SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
The Trump administration is preparing to detain immigrant children on military bases, according to email communications from the Defense Department. (Photo: John Moore/Getty Images)
In 'Deliberately Cruel' Assault on Rights, Trump's DHS Plans to Detain Immigrant Children on Military Bases
"These used to be called internment camps."
May 16, 2018
In a step toward separating families who cross the U.S.-Mexico border, the Trump administration is preparing to detain immigrant children on military bases, according to the Defense Department.
\u201cThese used to be called \u201cInternment Camps.\u201d https://t.co/zl9CwYlXjC\u201d— Jennifer Wright (@Jennifer Wright) 1526436775
According to the Washington Post, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is reportedly evaluating three Air Force bases and one Army base, all located in Arkansas and Texas, over the next two weeks to determine whether the facilities could be used to house thousands of children who are expected to cross the border--with and without parents and guardians--in the coming months. According to DHS, families with minors make up about 40 percent of immigrants detained by border patrol agents.
As Clio Chang at Splinter Newswrote, "Donald Trump's administration has been arresting so many families--many of whom are Central Americans looking for asylum--that Health and Human Services is running out of space in its foster care facilities" for children.
The Obama administration previously used military bases to hold children who were detained by DHS, detaining about 7,000 minors over several months in Oklahoma, Texas, and California in 2014.
The Trump administration's plans to separate children from their parents has drawn widespread condemnation, with the National Immigration Law Center calling the plan "inhumane" and "shameful" earlier this month.
On social media, critics expressed anger over DHS's planned use of military facilities as detention centers for "warehousing" children and raised grave concerns over the long-term impact of forced detention and separation on families who are arriving in the U.S. to seek asylum.
\u201c21) It benefits no one--especially not the thousands of children involved--to take these kids from their parents at this crucial time of their lives. It's cruel, inhumane and will do irreparable damage to the children, physically and emotionally. But this is where we are now.\u201d— Rachel McGonagill (@Rachel McGonagill) 1526448811
\u201c7) Are there counselors for the children? They will need them in abundance, for these are traumatized children, 1st by the land of their birth, and 2nd by the land they thought to be sanctuary. These counselors should be childhood trauma specialists, in particular.\u201d— Rachel McGonagill (@Rachel McGonagill) 1526446468
\u201cICE is building internment camps for children. What else would you call this?\n\nIf we care about justice, we must #AbolishICE precisely bc of its extrajudicial structure (est. in 2003) that allows them to subvert due process with ZERO accountability.\n\nNot us, not now. #EliminaICE https://t.co/oW4v4wru8n\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1526412451
\u201cTrump admin plan to separate kids from parents awaiting immigration hearings & concentrate abducted kids on military bases is a deliberately cruel racist authoritarian assault on basic human rights.\u201d— Joseph Robertson (@Joseph Robertson) 1526466378
\u201cThis is far beyond indecent & abusive. It is a direct attack on the right of people to remain free from cruel treatment by the state.\u201d— Joseph Robertson (@Joseph Robertson) 1526466378
\u201cTrump admin officials have admitted this abusive treatment is meant as \u201ca deterrent\u201d. They have admitted they are seizing people\u2019s children to impose emotional injury to compel behavior. That is not law enforcement; it is hostage-taking & an attack on our Constitution.\u201d— Joseph Robertson (@Joseph Robertson) 1526466378
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. Our Year-End campaign is our most important fundraiser of the year. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
In a step toward separating families who cross the U.S.-Mexico border, the Trump administration is preparing to detain immigrant children on military bases, according to the Defense Department.
\u201cThese used to be called \u201cInternment Camps.\u201d https://t.co/zl9CwYlXjC\u201d— Jennifer Wright (@Jennifer Wright) 1526436775
According to the Washington Post, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is reportedly evaluating three Air Force bases and one Army base, all located in Arkansas and Texas, over the next two weeks to determine whether the facilities could be used to house thousands of children who are expected to cross the border--with and without parents and guardians--in the coming months. According to DHS, families with minors make up about 40 percent of immigrants detained by border patrol agents.
As Clio Chang at Splinter Newswrote, "Donald Trump's administration has been arresting so many families--many of whom are Central Americans looking for asylum--that Health and Human Services is running out of space in its foster care facilities" for children.
The Obama administration previously used military bases to hold children who were detained by DHS, detaining about 7,000 minors over several months in Oklahoma, Texas, and California in 2014.
The Trump administration's plans to separate children from their parents has drawn widespread condemnation, with the National Immigration Law Center calling the plan "inhumane" and "shameful" earlier this month.
On social media, critics expressed anger over DHS's planned use of military facilities as detention centers for "warehousing" children and raised grave concerns over the long-term impact of forced detention and separation on families who are arriving in the U.S. to seek asylum.
