Two years after the Trump administration made the state-sanctioned kidnapping of children at the border official U.S. policy, the horrors around this crime against humanity continue to be exposed. According to an unpublished Homeland Security watchdog report obtained by BuzzFeed News, officials ripped apart dozens of families who had asked for asylum at U.S. ports of entry in 2018, despite public assurances that certain parents and children there wouldn’t be targeted.
“The report found that 40 children in this group were separated from their parents for at least four weeks, although one didn’t see their family for more than a year,” BuzzFeed News’ Hamed Aleaziz reported. The report said that in one instance, officials separated a Guatemalan mother from all four of her children, including a 5-month-old infant. “The family was separated for seven weeks. The mother told inspector general investigators that she would no longer be able to nurse her child as a result,” Aleaziz reported.
The BuzzFeed News report said that former Homeland Security Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen had claimed families arriving at a port of entry would be separated only under very specific circumstances, including if the child was at risk, saying: “DHS is not separating families legitimately seeking asylum at ports of entry. If an adult enters at a port of entry and claims asylum, they will not face prosecution for illegal entry. They have not committed a crime by coming to the port of entry.” Continue reading.