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
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D.-Ore.) appeared on MSNBC's "All In With Chris Hayes" Thursday night to discuss a leaked document about the Trump administration's family separation policy. (Photo: MSNBC)
Leaked Memo Reveals Trump Administration's "Immoral" Plan to "Traumatize" Migrant Children
"It appears that they wanted to have it both ways—to separate children from their parents but deny them the full protections generally awarded to unaccompanied children."
Jan 17, 2019
Following reports on Thursday that federal officials forcibly separated thousands more migrant children from their families than previously reported, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D.-Ore.) released a document to NBC News revealing the Trump administration intended to "traumatize children and intentionally create a humanitarian crisis at the border."
\u201cI just released a NEW DOCUMENT showing that the @realDonaldTrump administration PLANNED to traumatize children and intentionally create a humanitarian crisis at the border. https://t.co/PBdXyDXgP8\u201d— Jeff Merkley (@Jeff Merkley) 1547777008
The December 2017 draft memo--which Merkley shared with NBC News after receiving it from a government whistleblower--shows that Trump administration officials wanted to deport children more quickly by denying them asylum hearings after taking them away from their parents.
"It appears that they wanted to have it both ways--to separate children from their parents but deny them the full protections generally awarded to unaccompanied children," concluded ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt, who led a class-action lawsuit on behalf of migrant parents.
President Donald Trump's "child immigration strategy is immoral and comes from a dark place in the heart of this administration," Merkley declared, responding to the revelations on Twitter. "Children are NOT expendable commodities in political battles."
The leaked document, as NBC reports,
also shows officials wanted to specifically target parents in migrant families for increased prosecutions, contradicting the administration's previous statements. In June, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the administration did "not have a policy of separating families at the border" but was simply enforcing existing law.
The authors noted that the "increase in prosecutions would be reported by the media and it would have a substantial deterrent effect."
The memo was shared with high-ranking members of DHS and the Justice Department before then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, an ex-senator infamous for his anti-immigrant positions, officially unveiled the administration's cruel "zero tolerance" policy in the spring.
Merkley, a vocal critic of Trump's immigration policies, appeared onMSNBC's "All In With Chris Hayes" to discuss the developments:
\u201c.@SecNielsen and the administration lied. Period. We have proof that the Trump War on Migrant Children was carefully constructed to inflict harm on children and create a humanitarian crisis.\u201d— Senator Jeff Merkley (@Senator Jeff Merkley) 1547827015
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
acluchris hayeshuman rightsimmigrationjeff merkleyjeff sessionsmsnbcus department of homeland securityus department of justice
Following reports on Thursday that federal officials forcibly separated thousands more migrant children from their families than previously reported, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D.-Ore.) released a document to NBC News revealing the Trump administration intended to "traumatize children and intentionally create a humanitarian crisis at the border."
\u201cI just released a NEW DOCUMENT showing that the @realDonaldTrump administration PLANNED to traumatize children and intentionally create a humanitarian crisis at the border. https://t.co/PBdXyDXgP8\u201d— Jeff Merkley (@Jeff Merkley) 1547777008
The December 2017 draft memo--which Merkley shared with NBC News after receiving it from a government whistleblower--shows that Trump administration officials wanted to deport children more quickly by denying them asylum hearings after taking them away from their parents.
"It appears that they wanted to have it both ways--to separate children from their parents but deny them the full protections generally awarded to unaccompanied children," concluded ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt, who led a class-action lawsuit on behalf of migrant parents.
President Donald Trump's "child immigration strategy is immoral and comes from a dark place in the heart of this administration," Merkley declared, responding to the revelations on Twitter. "Children are NOT expendable commodities in political battles."
The leaked document, as NBC reports,
also shows officials wanted to specifically target parents in migrant families for increased prosecutions, contradicting the administration's previous statements. In June, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the administration did "not have a policy of separating families at the border" but was simply enforcing existing law.
The authors noted that the "increase in prosecutions would be reported by the media and it would have a substantial deterrent effect."
The memo was shared with high-ranking members of DHS and the Justice Department before then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, an ex-senator infamous for his anti-immigrant positions, officially unveiled the administration's cruel "zero tolerance" policy in the spring.
Merkley, a vocal critic of Trump's immigration policies, appeared onMSNBC's "All In With Chris Hayes" to discuss the developments:
\u201c.@SecNielsen and the administration lied. Period. We have proof that the Trump War on Migrant Children was carefully constructed to inflict harm on children and create a humanitarian crisis.\u201d— Senator Jeff Merkley (@Senator Jeff Merkley) 1547827015
Following reports on Thursday that federal officials forcibly separated thousands more migrant children from their families than previously reported, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D.-Ore.) released a document to NBC News revealing the Trump administration intended to "traumatize children and intentionally create a humanitarian crisis at the border."
\u201cI just released a NEW DOCUMENT showing that the @realDonaldTrump administration PLANNED to traumatize children and intentionally create a humanitarian crisis at the border. https://t.co/PBdXyDXgP8\u201d— Jeff Merkley (@Jeff Merkley) 1547777008
The December 2017 draft memo--which Merkley shared with NBC News after receiving it from a government whistleblower--shows that Trump administration officials wanted to deport children more quickly by denying them asylum hearings after taking them away from their parents.
"It appears that they wanted to have it both ways--to separate children from their parents but deny them the full protections generally awarded to unaccompanied children," concluded ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt, who led a class-action lawsuit on behalf of migrant parents.
President Donald Trump's "child immigration strategy is immoral and comes from a dark place in the heart of this administration," Merkley declared, responding to the revelations on Twitter. "Children are NOT expendable commodities in political battles."
The leaked document, as NBC reports,
also shows officials wanted to specifically target parents in migrant families for increased prosecutions, contradicting the administration's previous statements. In June, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the administration did "not have a policy of separating families at the border" but was simply enforcing existing law.
The authors noted that the "increase in prosecutions would be reported by the media and it would have a substantial deterrent effect."
The memo was shared with high-ranking members of DHS and the Justice Department before then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, an ex-senator infamous for his anti-immigrant positions, officially unveiled the administration's cruel "zero tolerance" policy in the spring.
Merkley, a vocal critic of Trump's immigration policies, appeared onMSNBC's "All In With Chris Hayes" to discuss the developments:
\u201c.@SecNielsen and the administration lied. Period. We have proof that the Trump War on Migrant Children was carefully constructed to inflict harm on children and create a humanitarian crisis.\u201d— Senator Jeff Merkley (@Senator Jeff Merkley) 1547827015
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.