Washington D.C., Jun 7, 2018 / 03:42 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Maria had been a victim of sex trafficking and abuse by a local gang when she fled Guatemala. Taking her 3-year-old son, Jose, she made the trek to the U.S. border, seeking asylum in the United States.
But when she arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border, she was apprehended by Customs and Border Protection. Agents separate her from her son, who was grouped together with “unaccompanied minors” by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, while Maria was transferred to adult detention.
Maria’s story, as related by the Migration and Refugees Services of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is not unique.
At least 700 migrant children have been separated from adults claiming to be their parents since October 2017, according to data from the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which takes custody of the children. More than 100 of these children were under the age of 4.
Katie Kuennen is the associate director of children’s services for the U.S. bishops’ migration and refugee services, which operates a shelter for unaccompanied children in Texas.
“The vast majority of the kids coming into our residential programs are experiencing the trauma of family separation,” said Kuennen, who has observed increasing numbers of family separations at the border in recent months.
“We know from our work here in child welfare and social work that the impact of such a separation … can be extremely devastating both developmentally and psychologically on the child,” Kuennen explained in an online webinar on family separation on May 30.
On June 5, the United Nations human rights office condemned the U.S. practice of separating migrant children from their parents at the border as “a serious violation of the rights of the child.”
“The practice of separating families amounts to arbitrary and unlawful interference in family life,” said UN spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani, who called on the U.S. to “ immediately halt this practice of separating families.”
Prior to the UN condemnation, the U.S. bishops released a statement on June 1, urging the U.S. government to keep migrant families together.
“My brother bishops and I understand the need for the security of our borders and country, but separating arriving families at the U.S./Mexico border does not allay security concerns,” wrote Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin.
“Rupturing the bond between parent and child causes scientifically-proven trauma that often leads to irreparable emotional scarring,” continued Bishop Vasquez, who chairs the U.S. bishops’ committee on migration.
“Children are not instruments of deterrence but a blessing from God,” said the bishop.
On May 4, the Department of Homeland Security began referring all people crossing the border illegally to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution.
This “zero-tolerance policy” was implemented in response to a report that there had been a 203 percent increase in unauthorized border crossings in the past year. The majority of people arriving at the U.S. border had fled Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, according to the UN.
The goal of the policy is prosecuting 100 percent of the people who cross the border illegally, said Melissa Hastings, a policy advisor for the U.S. bishops’ migration and refugee services.
While adults over the age of 18 await prosecution in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, any children who had been traveling with them will be designated as “unaccompanied” and transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services.
The policy “does not have any exceptions for families who are coming in and willingly turning themselves over to border patrol seeking protection” by applying for legal asylum, said Hastings.
“In the majority of these cases it is noted that CBP had never asked the parent if they could verify the relationship at the time of apprehension,” added Kuennen, who said that parents are not being asked for documentation or evidence of their kinship before separation.
Once a child is separated and their parent detained, Kuennen has found it to be very challenging to facilitate communication between family members because the shelters caring for the children have to identify where the separated parent has been detained and establish contact.
“We recently had a 5-year-old girl from El Salvador who was separated from her biological mother. In this particular case, it took over 30 days to establish initial contact with the mother,” said Kuennen, noting that the child had been extremely traumatized by the initial separation.
“We’ve heard also some cases of extremely young children, infants, nursing babies who have been separated from their parents and caregivers,” said Kuennen.
For young children, this traumatic separation can lead to long-term physical and mental health consequences, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, which released a statement condemning family separation in May.
“[H]ighly stressful experiences, like family separation, can cause irreparable harm, disrupting a child’s brain architecture and affecting his or her short- and long-term health. This type of prolonged exposure to serious stress – known as toxic stress – can carry lifelong consequences for children,” the academy warned.
There is also an issue of judicial efficiency, added Ashley Feasley, director of policy for the U.S. bishops’ migration and refugee services.
Previously, a mother could claim her children as derivatives on one asylum application and court claim. The family separation policy forces each individual to have their own claim, multiplying the number of court cases at a time when “our judicial immigration system is already overrun,” Feasley said.
She encouraged Catholics to help by contacting Congress, volunteering with immigrants through their local Catholic Charities, or even volunteering to foster a separated or unaccompanied child.
“Right now, in this initial phase, given the strong statements by DHS and the fact that Congress does have a small, but important oversight role, we are really pushing Congress to push back on this issue at this time,” she said. “We think it is crucial.”
[…]
To call this sect a Church is not a proper Catholic understanding of the word. It is a non Christian sect. To call it simply “non trinitarian religion” is insufficient. It leaves the only impression that it’s Christian just not Trinitarian.
It’s proper to express condolences but to pray for a man of a different religion is problematic.
“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” (Matt 5:44). Not that he was an enemy. But, there you go. You are correct, however, about “Church.” The LDS is not a “Church” in any truly Catholic sense; not even sure it’s an “ecclesial communion,” as the Mormon understanding of God and Christ are both deeply lacking and wrong.
