Friday, August 24, 2018

Latest Update On The Status Of The Still NOT Reunified Border Families...


A two-hour long status hearing will occur before the very able Judge Sabraw in San Diego later this afternoon local time, on these matters -- but it is hard to overestimate the chaos and suffering Donald Trump (in clear violation of US law, under Flores) intentionally inflicted on over 5,000 people (many of them under the age of 7) who had appeared at our door, and shore, simply seeking protection from credible threats of political danger and/or death, in their home nation(s).

The full 13 pager is here, as an overnight PDF -- but I'll quote the below to show how malevolent the ICE and INS agents were -- in apparently intentionally refusing to collect even basic contact data to facilitate reunification, at the time of the kidnappings and incarcerations:

. . . .The Steering Committee has placed calls to all parents for whom it has phone numbers -- 371 out of the 412 -- and has successfully spoken to 231 (225 through phone calls, six reached by NGO partners in Central America). . . .

On August 16, the Government provided a list of 236 children and their associated attorneys. This list did not include the names, locations, or contact information for their parents, so we have been working to correlate this information with the information provided concerning parents. Of these 236 children, 73 were not included on the previous two lists of children with removed parents provided by the Government on August 7 and 10, and the Steering Committee has asked for clarification in this regard. For the remaining children -- for whom the parents are understood to be removed -- the Steering Committee has reached out to all of the children’s attorneys and is awaiting confirmation of the children’s wishes. To identify the legal representatives of the 249 children for whom the Government has not provided information, the Steering Committee has worked with the Vera Institute of Justice to determine the designated legal service providers for all ORR shelters, and has reached out to all of these providers to determine which children they represent. Within the coming days, the Steering Committee will identify children who do not appear to be represented and will work with Vera to secure counsel for them.

For parents for whom the Government has not yet provided phone numbers (41), or for whom the Steering Committee has determined the numbers to be inoperative or ineffective (38), Steering Committee member Justice in Motion is currently engaged in on-the-ground efforts in Honduras and Guatemala to locate parents. Justice in Motion representatives who speak indigenous languages have obtained birth certificates of parents to determine their locations and have travelled to remote villages to seek to interview the parents in person. These efforts have reached six parents and will continue, supported by Steering Committee member KIND’s local partners in Central America and other NGO partners.

Finally, in communicating with removed parents, the Steering Committee has indications that some parents may have been coerced or misled by U.S. government actions that deprived the parents of their right to seek asylum. These incidents include parents who were told that they needed to accept removal and not pursue asylum in order to be reunited with their children, and parents who were required to sign documents they did not understand, in languages they do not speak, that had the effect of waiving their right to seek asylum. The Steering Committee is further investigating these cases. . . .


We cannot let the relentless lunacy of the new cycles describing the flaming clown car of the Trump Administration, presently sailing over a cliff in DC -- eclipse the fact that this series of crimes against humanity were driven by Donald Trump's express and unlawful orders.

He is. . . a monster. I'm in federal court again today, on a pro bono Guatemalan case of my own. Onward.

And, by commenter request: some good karma Friday. . . music:



नमस्ते

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

nice selection. Wonderful voice.

Craziness indeed: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-responds-jeff-sessions_us_5b7fdcf2e4b072951511fffd


Just what will it take for the Republican party to finally stand up?

Anonymous said...

Funny...none of you cared AT ALL when Obama did this. It's disgusting that you would politicize the suffering of children.

Anonymous said...

Dear "At ALL" anonymous,

Please, check your facts: https://www.factcheck.org/2018/06/did-the-obama-administration-separate-families/

The real issue is the 'blanket' policy that the Trump Admin is imposing.

Do try to keep up and away from Faux news.

thanks

condor said...

Personally, I welcome even wrong headed views here. But since you are a regular Anon. Detractor on this score... I’ll ask again: name any time in the last 15 years that 2,500 parents had even infant children taken from them, solely for presenting at a border?

It never happened. And Flores (a settlement of a Regan era lawsuit) is the proof: it hasn’t happened since... yup: Saint Ronnie.

I worked against that one, too. So seriously... put up — or shut up.

Better yet: if you do think kidnapping babies is wrong, do something. Call your elected officials.

Until then, you’ve been serially exposed — as a fabulist, here.

Let me ahow you “The Great Egress”!!!

condor said...

