Many adults who are planning to cross the border to the United States are using children to appeal to the emotions of border patrol. However, they won't get any sympathy at all. The Homeland Security Department is considering separating children from parents caught crossing the Mexican border illegally, Secretary John Kelly said recently.
Kelly said such a move would be part of a broader effort to discourage families from making the dangerous trek across Mexico to the U.S. border.
He confirmed that he's considering the action during an interview with CNN last 6 March. The plan had previously been reported by several news outlets.
Tens of thousands of parents who are using their children to get emotional advantage, mostly from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, have been caught crossing the border illegally in recent years. Generally, the families are detained for a few days or weeks before being released into the United States to wait for an immigration judge to decide their fate.
"I would do almost anything to deter the people from Central America getting on this very, very dangerous network ... going through Mexico," Kelly said during his television interview.
Homeland Security officials have been trying to curb the flow of families since 2014 when a flood of both children and families overwhelmed immigration officials. The department launched a public relations campaign in Central America to warn about the dangers and advise families that there would be no free pass into the United States.
The Obama administration opened multiple detention centers that year, in part to deter others from crossing, to house families while immigration judges and asylum officers heard their cases
But a federal judge in California later ruled that detaining children violated a long-standing agreement that bars the government from detaining children in a jail-like setting, even if they are with their parents. That ruling prompted the government to start releasing families into the U.S.
With a backlog of more than half a million cases, it can take years for a case to be completed in federal immigration court. The children will probably be well-cared for while waiting for any judgement, while parents and guardian will be sent back to where they came from.
Kelly said such a move would be part of a broader effort to discourage families from making the dangerous trek across Mexico to the U.S. border.
He confirmed that he's considering the action during an interview with CNN last 6 March. The plan had previously been reported by several news outlets.
Tens of thousands of parents who are using their children to get emotional advantage, mostly from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, have been caught crossing the border illegally in recent years. Generally, the families are detained for a few days or weeks before being released into the United States to wait for an immigration judge to decide their fate.
"I would do almost anything to deter the people from Central America getting on this very, very dangerous network ... going through Mexico," Kelly said during his television interview.
Homeland Security officials have been trying to curb the flow of families since 2014 when a flood of both children and families overwhelmed immigration officials. The department launched a public relations campaign in Central America to warn about the dangers and advise families that there would be no free pass into the United States.
The Obama administration opened multiple detention centers that year, in part to deter others from crossing, to house families while immigration judges and asylum officers heard their cases
But a federal judge in California later ruled that detaining children violated a long-standing agreement that bars the government from detaining children in a jail-like setting, even if they are with their parents. That ruling prompted the government to start releasing families into the U.S.
With a backlog of more than half a million cases, it can take years for a case to be completed in federal immigration court. The children will probably be well-cared for while waiting for any judgement, while parents and guardian will be sent back to where they came from.