The Trump administration appears to have a plan in the works that would allow families seeking asylum to stay together in detention centers or temporarily give up custody of their children. In an effort to keep families together, the plan would allow the families to stay in tent cities on military bases while their case for seeking asylum is being investigated.
Jessica Vaughan, the director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, an organization that advocates for tougher immigration laws, said:
“If you cooperate then we have more flexibility. Things might go a bit easier for you. We cannot detain you together unless it’s something you’re okay with. And you’re going to have to decide whether this is something that is important to you.”
This still doesn’t change Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy or disregard the recent executive order that prohibits immigrant children from being separated from their families. The goal here is to give families a defined choice to decide what is best for their children.
“If you took zero tolerance away, everybody would come, right now,” Trump said. “They’d be getting their little belongings, unfortunately, and they would be heading up. You would be — you would have a run on this country the likes of which nobody’s ever seen.”
A Cruel Solution?
However, the left will never, as we know, be appeased. Clara Long, a U.S. researcher at Human Rights Watch, doesn’t believe children should be detained regardless of the circumstances. She thinks Trump’s proposed plan is “cruel.”
“How sneaky and cruel,” she said. “The choice between keeping your child on a tent city, military base, internment camp or ripping them apart is incredibly coercive.”
As opposed to living in constant fear of being tortured or murdered? Let’s get something clear here. The detainment “cities” are not for illegal immigration. They are designed to house the thousands upon thousands of asylum seekers surging into our country. These immigrants are reportedly running for their lives and those of their loved ones.
What are we expected to do? Provide houses for them when we have such an epidemic of homelessness in our country as it is? We have veterans sleeping on the streets. We have American children sleeping in filthy alleys and eating out of garbage cans.
Opponents suggest that living in detainment camps is detrimental to the children. Well, so is being tortured or watching your parents be murdered. It’s also devastating to America’s homeless children, but we simply cannot afford to house everyone at the cost to the taxpayer.
Asylum Facts
Just because someone is seeking asylum doesn’t mean they will receive it. Only about 20% of those who applied for asylum in 2017 were granted it. While they may demonstrate a fear of returning to their countries, the unfortunate 80% did not meet the requirements. Another problem is that only about 40% of applicants in 2017 followed through to the end of the process. In 2018, that number is much lower at 15%.
The detainment centers provide shelter, food, clothing, and recreational activities. Families are much safer than in their homeland. Is it an ideal way to wait out the process? No, but it is better than living in constant terror, right? And families do not have to worry about being separated. It is their choice. Granted, it’s a hard decision to make, but at least they have that one aspect of control. Life in detainment will not be the most comfortable, but it’s a lot better than life on the run – or no life at all.
