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Trump administration warned of ‘traumatic psychological injury’ from family separations...
PBS Newshour ^ | July 31, 2018 | Joshua Barajas

Posted on 07/31/2018 4:23:40 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

A top health official told lawmakers Tuesday that the Trump administration was warned about instituting “any policy” resulting in family separations because of the effects such separations could have on the wellbeing of immigrant children.

The official’s response came after Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) asked every federal immigration official at Tuesday’s hearing over family separations to answer a particular question: “Did anyone on this panel say, maybe [separating families] wasn’t such a good idea?”

After a pause, Blumenthal directed his question first to Commander Jonathan White of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, who said he and the Office of Refugee Resettlement raised a number of concerns in the previous year about “any policy which would result in family separation due to concerns we had about the best interest of the child as well about whether that would be operationally supportable with the bed capacity we had.”

The Democratic senator asked the commander to further explain his response in layman’s terms, asking if he told the administration that children would “suffer” as a result of its “zero tolerance” policy.

“Separation of children from their parents entails significant harm to children,” White said in response. “There’s no question that separation of children from parents entails significant potential for traumatic psychological injury to the child,” he added, shortly after.

White also said that the administration’s response was that family separation was not a policy. As stated before, there is no current law that mandates the separation of migrant children from their parents at the U.S. border.

The Trump administration implemented its “zero-tolerance” policy this spring. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in June to halt the separations.

In recent weeks, lawsuits filed against the separation policy have produced testimonies from lawyers and the separated families they represent, alleging that the government’s actions resulted in trauma to their children.

In one personal declaration presented earlier this month in court, one mother said her son “is not the same since we were reunited.”

“I thought that, because he is so young he would not be traumatized by this experience, but he does not separate from me. He cries when he does not see me,” Olivia Caceres said of her 1-year-old son. “That behavior is not normal. In El Salvador he would stay with his dad or my sister and not cry. Now he cries for fear of being alone,” she wrote.

Here are several other key moments from Tuesday’s hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

1. Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said the Trump administration “mishandled” family separations. The senator pressed the officials over reports of sexual abuse and other violations against migrants at the government’s detention facilities. It should be noted that Grassley and the panel’s top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California, sent a letter this week asking federal investigators to look into the alleged mistreatment and abusive practices against migrants in U.S. custody. “These allegations of abuse are extremely disturbing and must be addressed,” Grassley and Feinstein wrote in a bipartisan letter. “This is not a partisan issue as reporting suggests many have been occurring for years. Immigrant families and children kept in federal custody deserve to be treated with basic human dignity and respect and should never be subjected to these forms of abuse,” they wrote.

2. Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) called for Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s resignation. In the hearing, the senator said it was under her watch that thousands of children were separated from their parents, while hundreds remain separated from their families. He called the administration’s “zero tolerance” policy “cruel.” “Someone, someone in this administration has to accept responsibility. We can have border security without bullying. We can be safe without treating toddlers like terrorists,” he added.

3. Matthew Albence of ICE described family detention centers as “summer camp.” In response to cited reports of abuse in the government’s family detention centers, Albence said any allegation is automatically reported to a joint intake center and added that the office of inspector general has the power to investigate these allegations if it thinks there’s sufficient evidence to do so. He then said the best way to describe the centers would be to liken them to “summer camp.” He cited 24/7 food, water, and education, among other services. He also mentioned basketball courts, exercise classes, and soccer fields. “I’m very comfortable with the level of service and protection that is being provided” in these centers, Albence said.

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)

4. Was the “zero tolerance” policy a success? Another Blumenthal moment: The senator asked if anyone in the room thought the administration’s “zero tolerance” policy had been a success. “You can just raise your hand, if you think it’s been a success,” the senator said. No one raised their hand.

5. Who defended the immigration officials? Among the senators who defended the officials during the hearing was Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas who blamed Congress for the administration’s inability to fix family separations, adding that those offering criticism also provide “no plausible or workable solution at all.”


TOPICS: Government; Politics
KEYWORDS: bordersecurity; commieagenda; commies; illegalaliens; illegals; immigration; nottheonion; psychobabble; trump; trumpillegals
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FULL TITLE: Trump administration was warned of ‘traumatic psychological injury’ from family separations, official says

What other country in the world provides illegal aliens with air-conditioned tents, three hot nutritious meals a day plus snacks & beverages, teachers, full medical and dental care, social workers, sports, video games, recreation and so much more?

1 posted on 07/31/2018 4:23:40 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

But taking your kid on the run and crossing a border illegally risking their lives the whole way plus risking being separated by the authorities, that’s not a problem.


2 posted on 07/31/2018 4:26:11 PM PDT by Williams (Stop tolerating the intolerant.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Riiiight. And we are all aware of the highly successful triumphs of the psychological profession. There is...uh.....and also.....um.....never mind. Richard Feynman had a hierarchy of the sciences: Physics is applied mathematics. 
Chemistry is applied physics.
 Biology is applied chemistry.
 Psychology is a bunch of witch doctors So, of course, a Democrat nothing will quote that profession.
3 posted on 07/31/2018 4:26:43 PM PDT by Da Coyote
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The Dirty Little Democrats are hard at work ,not working for you but Them


4 posted on 07/31/2018 4:26:51 PM PDT by butlerweave
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I hope the separations get resolved and families be reunited.

