Two weeks ago, we broke the story ([link removed]) about the government’s quiet expansion of shelters that house babies, toddlers and young children.

Reporter Aura Bogado obtained records that show a dozen children, ages 5 and under, arrived at a Phoenix nonprofit called Child Crisis Arizona starting in mid-June and are living at the shelter without their parents. Another facility, Bethany Children’s Home in Pennsylvania, is housing 11 children, including an unknown number of infants.

In our latest show, “In harm’s way,” ([link removed]) Bogado shared new details she’d learned about the facilities and the children in their care with our host, Al Letson.

“I've been able to finally confirm that at least one of the little kids that we're talking about was indeed separated from their mom and that two more were separated from other family members,” Bogado said. “Family separation officially ended last June, but we know that kids are still being taken from their parents at the border.”

Bogado has also learned about a third organization housing young children: Bethany Christian Services, a Michigan-based provider that is now running a small group home in Modesto, California, licensed to hold 12 children. Two teenage parents and two babies are being held there. One of the babies was recently born in the United States.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement, which oversees the care of migrant children in U.S. custody, said it’s working on a response to our questions.

Listen to the show here. ([link removed])

CONGRESSIONAL REPORT OFFERS MORE DETAILS ABOUT FAMILY SEPARATIONS

At least 18 children under the age of 2 were taken away from parents under the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” practice last year, according to a 31-page report ([link removed]) released this month by the House Oversight Committee.

The committee received documents about “zero tolerance,” the Trump administration policy that led to thousands of family separations, through a series of subpoenas sent to the administration. Under the policy, nearly 2,700 children were separated from parents between April and June 2018.

Among the highlights in the report:
* Many of the children were in U.S. custody far longer than previously disclosed by the government. “More than 50 were held for six months to a year,” the report states, “and more than 25 were held for more than a year.”
* At least 30 children remain separated from their parents despite a federal court order issued more than a year ago to reunite the families.
* More than 80 children were shuffled to different facilities overseen by the Office of Refugee Resettlement. “Nine children were transferred twice, four were transferred three times, and one was transferred four times,” the report says.

“The Trump Administration has not been candid with the American people about its purpose in separating children,” the report states. “The records obtained by the Committee indicate that the Trump Administration separated children unnecessarily – even under its own rationale – causing lengthy delays to reunifications and separations that continue to this day.”

Read the report here. ([link removed])

WHAT WE’RE READING

Immigrant children arriving at Chicago shelters from the border are exhibiting signs of trauma and illness. (ProPublica ([link removed]) )

The Trump administration is sending immigrant children who are alone, afraid and sick with fever, chicken pox and even tuberculosis to shelters in Chicago, where they are further isolated to prevent the spread of disease, according to one of the nonprofit organizations caring for them.

In yet another byproduct of the administration’s immigration policy, many of those children also are arriving increasingly traumatized after spending a week or longer in dirty and overcrowded U.S. Border Patrol facilities.

Some of the children, who range from toddlers to teens, have been torn from their mothers and fathers at the border in spite of the government’s pledge to end separations, said officials from the nonprofit, Heartland Human Care Services. Around 15 of the nearly 400 children currently in Heartland shelters were separated from their parents.

At least 20 public pension funds have been investing in prison contractors that operate immigrant detention centers. (The Guardian ([link removed]) )

Millions of US taxpayer dollars are being invested into private prison operators involved in the detention of thousands of migrants across the United States, an investigation shows.

Some of the largest investments, which are by pension funds for public sector workers such as teachers and firefighters, come from states with “sanctuary” policies, such as New York, California and Oregon.

Nationwide, at least 20 pension funds and plans have invested in Geo Group or CoreCivic, the two biggest private prison operators, according to a Guardian/Documented analysis of US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings.

These funds range from big organizations like the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPers), which manages $81bn in stock holdings, to the more modestly sized funds like the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board, which manages about $2.3bn.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said its nationwide raids targeted thousands of families. Only 35 people were arrested. (BuzzFeed News ([link removed]) )

Immigration officials arrested more than a dozen immigrant family members across the country in a recent action targeting those with deportation orders, a Department of Homeland Security official said Monday, far fewer than had been originally targeted in the operation announced by President Donald Trump.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers made 18 arrests of family members in the effort, along with 17 others who were not specific targets of the action, according to the official. Officers had a target list of around 2,000 family groups across the country who had been ordered deported after not appearing in immigration court. Those close to the operation had previously told BuzzFeed News that the raids were expected to begin just over a week ago.

The release of the arrest figure comes after weeks of scrutiny surrounding ICE officers' targeting of undocumented immigrant family members across the country, with advocates handing out pamphlets and leading countless seminars for immigrants to demonstrate how to interact with authorities, and other activists preparing to deploy to scenes of enforcement actions.

Your tips have been vital to our immigration coverage. Keep them coming: [email protected].

– Laura C. Morel
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