I had a dozen conversations with people about illegal immigration and detainment on the Southern border in one week alone. There has been a lot of fact checking and reading legal documents filled to look up what various things meant. The amount of documents and legal rulings involved in just the issue of how illegal immigrants and kids are treated at the border is quite staggering. It's no surprise that the government moves glacially slow with how many different documents and agreements have to be checked before anything can happen. I would guess that the amount of material to read is just a part of why Congressional Democrats don't want to touch immigration policy.
Democrats have claimed that parent/child separations at the border are THE proof that Trump's racist, that Jeff Sessions is racist, and that anyone who doesn't hate Trump is literally a Nazi. Republicans claimed that a law was passed in 1997 ordering family separations, and Trump has nothing he can do. Both are wrong.
Jeff Sessions started a 'zero tolerance' illegal immigration policy, so that every adult caught trying to enter the country illegally would be prosecuted for breaking the law. Great move by him, ending the amnesty train. The problem is that with increased familial illegal immigration, the kids weren't to be kept with adults (just like any other time where parents break the law), and that is now a big deal because Trump is in office. It happened for every administration the last 20 years.
There is a 'perfect storm' south of the border, and our government, historically, has made vocal promises that illegal immigrants might get amnesty. Drug violence in Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador; the socialist implosion in Venezuela and the influx of starving immigrants into Colombia. Adding more potential trouble is the recent Mexican election, which saw Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) win the Presidency, after saying that Mexicans have a 'human right' to not live in Mexico, but in America. Illegal immigration will only get worse in the near future.
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Here's a summary of what's actually in the legal statutes, starting with the Flores Consent Agreement, which sets the precedent which separates unaccompanied minors from adults.
In 1985, there was a class action lawsuit alleging that children were being kept inhumanely at the border. In 1987, the courts agreed that minors should be housed with certain standards. In 1993, the case reached the Supreme Court, which demanded that they reach a settlement. In 1997, the Flores Consent Agreement (FCA) was signed by Janet Reno ending the lawsuit for a time and agreeing to make changes to how unaccompanied children were treated.
Unlike I've heard several times, the Agreement itself neither says that children are outright released, nor that kids are released in 20 days. There is no specific time given for when the are to be released, just that they must be placed (not released) into the least restrictive environment without unnecessary delay. Immigration services had been pretty slow complying with the rules, but that's the government.
So, what does the FCA say?
The kids should be kept in programs somewhat close to where they were apprehended, given treatment if they have special needs. Minors will be separated and transported separately from unrelated adults, and if that's not immediately possible, it will happen within 24 hours. If a suitable program isn't found, then they're placed in immigration detention centers that have separate accommodations for children.
If keeping children in detainment isn't required to get them to show up for their hearing, then they are to be released to a parent, or a guardian, or any adult relative, or any adult willing to house them, or a licensed program, or as a last resort, another adult immigrant if family reunification isn't possible.
Any adult taking the child must sign an affidavit promising to care for the physical, mental, and financial well-being of the child. They promise that the child will show up to future hearings, will tell authorities 5 days before they change their address, and 5 days before they leave the country unless the child is self deporting.
At the time, more than 130 minors being in a licensed program at one time was considered enough to be 'an emergency' which mandated 80 more beds to be found. If they say they're a minor, but a reasonable person would think they're an adult, then they're treated as an adult unless a medical or dental exam proves that they're a minor.
If they get into any more trouble, or are an escape risk, they can be placed in juvenile detention centers. That includes other criminal activity or if they're a risk to other children. If any minor does not agree with their placement, they can get a judicial review of their case. Any transfer of the minor will include all of their belongings and appropriate paperwork.
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So if the FCA doesn't say anything about '20 days', where does that come from? Stay tuned, that's next.
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