policy “child abuse” because it has split apart more than 2,000 immigrant families and relegated small children to detention centers.
With a national outcry from churches, business groups and even some GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill, the Trump administration is standing its ground and refusing to budge.
President Trump took a late-afternoon trip to rally Republican support in a closed-door meeting at the U.S. Capitol. But the familyseparation crisis all but drowned out the normal back-and-forth over immigration, overshadowing what was to be House consideration of two immigration bills this week.
House Republicans are offering up two immigration bills, which include provisions to build a border wall and provide a pathway to citizenship for youthful “DREAMers.” But it is unlikely that either pieces of legislation will pass with opposition Democrats sensing GOP political vulnerability over the heartwrenching photos and soundbites from the border region.
The first bill would provide a pathway to citizenship for young immigrant “DREAMers,” allowing them to apply for a green card after five years living in the United States.
It would modify, but not stop, Trump’s “zero-tolerance” policy that holds illegal immigrants in detention centers. It would also provide $25 million in funding for a border wall between the United States and Mexico – a provision Democratic lawmakers have been wary of since it was first mentioned by Trump.
The new provision would mostly detain children and parents in the same place to address Democratic lawmakers’ outcry about the policy ripping immigrant families apart.
Camila Bortolleto, a DACA recipient from Danbury and head of CT Students for a Dream, said: "Ever since the Trump administration killed DACA last year, our community has been living under a cloud of fear and uncertainty, with our futures hanging in the balance with deadline after deadline.”
U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4, said Republicans are rewriting their measure because they’re “feeling the heat” from the other side.
Nonetheless, he said it’s unlikely that any Democratic lawmaker would vote for either of the bills they still include funding for Trump’s wall.
“They didn’t even try,” Himes said. “In neither bill did they work with Democrats. I would be surprised if either of the bills passes.”
U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5, said the immigration bills won’t fix a “broken immigration system” or prevent child-family separation under Trump’s policy.
“I will continue to advocate for comprehensive immigration reform including legislative proposals that put an end to the systematic separation of immigrant families,” Esty said. “Vulnerable children should never be used as political bargaining chips.”
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, said the House bills are “shameful” because Republican lawmakers are trying to pass legislation that limits legal immigration and access to asylum at the same time Trump’s policy is separating children and families at the border.
“These bills double down on the President’s border wall — a waste of billions of taxpayer dollars,” she said. “Congressional Republicans should join Democrats at the table to fix our nation’s broken immigration system.”