Adonde está mi mamá?: Family separation
In 1942 president Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order allowing the creation and administration of internment camps for anyone of Japanese descent; The exclusion and separation of these people was done in the name of national security, and for the ultimate protection of the integrity of the United States. Over 120,000 people were incarcerated and separated from the general population, to calm the hysteria caused by the surprise attack on Pearl Harbour. While this deprivation of liberty would (and was) regarded by the international community as a clear violation of human rights, the case Korematsu v. US found that it was not only legal, but justified to detain individuals in times of intense turmoil; Essentially fundamental rights may be suspended in times of conflict. The decision was overturned a couple of years later by Endo v US stating that a loyal citizen may not be detained arbitrarily for the ‘benefit’ of the country. March 1942 stands as one of the key instances when the US government blatantly contradicted their ideals -and the dogma they would impose throughout the world for the next 60 years- in the name of ‘national security. Japanese internment occurred almost a century ago, and one would think that the country that poses itself as the pillar of liberty on the planet would, in essence, practice what they preach; Today, this is not the case.
In late 2017 and early 2018 the Trump administration introduced its “zero tolerance” immigration policy, wherein the administration would impose extremely strict measures for migrants entering the country and refugees seeking asylum. Some of the changes introduced by this new approach were changes in visa requirements, stricter screening for prospective foreign workers and the termination of certain visa types (namely those for temporary work in construction). While all of these measures simply presented a restructuring of an already strict immigration system the most concerning change came in the treatment of asylum seekers. It is no novelty that every year numerous Latin Americans apply for refuge in the US-namely Salvadorans and Hondurans-entering the country by any means possible. Forming a key point in his election platform, the administration’s approach to stop and further deter the entry of migrants manifested as the policy “Family separation”.
In essence Family separation involves a novel approach to the national asylum seeking system. Headed by the department of Homeland Security the policy was an attempt to manage large numbers of asylum seekers by processing children independently from their parents. Crossing the border constitutes a misdemeanour offence, wherein the old system, parents and children would be prosecuted and released almost immediately, and asked to wait for their immigration haring-- Here is where the courts would determine if asylum is granted. A key thing to keep in mind however, is that the old system ensured that children would be processed along with their parents as a means of keeping families together. The policy of the Trump administration opts for a contrary approach; Parents are taken into the judicial system while children are put into the custody of Homeland Security for the duration of the process. It is important to keep in mind that the bureaucracy in immigration services in the US is extremely time consuming; Reports from Human Rights watch hold that children were separated from their parents for almost 4 months. It is estimated that during peak of Family separation (June 2018) almost 6000 families were separated, meaning 3000 children (aged 0-9) were taken from their parents. The children which were under the custody of Homeland Security were put into camps, with very limited amenities and services; The realities faced in these camps are heartbreaking, with children of all ages unsure of when or if they will see their parents again.
The maladministration of these children is another point to highlight. Human rights organisations have found that the data compiled by Homeland Security is “incomplete and inconsistent”, meaning that kids often get lost in the system. There have been numerous instances where parents were reunited with the wrong child, or were not reunited with their child at all, for a period of time. Last month the department of HS stated that they had found 14 more children that had been lost in the system since the termination of the policy around 2 months ago. So this was a policy that separated children from their parents, mistreated them, and provided no real assurance that families would be reunited. Isolating a select group of people from the rest of the population should, in theory, be incompatible with the values the US supposedly stands for; yet it happened again.
Understanding the framework of the system it is then important to ask a key question: Why would anyone do this? The answer can be found in the entry of xenophobia into the public sphere and identity politics. Americans have a long history of distrust towards foreigners; The movement of Italians, Irish and Japanese people into the US received equal outrage as the issue faced today -- simply put this is not anything new. What is new however is the manifestation of these values as a matter of public policy, wherein the ideologies of everyday people have entered the political mainstream. Immigration has been a hot topic for a very long time, but the 2016 election intensified, and indeed, magnified the issue; elevating immigration from a matter of public policy, to a subject of national concern. One of the key elements in the formation of extreme anti immigrant sentiment, is the promotion of an us versus them narrative by the administration. The Trump administration has been adamant about highlighting asylum seekers as the evil coming to invade America; the language of war has been the weapon the administration has used to mobilise the right against the influx of migrants. By framing the issue as a necessary evil (as was done during Japanese internment) the US government has adopted an anything goes attitude towards this issue, making black and white out of a gray situation.
The policy of separating children from their parents creates a number of issues in both the public and private sphere. Separating individuals from the rest of the population only further fuels the culture of xenophobia present in American discourse. At a fundamental level it validates the evil immigrant narrative pushed by the Trump administration and only further aggravates the tension felt between immigrants and American citizens. From a structural level family separation leaves a dangerous amount for discretion in the government's treatment of foreign nationals. One of the loopholes employed by immigration officials,to detain more people was to declare the child-parent relationship non existent -- in other words immigration officials have the discretion to choose who stays together and who does not. Permitting the procedural separation of families is a key infringement on the right to private life, enshrined in Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights-- a document the United States spearheaded. And last but certainly not least is the direct violence experienced by the children in these camps. Human rights watch has found that children in these camps often had to sleep on the floor with little more than a blanket. The Civil Liberties Union (may 2018) documented hundreds of instances of “verbal, physical and sexual abuse” of undocumented children by border patrol. And the issues don't end once the children are reunited with their parents, the head of the Department of Homeland security has expressly stated that these children will likely have long lasting psychological damage because of this experience; Yet family separation was defended by its supporters to the bitter end.
Even though the Family separation programme formally ended in August 2018 it is extremely relevant today. For the past few months a caravan of migrants have been mobilising from Honduras in an attempt to seek asylum in the US -- The caravan currently finds itself in Oaxaca, Mexico. This mass movement of people has reignited discussions on immigration policy, and has prompted the administration to plan a re institution of widespread family separation camps. Understanding the human impact this policy has had, it is outrageous to even consider restarting it, yet it seems this will be the case. Immigration has become an important point of modern politics, and it is an issue with no simple solution; But any approach should protect the dignity and safety of people. The America we see today is a far cry from the idealistic project the founding fathers had in mind. It is moments like these that the words of Alexander Hamilton must resonate through history:
“The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the Hand of Divinity itself, and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.”- Alexander Hamilton
The actions of the US are, in the framework of international law not legal. The right to seek asylum is regarded as a fundamental human right, yet under this system, asylum is framed as a privilege. Even during the Obama administration the US was prosecuting asylum seekers, depriving individuals of the fundamental rights of asylum and integrity of person-- Prosecuting migrants has been repeatedly condemned by the UN and other international organisations. Placing children who are unable to defend themselves in ill equipped camps, managed by ill prepared people, is an outrageous infringement of the integrity of migrants. Yet at the same time the Americans have positioned themselves as the defenders of liberty, and have been eager to impose freedom wherever it is strategically advantageous. A country which supposedly stands for the defence of human rights, yet blatantly disregards the integrity of people, does not deserve our respect, but our condemnation. The narrative of the American dream, which the US has so effectively marketed to the rest of the world no longer holds true, especially when an individual seeking asylum is deprived of their liberty and stripped of their integrity; In essence a dream of liberty turns into a nightmare.
Sources:
https://www.vox.com/2018/6/20/17484300/read-trump-executive-order-family-separation-immigration-full-text
https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/07/26/us-separated-families-report-trauma-lies-coercion
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44538110
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44518942
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygVX1z6tDGI
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