3 THINGS WE’RE READING
1. The Trump administration says it’s expelling migrant children to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But it’s removing only children who have tested negative. (ProPublica)
Since the start of the pandemic, the U.S. government has returned thousands of migrant children arriving at the border to their home countries under Title 42 of the U.S. Code, which bans immigration if there is a "serious danger of the introduction of … disease into the United States." But officials are expelling only children who have tested negative for the virus. “The Trump administration’s claim that they need to summarily expel children because of COVID was always a pretext,” said Lee Gelernt of the ACLU.
The kicker: Ironically, migrants who test positive for COVID-19 are required to remain in the U.S., while those who test negative are expelled. It’s not clear if any unaccompanied children have tested positive for coronavirus while in ICE custody. At least one migrant family housed in a San Antonio hotel tested positive while awaiting expulsion. The family was sent to an ICE detention center to recover. While referrals to HHS (the Department of Health and Human Services) are supposed to happen within 72 hours, the administration has frequently held children in hotels for longer than that when preparing to expel them. The court report noted that testing requirements often prolonged their stays in the U.S. since results can take several days to process.
2. How last year’s Mississippi ICE raids could affect an entire generation of children. (Clarion Ledger)
It’s been a year since immigration authorities conducted the largest raid in a single state in U.S. history, arresting 680 workers from chicken processing plants in Mississippi. Dozens of families were separated, and some parents continue to be held in ICE detention. Experts say that “the magnitude of trauma created by the worksite raids is substantial. If left unaddressed, it could disrupt an entire generation.”
The kicker: In rural Mississippi, mental healthcare is limited and largely inaccessible to immigrant families who primarily speak Spanish or indigenous Mayan dialects and are low-income and uninsured. Meanwhile, there is an entire generation of children, many of them U.S. citizens, who will grow up with the raids as a defining event in their lives. It has marked their ability to perform in school, it has robbed them of sleep and appetite, and created feelings of anxiety that have had an impact on their home and school life. These are invisible wounds, not seen in headlines and photographs of that day, hurting the youngest victims of the raids.
3. Use-of-force incidents against those in ICE detention have increased during the pandemic. (BuzzFeed News)
Between March and July, guards have pepper-sprayed more than 600 detained immigrants, according to a review of internal reports. ICE acknowledged the increase and said they were necessary because detainees have become more confrontational in recent months. But medical experts say the use of pepper spray in enclosed spaces could further spread the virus. “It’s a bad idea. Pepper spray is an irritant of the respiratory system and often causes people to cough, and we know that cough increases the spread of virus,” said Marc Stern, a public health expert and faculty member at the University of Washington.
The kicker: Jail guards pepper-sprayed the unit as immigrants lay down on the ground, screaming and coughing. The officers shot pepper ball rounds that ricocheted off jail tables, broken pieces striking a detainee’s eye. Fumes lingered in the air and made it hard for the detainees to breathe. Immigrants who spoke with BuzzFeed News described the scene at the Adelanto ICE Processing Facility in Southern California on June 12 when private prison guards contracted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement pepper-sprayed and shot pepper balls against more than 150 detainees following a protest. Four detainees were taken to the hospital afterward.
NEWS BREAK: ON THE SHOULDERS OF THEIR PARENTS
Los Angeles Times reporter Esmeralda Bermudez recently asked people on Twitter: “What jobs did your parents work to get you where you are today?” She received a flood of responses, most of them stories of immigrant parents working in factories, in construction, as nannies, cleaning homes, so that their children could one day pursue their own dreams. “A tapestry of pride,” she called it.
The Twitter thread resulted in the story below, which reminded me so much of my own mother: a single mom who worked night shifts at the airport and then cut hair in our garage on weekends. If you need a good cry, this story is for you.
From the story:
When I’m out and about reporting, I think often of my mother.
I see traces of her by the garment district, in the seamstresses who wait at dusk for their bus home. I see her inside office buildings, in the janitors who quietly empty all the trash bins. I see her sometimes at the park, in the nannies who come down from the hills with babies in their arms.
Everywhere I go in Los Angeles, I see my mom and all these workers so clearly. It’s baffling to me that there are people who, day after day, might not see what I see at all.
For years, my mother, Lucy, an immigrant from El Salvador, worked cleaning houses. Once, she proudly took a copy of the Los Angeles Times to work with one of my first front-page stories. “My daughter,” she said pointing to my name. Her client, a retiree, couldn’t believe it.
“You should have seen the look on the señora’s face,” my mom said. “She asked me all about you and your work. She wanted to know how you got your job and if I was proud of you. I said yes, of course. Very proud.”
For years, my mom loved to tell people that story. She still does.
Your tips have been vital to our immigration coverage. Keep them coming: [email protected].
– Laura C. Morel
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