What’s Going on with 1,500 Migrant Children DHHS “Lost Track Of”…?

What’s Going on with 1,500 Migrant Children DHHS “Lost Track Of”…?

So, apparently, a ton of children the state seized from their families have gone missing. It’s not new news but, the NY Times reported over 1,500 children of migrants are nowhere to be found.

As many of you know by now that in April, attorney general, Jeff Sessions sent out a memo, to southwest federal prosecutors, disclosing a “zero-tolerance policy.” And, then in early May Sessions added that the US will not just prosecute anyone illegally crossing the border but will also separate children their alleged parents.

This policy has garnered so much attention that the UN has had to step in and remind the US (the trump admin) that taking children from their parents (in instances such as these) is illegal.

The NY Times goes on to quote Ms. Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN saying:

“For the United Nations, it was a matter of great concern that in the United States ‘migration control appears to have been prioritized over the effective care and protection of migrant children,’ Ms. Shamdasani said.”

What’s even shadier is when our elected officials show up to the “detention facilities” and are turned away.

The fact that Senator Merkley was denied entry to a federal immigration facility while trying to check the welfare of children is unacceptable. This Administration needs to give answers on how they’re treating these kids, and they need to stop separating families at the border. pic.twitter.com/3V1dv4ZbEw

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) June 6, 2018

But, admittedly, at first glance, it seems as if Trump’s catering towards his constituency has possibly gone too far, once again. As there are many questions of “why is there not more transparency in these instances?” And, “What exactly are we hiding?”

To be fair, there are multiple other factors that play a roll in this…

The NY Times goes on to report that this comes after “officials at the agency’s Office of Refugee Resettlement tried to reach 7,635 children and their sponsors, Mr. Wagner testified.” Meaning, that…

1. Sometimes these children are staying with family members and “lost track” simply means that their families are unresponsive for various reasons (e.g. fear of children being deported).
2. Many of these children are minors, meaning, they could be as old as 17 when separated from their families and so, many of them have simply run away or become adults and also remain unresponsive.
3. This isn’t a new policy put in place; Jeff Sessions memo was simply reinforcing a policy that wasn’t being upheld.
4. This has garnered so much attention because there’s been a huge increase in those illegally crossing our US border; Philip Defranco reported that there has been “a 203% increase in illegal border crossings from March 2017 to March 2018…”

But, with all of this being said…