\u201c21) It benefits no one--especially not the thousands of children involved--to take these kids from their parents at this crucial time of their lives. It's cruel, inhumane and will do irreparable damage to the children, physically and emotionally. But this is where we are now.\u201d— Rachel McGonagill (@Rachel McGonagill) 1526448811
\u201c7) Are there counselors for the children? They will need them in abundance, for these are traumatized children, 1st by the land of their birth, and 2nd by the land they thought to be sanctuary. These counselors should be childhood trauma specialists, in particular.\u201d— Rachel McGonagill (@Rachel McGonagill) 1526446468
\u201cICE is building internment camps for children. What else would you call this?\n\nIf we care about justice, we must #AbolishICE precisely bc of its extrajudicial structure (est. in 2003) that allows them to subvert due process with ZERO accountability.\n\nNot us, not now. #EliminaICE https://t.co/oW4v4wru8n\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1526412451
\u201cTrump admin plan to separate kids from parents awaiting immigration hearings & concentrate abducted kids on military bases is a deliberately cruel racist authoritarian assault on basic human rights.\u201d— Joseph Robertson (@Joseph Robertson) 1526466378
\u201cThis is far beyond indecent & abusive. It is a direct attack on the right of people to remain free from cruel treatment by the state.\u201d— Joseph Robertson (@Joseph Robertson) 1526466378
\u201cTrump admin officials have admitted this abusive treatment is meant as \u201ca deterrent\u201d. They have admitted they are seizing people\u2019s children to impose emotional injury to compel behavior. That is not law enforcement; it is hostage-taking & an attack on our Constitution.\u201d— Joseph Robertson (@Joseph Robertson) 1526466378
In a step toward separating families who cross the U.S.-Mexico border, the Trump administration is preparing to detain immigrant children on military bases, according to the Defense Department.
\u201cThese used to be called \u201cInternment Camps.\u201d https://t.co/zl9CwYlXjC\u201d— Jennifer Wright (@Jennifer Wright) 1526436775
According to the Washington Post, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is reportedly evaluating three Air Force bases and one Army base, all located in Arkansas and Texas, over the next two weeks to determine whether the facilities could be used to house thousands of children who are expected to cross the border--with and without parents and guardians--in the coming months. According to DHS, families with minors make up about 40 percent of immigrants detained by border patrol agents.
As Clio Chang at Splinter Newswrote, "Donald Trump's administration has been arresting so many families--many of whom are Central Americans looking for asylum--that Health and Human Services is running out of space in its foster care facilities" for children.
The Obama administration previously used military bases to hold children who were detained by DHS, detaining about 7,000 minors over several months in Oklahoma, Texas, and California in 2014.
The Trump administration's plans to separate children from their parents has drawn widespread condemnation, with the National Immigration Law Center calling the plan "inhumane" and "shameful" earlier this month.
On social media, critics expressed anger over DHS's planned use of military facilities as detention centers for "warehousing" children and raised grave concerns over the long-term impact of forced detention and separation on families who are arriving in the U.S. to seek asylum.
\u201c21) It benefits no one--especially not the thousands of children involved--to take these kids from their parents at this crucial time of their lives. It's cruel, inhumane and will do irreparable damage to the children, physically and emotionally. But this is where we are now.\u201d— Rachel McGonagill (@Rachel McGonagill) 1526448811
\u201c7) Are there counselors for the children? They will need them in abundance, for these are traumatized children, 1st by the land of their birth, and 2nd by the land they thought to be sanctuary. These counselors should be childhood trauma specialists, in particular.\u201d— Rachel McGonagill (@Rachel McGonagill) 1526446468
\u201cICE is building internment camps for children. What else would you call this?\n\nIf we care about justice, we must #AbolishICE precisely bc of its extrajudicial structure (est. in 2003) that allows them to subvert due process with ZERO accountability.\n\nNot us, not now. #EliminaICE https://t.co/oW4v4wru8n\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1526412451
\u201cTrump admin plan to separate kids from parents awaiting immigration hearings & concentrate abducted kids on military bases is a deliberately cruel racist authoritarian assault on basic human rights.\u201d— Joseph Robertson (@Joseph Robertson) 1526466378
\u201cThis is far beyond indecent & abusive. It is a direct attack on the right of people to remain free from cruel treatment by the state.\u201d— Joseph Robertson (@Joseph Robertson) 1526466378
\u201cTrump admin officials have admitted this abusive treatment is meant as \u201ca deterrent\u201d. They have admitted they are seizing people\u2019s children to impose emotional injury to compel behavior. That is not law enforcement; it is hostage-taking & an attack on our Constitution.\u201d— Joseph Robertson (@Joseph Robertson) 1526466378
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.