Estimated 30,000 Immigrant Children Could Be Detained By End of August, Democrats Call Centers ‘Inhumane’
An estimated 30,000 children could be detained by the end of August, according to the Washington Examiner. Currently, there are reports that about 250 children per day are being processed by the Department of Health and Human Services. The rate of 250 children per day is expected to stay steady over the next couple of months. Currently, there are an estimated 11,500 children in custody. The numbers were provided by an unnamed HHS official.
Many people believe that separating parents from their children during the asylum-seeking process is immoral, while the U.N. has officially asked the United States to end the practice. Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said that the practice “amounts to arbitrary and unlawful interference in family life, and is a serious violation of the rights of the child,” reported Inquisitr.
Recently, journalists toured one of the children detention centers. Jacob Soboroff said after the tour that the kids seem well cared for, but “effectively these kids are incarcerated.”
ABC News added that the kids eat three daily meals, two snacks, and can play video games, play pool, and take English and U.S. civics classes. The kids have access to a clinician, spend two hours outside per day. And apparently, there’s a mural of Trump in the cafeteria, with the quote “Sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to win the war,” according to New York Magazine.
WATCH: Video shows detention center housing migrant children separated from parents https://t.co/gww0xXC3ir pic.twitter.com/7mc7kbEBGo
— The Hill (@thehill) June 18, 2018
The practice of separating children from their parents has become a hot-button topic, with Democrats saying “Zero-tolerance policy means zero humanity,” according to the Washington Post.
The children are living in “bare-bones cells surrounded by tall metal fencing.” The children also appeared to be in cages, and separated by age and sex.
Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who toured the facilities, said that “President Trump could end this cruel and inhumane policy right now … It’s Father’s Day. He should take the opportunity to do it today.”
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee also said that “When you have a mother tell you directly that she’s in fear that she will never see her child again… then you know that what we are saying today is, ‘President Trump, cease and desist.'”
“The kids here don’t get out much – spending almost 22 hours a day indoors.”- @jacobsoboroff is one of the first journalists invited inside America’s largest detention facility for migrant children pic.twitter.com/g6EiwFBdBY
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 14, 2018
Some wondered if the facilities looked better than usual, knowing that there was a planned tour, with Rep. Vicente Gonzalez saying that “It was orderly, but it was far from what I would call humane.”
The policy was put in place to deter migrants from seeking asylum. However, it has not stopped many families from forging ahead with the asylum-seeking process, as many of these migrants faced horrible living conditions in their home countries.
