Kids as young as 1 in US court, awaiting reunion with family

[DonViejo]

Source: Associated Press



By ASTRID GALVAN
Today

PHOENIX (AP) — The 1-year-old boy in a green button-up shirt drank milk from a bottle, played with a small purple ball that lit up when it hit the ground and occasionally asked for “agua.”

Then it was the child’s turn for his court appearance before a Phoenix immigration judge, who could hardly contain his unease with the situation during the portion of the hearing where he asks immigrant defendants whether they understand the proceedings.

“I’m embarrassed to ask it, because I don’t know who you would explain it to, unless you think that a 1-year-old could learn immigration law,” Judge John W. Richardson told the lawyer representing the 1-year-old boy.

The boy is one of hundreds of children who need to be reunited with their parents after being separated at the border, many of them split from mothers and fathers as a result of the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance policy.” The separations have become an embarrassment to the administration as stories of crying children separated from mothers and kept apart for weeks on end dominated the news in recent weeks.

Read more: https://apnews.com/4cb60fc06ca34160bf7445fdc1f47eed/Kids-as-young-as-1-in-US-court,-awaiting-reunion-with-family?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top

[Joe Chi Minh]

1. How wonderful that the process has started, nevertheless.

[olegramps]

7. I hope he was closely watched to prevent a quick getaway.

This is beyound bizarre.

[lark]

10. I have a different take.

Putting a 1 year old in court with no one to represent his interests, and only a government attorney who is trying to deport them not reunite them is just wrong. There is nothing good in this. The government kidnapped babies, is harming them on an hourly basis, letting child molesters work for ICE, saying they are deporting them to their home country to reunite with the parents but no one knows what's happening to them at all, there's no one there to help the child, just to hurt them. The judge can't ensure that the government follows it's orders, because this illegal administration doesn't believe in following just laws, just mean heartless ones. Also, this is just 1 child out of at least several thousand, and I've heard there's really 6000 including the older children who arrived with no parents.. Government was supposed to have all children under 5 reunited by now but there's several hundred under 3 and some are now lost in foster homes because the government gave them away from their parents and didn't track any of it. So saying they are reuniting 1 baby doesn't make me happy. I do hope that I'm being over critical of the government, but I sincerely doubt it because nothing good ever is done by drumpf or the evil elf, they are is racist haters at heart and so vile.

[Joe Chi Minh]

21. The crime of kidnapping/abduction is compounded by the

fact that they and their accordingly bereaved parents have been and are being treated as 'chattels', as though they were inanimate objects of negligible value, scrap value only, not even worth the normal paperwork required to keep a record.

[Sneederbunk]

2. Why are the children allowed to appear unshackled?

[Joe Chi Minh]

3. Good one. A dire subject, if ever there was one, yet

so ripe for ironical humour. I couldn't help LOL at the poor judg'es discomfiture.

[Joe Chi Minh]

22. Indeed. And without orange jumpsuits.

[Solly Mack]

4. I would happily trade the entire Trump administration and all of their supporters & enablers

for the people caught up in Trump's hatefest.

Not that those countries want Trump and his ilk.

[bronxiteforever]

5. Kick and recommend for visibility of this evil.

“But there is only one thing that has power completely, and this is love. Because when a man loves, he seeks no power, and therefore he has power.”
Cry the beloved country quote.

Our present government has no love and only seeks power but the government will change. I appreciate the reporters who keep telling this story. We should thank them because we need them to keep writing the truth.

[Sophia4]

6. I'm happy that the boys are being rescued from the cave in Thailand.

At least some of their lives will be saved.

But what about the five-year-old and one-year-old and other children from countries like Guatemala that we are sending back to what fate? Gang membership? Death?

What is going on in countries like Guatemala that encourages mothers and fathers to take their children on the long journey to America to seek refuge?

[smellthecoffee]

9. I agree Sophia

What is going on in these countries, our neighbors, that forces these families to take the long trek. It's really sad when you think that a lot of this could have been prevented with just a little help from the USA and Canada. Everyone wants a better life.

[not fooled]

12. raygun and the CIA

broke their countries. Iran-Contra, death squads, deposing democratically elected leaders because ronnie's advisors convinced him the countries were turning socialist and that posed a threat to US capitalism. Backing far-right dictators and regimes. Thom Hartmann laid this all out as the reason those countries are now unstable, violent hellholes. So, US policy decades ago created the problem, and now donnie wants to blame the victims.

Of course, the average 'Murican has no clue about the history of the region which makes it easy for the dumpsters to manipulate public opinion and scare people about these refugee asylum seekers, especially because the news media does not do an adequate job of informing the public about the backstory.

[summer_in_TX]

20. U.S. government acting in the interests of corporations is an older story

than raygun. Dates back at least to the 50's with Cuba, Haiti, and companies such as Dole. My mom was involved in protesting those policies.

[heaven05]

8. 1 YEAR OLD, in court

perfect example of the insanity of trump's administration of the affairs of our country. What a waste this fool is. ONE YEAR OLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! trump's ship of state already hit the iceberg, just waiting to sink.

[appalachiablue]

11. +1 Living nightmare, including a 1-year old 'appearing in court.' WTH?

[KentuckyWoman]

13. When they do reunite ICE is demanding parents pay the airfare.

In this same article - A man from Honduras was freed while awaiting asylum proceeding but we are still refusing to give him his child, treating him like an unfit parent and demanding $1200 from him for airfare for the child.

Order to reunite doesn't mean diddly if all we are doing to forcing parents to jump hoops and holding the kids hostage over money.

You can't blame all this on Trump. He personally didn't yank go to the border and yank children from their parents. He personally didn't put them on a plane and fly them god knows where.

Look at how many different individuals are involved directly with these children and their parents. Use the system you are in to get them back with their parents. And if your system can't get it done then start raising holy hell until it can.

There is no excuse. You who helped are no better.

[targetpractice]

15. I agree... Lots of seriously defective human beings involved at all levels.

Why would anyone go along with this process? Are they sadists? Desperate for income?

[Jedi Guy]

16. The latter, I think.

Consider that a large portion of American households are unable to handle an emergency expense of $400. That being the case, very few people are financially secure enough to be able to just quit their job in protest. It's also worth considering that if you resign voluntarily, you won't qualify for EI, either.

Some people involved in this situation probably don't feel anything about it one way or the other. Some may get off on the sense of power the job affords them. And some hate every minute of it, but the rent isn't going to pay itself.

It's easy to say they should all resign in protest. The reality is that a lot of them simply can't afford to do that. If they did resign in protest, who's going to pay their bills?

[targetpractice]

17. I have to think they are working under duress...

You are right... It's not an option to quit a job in protest in most circumstances... I usually assume the best in people, and hope that most are trying their best under the policy constraints. Wish there were more whistleblowers though.

[Jedi Guy]

18. Principles don't pay the bills, unfortunately.

My dad told me that when I objected to the practices of a business I once worked for. But regardless of how I felt, I still had obligations to deal with.

I think most people are fundamentally decent human beings. I think most of the people involved in this sad situation are not enjoying what they're doing, but don't have an easy way out.

And being a whistleblower under this administration is just putting a target on one's back. I'd think long and hard before taking that step, if I were put in that position.

[djacq]

14. Orange Clown's America

Last edited Sun Jul 8, 2018, 05:34 PM - Edit history (1)

And his base doesn’t give a damn... Why should they?... They go home to their families and children, still believing that immigrants are coming for their jobs.

[Rhiannon12866]

19. WTF?? He can't yet speak or walk, who is caring for him??

He needs to be with his mother.