Migrant childrenChild Separation Policy: Allegations of Mistreatment Substantiated

Published 12 July 2019

Between April 2018 and June 2018, the Trump administration separated at least 2,800 children from their parents under the “zero tolerance” policy. Among other disturbing things, a new staff report by the Committee on Oversight and Reform found that at least 18 infants and toddlers under two years old were taken away from their parents at the border and kept apart for 20 days to half a year; at least 241separated children were kept in Border Patrol facilities longer than the 72 hours permitted by law; and that the administration separated children unnecessarily—even under its own rationale.

Between April 2018 and June 2018, the Trump administration separated at least 2,800 children from their parents at the southern border under the “zero tolerance” policy that Attorney General Jeff Sessions instituted in April 2018, and a related policy which DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen instituted a few weeks later to refer all parents who made unauthorized border crossings for prosecution.

A just-released staff report by the staff of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform notes that in January 2019, the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a report finding that the Trump administration may have separated “thousands” of additional children before the zero tolerance policy went into effect. In addition, the Trump administration recently admitted to separating an additional 700 children from their parents at the border after June 2018.

The Committee staff says that recent reports have identified deteriorating conditions in border facilities where children are being detained. For example, reports from the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security have highlighted overcrowded, unhealthy, and unsafe conditions in these facilities, and they have warned that these issues need to be addressed immediately to mitigate health and safety risks. Other recent reports have raised concerns about racist, sexist, and xenophobic views expressed by some Border Patrol officers regarding detained immigrants through a secret Facebook group.

Here is the Committee report’s executive summary:

Executive Summary
On February 26, 2019, the Committee on Oversight and Reform voted on a bipartisan basis to authorize subpoenas to compel the Trump Administration to produce documents relating to its policy of separating immigrant children from their families.  These subpoenas were served to the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) after they refused to provide this information voluntarily in response to bipartisan requests made six months earlier.

This staff report has been prepared at the request of Chairman Elijah E. Cummings to summarize the data obtained by the Committee. This information is not complete.  In many respects, it is woefully inadequate in terms of the volume of information produced and the number of separated children who remain unaccounted for, and the Committee will continue to press for additional information.