Immigration law is like a garden that hasn’t been weeded in 40 years
Jun 19, 2018, 6:08 AM
When CBS’ David Begnaud visited an immigration detention center, he wasn’t allowed to record anything.
“We were given 15 minutes to write down what we saw,” Begnaud reports. “We couldn’t bring our cameras.”
RELATED: We’ve become a nation that separates children from parents
And I think we know why, now that Propublica.org has posted a recording of a child begging for his father, crying “Papa” over an over.
But the Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Neilsen says we should blame Congress.
“Congress is asking those of us who enforce the law to turn our backs on the law, and not enforce the law,” Neilsen said.
The law she’s apparently referring to is a 2008 law that says unaccompanied minors entering the US must be transferred to the custody of relatives or a shelter. That law was intended to protect victims of human trafficking. But the Trump policy of prosecuting everyone — before knowing who the traffickers are – appears to be separating children even though they aren’t being trafficked.
Anyway, good luck understanding the immigration law. It’s like a garden that hasn’t been weeded in 40 years. No one seems to agree on what’s in it. And maybe the confusion itself is what will end up solving the problem. On the Mexican side, one woman, who counsels would-be immigrants, is now giving them this advice: “What I’m telling them, ‘Don’t go.’ Because they are going to take away your kids.”
-
Tune in to KIRO Newsradio weekdays at 5am for Dave Ross on Seattle's Morning News.