And... Trump is appealing this injunction on removal of parents and kids to the Ninth Circuit (where he will almost certainly. . . LOSE).

The overnight SD CA USDC PACER entry:

"NOTICE OF APPEAL to the 9th Circuit as to [83] Order Granting Plaintiffs' Motion for Classwide Preliminary Injunction, by. . . Kirstjen Nielsen, Office of Refugee Resettlement, Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, III, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Fee Waived.

(Notice of Appeal electronically transmitted to US Court of Appeals.)
"

Onward. The parties are back in court on the 30th.

Anonymous said...

"...name any time in the last 15 years that 2,500 parents had even infant children taken from them, solely for presenting at a border? It never happened."

So, following the link provided by another commenter, FactCheck.org says the following:
"...DHS couldn’t provide any statistics on how many children may have been separated from their parents under the Obama administration... And we don’t have such statistics to compare the past to the present... Jeh Johnson, DHS secretary under the Obama administration, told NPR earlier this month that he couldn’t say that family separations “never happened” during his tenure..."

So, you say separating 2,500 parents from their children never happened in the last 15 years, but rely on an article that blatantly states that there are no statistics from the past, while quoting a former DHS secretary specifically NOT backing up your claim that it never happened.

So the original question that you asked is unanswerable from the (lack of) DHS statistics from the supplied link. Don't act like the 'facts' you supplied support your position - they don't.

condor said...

Gosh. That was. . . an odd admission, on your part, Anon. [Or should I call you Q. Anon.? Just so we are clear who you are.]

I take it that you now do agree (though you didn't say so, explicitly) -- there is no proof the prior administration (BHO 44) did it, intentionally as a policy. EVER.

What there IS PROOF OF -- by lack of any BHO 44 executive order, or Administrative Procedures Act notice(s), in the Federal Register -- or other records, is. . .

Mr. Obama NEVER adopted a policy of separating intact families at the border.

A few weeks ago, in contrast, ICE agents specifically said they were told to target families with young children at the border, for separation.

Presenting at the border is an ENTIRELY LAWFUL act. Seeking asylum is an entirely lawful act.

We now know 45 and his MAGA spawn specifically instructed ICE to "target" families who were complying with our long established laws and procedures for seeking asylum.

So -- your ostensible refutation, above. . . ends up reinforcing my point.

Well done, Skipper!

PS: In far-plainer English -- you still didn't back up your claim -- in the least.

And Mr. Trump's now enjoined executive orders stand in stark contrast to the lack of the same under President Barack Obama.

Q.E.D.

Anonymous said...

Not at all, in fact you must agree that Obama did intentionally separate families at the border from reporting done AT THE TIME, back under his administration, 2 years ago to this very day:

https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/divided-by-detention-asylum-seeking-families-experience-of-separation

"Through its custody determinations, DHS splits family members—sending them to different facilities around the country—while failing to track and reunite those who arrive separately." --Leigh Barrick, American Immigration Council, August 31, 2016

Q.E.D.

And my only claim above was that your original challenge ("...name any time in the last 15 years that 2,500 parents had even infant children taken from them") cannot be proved by the link provided because the link specifically says that the DHS never kept statistics on the subject. "Q.E.D. - NOT".

You took my argument and twisted it into something that I did not say. The raging hate and intolerance of your TDS prevents you from analyzing things logically. I reply when your screeds require obvious refuting, but it is getting tiresome. I thought this was "Just a Life Sciences Blog"? Why is there more politics (and the politics are unrelated to science) than actual life science info here?

condor said...

Hmm. Even if I assume you are right (and you are not)... your notion that 45 is okay because he did what someone else does... is silly.

It is a crime against humanity. No matter who orders it. And Mr. Obama never signed any such order. As a constitutional lawyer, he knew such an order would be unlawful as well as immoral.

Q.E.D.

As to what I put up here — this issue will affect the vitality of our leadership in all scientific fields.

But (as ever) — if this fare is not to your liking, feel free to scroll on by. You’ve never met one of mine with a sound logical reply — it’s always whataboutism. Nothing more.

I’m good (either way), bro.

Namaste.

condor said...

I should also point out that your latest link is to a publication funded out of an astrturfed hard right dark money group. It’s worth no more than a Trump tweet. What’s the term I need here? Right.

It’s... “fake news”.