Nice to know you are an expert on what God the Father knows or believes, or that one religion in which you know very little of could be the wrong one. The Nicene Creed destroyed scholarly study of scripture, deleting and dismissing entire passages based upon the desires of a pagan leader in Constantine. So you easily dismiss what we LDS faithful consider in our faith as Christ Himself actually set in place after the resurrection…that’s mighty narcissistic and vain of you to think that the corruption of the faith that draws nearer to Christ with their lips but still have their hearts far from Him, with grandeur and extreme opulence, fine garments and vainness, political gain and an army corps of pediphilics preying on vulnerable young boys and men…what hubris! Sure, The LDS church has some issues in it’s past, and even if you don’t believe our doctrine or tenets are “correct,” but still the Catholic church takes the cake when it comes to abuse of wealth, association with socialist and communist dogma, and even a strong connection with Nazism, not to mention the forced conversion of non-Catholics during the dark-ages, the crusades and inquisition. If one is forced to believe, do they truly believe? Does anyone really need a cleric to commune with God? Believe as you will, but remember…you open it up to criticism of your own faith when you attack another’s. I could give a fig what Catholics believe…I know that our Heavenly Father will sort it out…not a man.
“So you easily dismiss what we LDS faithful consider in our faith as Christ Himself actually set in place after the resurrection”
An idea with which you agree in principle, since you are so easily dismissing what we Catholic faithful believe that Christ Himself actually set in place after the Resurrection.
“The Nicene Creed destroyed scholarly study of scripture, deleting and dismissing entire passages based upon the desires of a pagan leader in Constantine.”
Flapdoodle. And the more so since it is coming from a man the founder of whose religion created his “scripture” from a hodgepodge of the King James version of the Bible and several works of fiction.
“that’s mighty narcissistic and vain of you”
Someone whose sect believes that members will become gods and form and create their own worlds is not really in a position to accuse anybody of narcissism and vanity.
“Does anyone really need a cleric to commune with God?”
For Holy Communion, yes, one does.
“I could give a fig what Catholics believe”
Which of course is why you came galloping into a Catholic board to pitch a hissy fit and throw insults because people on it have stated the plain fact that Mormon beliefs are not those of Christianity, however much they may borrow words from Christianity and then change their meanings.
“the Catholic church takes the cake when it comes to abuse of wealth”
By which you mean what? Give me examples. The Catholic Church has founded and supported charities, hospitals, schools, and many other things.
“association with socialist and communist dogma,”
Again, what exactly do you mean? That’s a nice, general statement that means nothing. Do you mean because the Church encourages sharing one’s wealth with those less fortunate?
” and even a strong connection with Nazism,”
What connection? The Nazis hated the Church, hated the Pope, and persecuted Catholics.
” not to mention the forced conversion of non-Catholics during the dark-ages,”
There were some forced conversions, and that was wrong.
“the crusades”
The Crusades were an attempt to retrieve the Holy Land from the people who took it by military force. They were not a bad thing in and of themselves.
“and inquisition.”
Which Inquisition do you mean? Against the Albigensians? The Roman Inquisition? The Spanish Inquisition? Be specific, so that your accusations can be addressed, instead of flinging words in randomly.
” an army corps of pediphilics preying on vulnerable young boys and men”
There is no “army corps” of pedophiles. There are some priests who have committed horrible sins, against the teachings of the Church. What they have done is evil. It is a sad fact that people sin.
Your founder, Joseph Smith, however, introduced, as an official tenet of Mormonism, polygamy, and convinced some of his “wives” (some of whom were already married to other men) to “marry” him by telling them that they must to secure their and their families’ salvation (Helen Mar Kimball) or by saying that he himself would be killed by an angel if he didn’t commit polygamy. Strange how so many manmade religions seem to include the idea on the founder’s part that “Cool! I get to have sexual intercourse with as many women as I want!” So, someone whose church had an official policy of promoting evil doesn’t exactly have any standing to criticize the Church because some Catholics sin.
The first Mormon who befriended me was called ‘Tiny’ late seventyish so tall he often dangled his left leg out the pickup window pistol on the dashboard and had a girlfriend. Ramah NM my new mission was built on property he sold to the Franciscans inquired where to find him told the saloon. He invite me for a drink. Baptists called drinking Mormons Jack Mormons. They were the only kind around most tough ranchers from Texas. Tiny was delighted to have a priest in the area and said he would like to ring the church bell on Sundays. His horse Hank roaming free at night would tap on my rectory steps until I appeared. Tiny burst in one day as was his wont with just cut beautiful bark timber for my altar. Needless to say I loved the old guy. I can’t say as much for the non Jack Mormon Mormons who tried to proselytize my parishioners except that their towns were neat and clean.