HHS Warns That Removing Separated Migrant Children From ‘Sponsor’ Homes Would Be Too Traumatizing
Jonathan White, who leads the Health and Human Services Department’s efforts to reunite migrant children with their parents, said the government should be focusing its efforts on finding the families for the children currently in custody. But advocates questioned the motivation behind the argument. “The Trump administration’s response is a shocking concession that it can’t easily find thousands of children it ripped from parents, and doesn’t even think it’s worth the time to locate each of them,” said Lee Gelernt, the lead ACLU attorney.
The Associated Press:
US Sees Limitations On Reuniting Migrant Families
The Trump administration says it would require extraordinary effort to reunite what may be thousands of migrant children who have been separated from their parents and, even if it could, the children would likely be emotionally harmed. Jonathan White, who leads the Health and Human Services Department's efforts to reunite migrant children with their parents, said removing children from "sponsor" homes to rejoin their parents "would present grave child welfare concerns." He said the government should focus on reuniting children currently in its custody, not those who have already been released to sponsors. (Spagat, 2/2)
Meanwhile, in other news —
Arizona Republic:
Former Youth Care Worker At Southwest Key Migrant Shelter Sentenced To Prison
A former youth care worker at a Southwest Key migrant shelter in Mesa was sentenced by a federal judge to 19 years in state prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Levian D. Pacheco, 25, of Phoenix, was convicted by a federal jury in September of seven counts of abusive sexual contact with a ward and three counts of sexual abuse of a ward, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona. (Cruz, 2/1)
WBUR:
ICE Failed To Hold Detention Center Contractors Accountable, Report Finds
Immigration and Customs Enforcement failed to hold private contractors accountable for problems at detention facilities where migrants in the country illegally are held, according to a report from the inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security. The report detailed several of the most egregious cases, including contractors failing to notify ICE of sexual assaults and employee misconduct, using tear gas instead of approved pepper spray, and commingling detainees with serious criminal histories with those who might be at risk of sexual assault. (Lane, 2/1)
