By Kevin Jones
T
Catholic News Agency
he Trump administration’s new “zero tolerance” policy for illegal entry into the U.S. is inhumane and will split up families seeking safety, a Catholic analyst of migration policy warned. “If implemented this will lead to a drastic increase in forcible family separation at the border,” Ashley Feasley, director of policy for Migration and Refugee Services at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told CNA May 10. “Most importantly it is inhumane and goes against our Catholic values and the sanctity of the family,” she said. The policy change means prosecution of people who illegally cross the southwest border and the separation of many children from their parents. Feasley stressed that entering the border with one’s child is not automatically an instance of child smuggling. “Many of these families are willingly turning themselves over to Border Patrol. They are not hiding. They are asking for protection, they are vulnerable and looking for safety,” she said. “[The policy change] will also erode judicial efficiency, taking away resources to prosecute the most dangerous, in favor of prosecuting every parent,” she said. The new policy could cost up to $620 per night to detain a family of one parent and two children. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions addressed law enforcement officials in Arizona and California in two May 7 speeches. “If you cross this border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you. It’s that simple,” Sessions said, according to National Public Radio. “If you smuggle illegal aliens across our border, then we will prosecute you. If you are smuggling a child, then
we will prosecute you and that child will be separated from you as required by law. If you don’t like that, then don’t smuggle children over our border.” Border agents detained close to 40,000 unauthorized immigrants on the Mexico border each in March and April alone. They include 5,000 to 10,000 families and underage minors traveling alone. The Department of Justice will send 35 more prosecutors and 18 more immigration judges to handle the caseload, Sessions has said. The attorney general said there is now “zero tolerance” for illegal border crossings. The goal is for “100 percent” of all people who cross the border illegally to face charges of “improper entry by an alien,” which can result in up to six months in prison. Alleged violators will be referred to federal prosecutors through the Department of Homeland Security. Thousands more migrants could be held in detention facilities or children’s shelters. Families with juveniles will be separated
and the minors will be sent to separate facilities. Under previous practice, people caught illegally crossing the border were returned to Mexico after a guilty plea and a brief detention. The violation is a misdemeanor under federal law. Sessions said the Department of Justice would take up as many referrals from DHS “as humanly possible.” However, Feasley warned that there are many dangers of family separation. It is “extremely traumatic” for children to experience, especially after a lengthy, stressful trip to the U.S. Very young children have been separated and left with strangers, many of whom do not speak their language. “Then these children are put into shelter facilities which are confined spaces. The experience is doubly traumatizing,” Feasley continued. “The American Academy of Pediatrics has cautioned against the long lasting emotional trauma and harm that separation can cause children.”
June 2018 | South Texas Catholic 31
†† NATIONAL NEWS
New US immigration policy violates ‘sanctity of the family,’ critic says