Notice though how liberals do not make note of the outpouring of drugs coming in from across the border and the traumas the trade has imposed on millions of Americans.

Or the children trafficked across the border...

Or the thousands upon thousands of homeless people sleeping in tents in cities like L.A. — a crisis largely connected to California’s sanctuary state policies which favors addressing the needs and whims of illegal immigrants over the needs of those struggling within our borders.

Or the American children and parents of all races whose livelihoods are being compromised for paying their share into a system that unduly benefits those who take advantage by being here against the law.

Liberals never point out post traumatic abortion stress...or the fact that transgender people have a higher rate of clinical depression.


5 posted on 07/31/2018 4:30:52 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

But they aren’t hesitant in their desire to separate member of the Trump administration or his election team from their families.


6 posted on 07/31/2018 4:36:37 PM PDT by rey
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I don’t care.

L


7 posted on 07/31/2018 4:37:35 PM PDT by Lurker (President Trump isn't our last chance. President Trump is THEIR last chance.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Then what about separating families due to arrests for failing to pay traffic fines?!?


8 posted on 07/31/2018 4:39:03 PM PDT by cmj328 (We live here.)
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To: Da Coyote

Like


9 posted on 07/31/2018 4:41:01 PM PDT by onedoug
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Keep them together, drop them off on the other side of the border. Rejected. Simple.

But, the law and the busybody judges wont allow that.


10 posted on 07/31/2018 4:52:09 PM PDT by Pearls Before Swine ("It's always a party when you're eating the seed corn.")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I don’t care WHAT injuries-—physical or ginned-up “mental”-—these illegal criminal invaders incur. THEY made the decision to sneak into our country, bring their children with them, and cross some dangerous country in brutally hot weather-—not me. Instead of catering to them in every way, feeding them hot meals, giving them medical care, etc., they should be summarily thrown right back over the border, after being tattooed as having crossed the border illegally. I find myself not giving a 1/4 of a darn about their mental health, recreational needs, food preferences or ANYTHING. The insane catering to their every need makes us a laughingstock among other countries, who would jail these pieces of garbage and then either throw them back across the border, imprison, or shoot them.


11 posted on 07/31/2018 4:53:55 PM PDT by EinNYC
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

How about the family separation of a victim caused by illegal aliens?


12 posted on 07/31/2018 5:14:00 PM PDT by Parmy
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Tell it to Kate Steinle’s family


13 posted on 07/31/2018 5:14:11 PM PDT by kanawa (Trump Loves a Great Deal)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Too damn bad. The illegals can all stay together in their own countries. Stay the hell out of our country. Take your trauma back with ya!


14 posted on 07/31/2018 5:18:03 PM PDT by dforest (Never let a Muslim cut your hair.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Kate Steinle was not available for comment.


15 posted on 07/31/2018 5:21:25 PM PDT by TADSLOS (All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down....)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

We’ll see if POTUS was serious about shutting down administrative government until/unless he gets a Wall and favorable law.

While I believe it would split the Republican party, I don’t think there would be enough traitors to override a veto.

Because each and every one of them that do, will cease to be a political entity.

80-90% of Republican VOTERS will support Trump for at least a 3 month shutdown. Most of them for 6 months.

The pussies in Congress, not so much.


16 posted on 07/31/2018 5:22:58 PM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

If our border were secure, the rate of illegal alien children being separated from their illegal alien parents would drop precipitously. As would the rate of poor children being sold to coyotes who deliver them into the slave trade (aka human trafficking).

Of course, as is the case with every leftist “issue”, the issue is only useful as the means to an end, the end being the glorious socialist revolution.


17 posted on 07/31/2018 5:24:51 PM PDT by exDemMom (Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
A top health official told lawmakers Tuesday that the Trump administration was warned about instituting “any policy” resulting in family separations because of the effects such separations could have on the wellbeing of immigrant children.

Why are there no such concerns for the children of people who commit other crimes? If a criminal robs someone, he or she will be jailed and forcibly separated from his/her children - according to this top health official, presumably the children should be kept with the criminal parent in jail. Or do these special rules only apply to lawbreakers who choose to violate immigration law?
18 posted on 07/31/2018 5:30:22 PM PDT by AnotherUnixGeek (q)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
We must do away with no-fault divorce (for the children):

The first modern no-fault divorce law was enacted in Russia in December 1917 following the October Revolution of the same year. Regarding marriage as a bourgeois institution, the new government transferred divorce jurisdiction from the Russian Orthodox Church to the state courts, which could grant it on application of either spouse. A new family code was passed in 1926.

With a law adopted in 1969, California became the first U.S. state to permit no-fault divorce. California's law was framed on a roughly contemporaneous effort of the non-governmental organization National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, which began drafting a model of no-fault divorce statute for states to consider in 1967.
source: Wikipedia


19 posted on 07/31/2018 5:35:37 PM PDT by donna (Arizona senate: Kelli Ward supports President Trump. McSally is a RINO.)
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To: Da Coyote

” Psychology is a bunch of witch doctors So, of course, a Democrat nothing will quote that profession.”

Psychology is an English major without a job realizing she made a huge mistake in college.


20 posted on 07/31/2018 6:15:35 PM PDT by EQAndyBuzz (Proud member of the DWN party. (Deplorable Wing Nut))
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