Reply to Can DC block the proposed temporary shelter for migrant kids?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am opposed to Trumps immigration plans, but these kids are here unaccompanied. I work in trafficking and under the law that means without a legal guardian or parent- so a narrow definition. They can’t just be released into the country. Some of these kids are young. They need somewhere to go while a family member is located. I don’t want them with ICE they need to be in shelters. Where should these kids go?[/quote]

There are two issues here.

1) They may be keeping these kids in the shelter, despite the fact that they have relatives in the US that they could be released to ... or even worse, they have been deliberately separated from the parent they crossed the border with, instead of released or placed in a family shelter.  That's part of the Trump Admin strategy.  And we know (as Mayor Bowser suggested in the reference to DC General) that it is inhumane to keep people in large institutions when they could go to a smaller site or, preferably with a family member, or to a foster family.

2) For those kids who legitimately cannot be sent to a family member (sometimes it takes time to locate & screen them too), then the problem is that this is a for-profit operator with a shoddy record.  If the shelter were going to be run by a nonprofit, it might be more feasible.  I've heard that the Bethany shelters in Michigan were well run.

So basically, if DC could trust that these were kids who were not forcibly separated from their parents by the US, not being deliberately kept away from other family members in the US, the shelter was being run not-for-profit and humanely, and that the kids would be placed in foster care rapidly if they could not be reunified rapidly with their parents or relatives ... then yeah, DC would be a good place for it.  We have strong, educated labor force; lots of spanish-speaking families that could foster.  [/quote]

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