Outrage as detention centre staff ‘tell illegal immigrant parents they’re taking their kids for a bath before never seeing them again’
Claims have been made that US detention centre staff tell illegal immigrants they are just taking their kids for a bath before telling the parents they won't see their children again
US border staff have been telling illegal immigrants that they are just taking their kids “for a bath” before putting them behind bars, a migrant charity has claimed.
The director of the Houston office of the Tahirih Justice Centre Anne Chandler made the unverified allegations after she says she spoke with several migrant parents.
Nearly 2,000 children are said to have been separated from their families at the US border with Mexico between mid-April and the end of May.
The kids are now living in a number of detention centres along the frontier.
Chandler told the : “The officers say, ‘I'm going to take your child to get bathed.’
“That's one we see again and again, ‘Your child needs to come with me for a bath.’
“The child goes off, and in a half an hour, twenty minutes, the parent inquires, ‘Where is my five-year-old? Where's my seven-year-old? This is a long bath.’
“And they say, ‘You won't be seeing your child again.’”
The Tahirih Justice Centre is a nonprofit organisation helping immigrant women and children.
Chandler said in some cases agents simply tell the parents that they are taking their children away.
“And when the parent asks, ‘When will we get them back?’ they say, ‘We can't tell you that,’” she said.
Chandler said the officers also tell the parents that they are going to 'prosecuted' or that they aren't “welcome in this country”.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a “zero tolerance” policy in May where all those apprehended entering the US illegally, including those seeking asylum, would be criminally charged, which invariably leads to children being separated from their parents.
The "zero tolerance" policy has been blasted by First Lady Melania Trump who said she "hates to see children separated from their families".
While Chandler’s claims have not been verified, images have emerged from inside the largest Border Patrol processing station in the US, which is located in McAllen, Texas.
The US Border Patrol allowed reporters to visit the facility on Sunday.
Who's that girl?
Behind the shocking statistic that nearly 2,000 children have been separated from their parents since mid April under the hardline policy there’s tale of how that has impacted people.
The image of a two-year-old Honduran asylum seeker crying as her mum is searched and detained near the US-Mexico border brings the statistic to life.
John Moore, who took the photograph, told CNN he'd managed to talk to the mother, and that she'd said she'd been travelling for over a month to arrive at the US border:
He said: “She was told to set the child down, while she was searched. The little girl immediately started crying.
“While it's not uncommon for toddlers to feel separation anxiety, this would have been stressful for any child. I took only a few photographs and was almost overcome with emotion myself.
“Then very quickly, they were in the van, and I stopped to take a few deep breaths.
He added: “I would like to say it was a pleasure to take these important photos, but the truth is that it was painful for me, as a journalist and as a father...
The changes happening at the border now have 100 per cent to do with politics. The law is still the same.”
Donald Trump has blamed the harsh new policy on the Democrats.
Hundreds of children are kept in large metal cages inside the old warehouse.
One cage had 20 children inside. Scattered about are bottles of water and bags of chips.
Children were seen lying on dark green mats with large foil sheets intended to serve as blankets.
More than 1,100 people were being kept inside the facility that is separated into different wings for unaccompanied children, lone adults and mothers and fathers with children.
US officials appear to be using the reason that the parents have entered the US illegally therefore they have broken the law, meaning they are viewed as criminals, allowing the authorities to keep hold of the children.
According to the Border Patrol, close to 200 people inside the facility were minors unaccompanied by a parent.
Another 500 were 'family units,' parents and children. Many adults who crossed the border without legal permission could be charged with illegal entry and placed in jail, away from their children.
Kirstjen Nielsen, the Secretary of Homeland Security, said in a tweet: “As I have said many times before, if you are seeking asylum for your family, there is no reason to break the law and illegally cross between ports of entry.”
She added: “We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period.”
Democratic Sen Jeff Merkley of Oregon, who was denied entry earlier this month to children's shelter, said: “Those kids inside who have been separated from their parents are already being traumatised.
“It doesn't matter whether the floor is swept and the bedsheets tucked in tight.”
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