Removing children from “sponsor” homes would harm them

[Sherrerd]

@Steve_MB

Ideally not so much analogous as precisely equivalent (i.e. the same absolute size, rather than the same relative size, of cage).

Yeah; it should happen, but won’t. Not in this life, anyway.

[Tee]

I have a virus, and I’m just sitting around the house, by myself, in a really foul disposition. So it was a good opportunity to watch the watch the migrant family separation policy hearings on C-span, and see what our government is getting up to these days. I’m glad I did.

FTR it was live broadcast of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, chaired by Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) and focused on the government response to the order to account for the children and reunite them with their families. It was not focused on the institution of the separation policy. But pols being pols, there were a lot of questions about that too, and answers (and non-answers) given by various officials.

The transcript service at c-span.org leaves a lot to be desired. I had it up on my laptop to review remarks. There are whole sentences missing, wrong words, word fragments…it’s just not good. But anyway, I was impressed with the subcommittee, particularly the effort and determination to get solid answers to pertinent questions, in a way that looks a lot like trying to nail jello to a tree.

Kathryn Larin is, I believe, the Acting Director of the GAO, and also someone all out of fucks to give about bureaucratic niceties, because she gave pointed clues as to where and how this policy began. The answer: BCP (Border Control), El Paso sector, after the DOJ memo by the US Attorney General in April 2017. Which was a full year prior to the April 2018 memo recommending zero tolerance, and which contains this language:

Regarding misdemeanor violations of 8 U.S.C. § 1325, I ask that each U.S. Attorney’s Office on the Southwest Border (i.e., District of Arizona, District of New Mexico, Southern District of California, Southern District of Texas, and Western District of Texas) work with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and any other appropriate agency to develop a set of guidelines for prosecuting such violations. These guidelines should aim to accomplish the goal of deterring first-time improper entrants. (my bold)

A year later, the AG issued another memo:

On April 11, 2017, I issued a memorandum to all federal prosecutors entitled “Renewed Commitment to Criminal Immigration Enforcement,” in which I directed the prioritization of the prosecution of certain criminal immigration offenses. I further directed each United States Attorney’s Office along the Southwest Border to work with the Department of Homeland Security to develop guidelines for prosecuting offenses under 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a).

Those seeking to further an illegal goal constantly alter their tactics to take advantage of weak points. That means we must effectively respond with smart changes also. The recent increase in aliens illegally crossing our Southwest Border requires an updated approach. Past prosecution initiatives in certain districts-such as Operation Streamline-led to a decrease in illegal activities in those districts. We must continue to execute effective policies to meet new challenges.

Accordingly, I direct each United States Attorney’s Office along the Southwest Border to the extent practicable, and in consultation with DHS to adopt immediately a zero-tolerance policy for all offenses referred for prosecution under section 1325(a). This zero-tolerance policy shall supersede any existing policies. If adopting such a policy requires additional resources, each office shall identify and request such additional resources.

And here is the 8. U.S.C. § 1325(a) law:

**(a) Improper time or place; avoidance of examination or inspection; misrepresentation and concealment of facts **
Any alien who (1) enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers, or (2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers, or (3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact, shall, for the first commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both, and, for a subsequent commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18, or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.

The memoranda were issued to all federal prosecutors along the border with Mexico.

The district served by El Paso is the Western District of Texas.

The US Attorney for the Western District of Texas is John F. Bash. He was appointed by President in December of 2017. Prior to that, Wikipedia says he was “special assistant and associate counsel to U.S. President Donald Trump.”

John F. Bash is married to Zina Bash. The two met when both were law clerks for Brett Kavanagh.

Isn’t that interesting?

And in reviewing the transcript (2:39:34) of Larin’s response to Rep. John Sarbanes, the words “El Paso” and “sector” have been left out, leaving only “Border Patrol.” Huh.

So there’s an added dimension to this fuckery, which I thought I would share because I haven’t seen it anywhere else.

[MandaJo]

@Eva_Luna

Agreed on that too, and if one had a few spare bucks and wanted to do something useful, one could do worse than donate to the SPLC, ACLU, and other nonprofits that are fighting this bullshit. We set up a monthly auto-donation to the ACLU in January 2017, as soon as it became apparent how bad shit was going to get.

I just want to say how meaningful this is coming from someone who works in immigration. Almost always, when there is a news story about something appalling, people within the industry tend to say things like “there’s a lot of nuance that’s being lost” or “this is actually the industry standard” or whatever. When someone closer to the industry says “this shit is beyond fucked up”, you know it really is.

[Eva_Luna]

@MandaJo

I just want to say how meaningful this is coming from someone who works in immigration. Almost always, when there is a news story about something appalling, people within the industry tend to say things like “there’s a lot of nuance that’s being lost” or “this is actually the industry standard” or whatever. When someone closer to the industry says “this shit is beyond fucked up”, you know it really is.

Yeah, I think I have to agree with my former Congresswoman, Jan Schakowsky, who just said “What’s been happening is more than irresponsible and sloppy. I think what we’re really talking about is state sponsored child abuse, and I would go as far as to say kidnapping.”

[TokyoBayer]

And about 40% of America is going to look and say it’s the fault of **those **people. There’s a lot of ugliness in America.

[Sherrerd]

@Tee

… The US Attorney for the Western District of Texas is John F. Bash. He was appointed by President in December of 2017. Prior to that, Wikipedia says he was “special assistant and associate counsel to U.S. President Donald Trump.”

John F. Bash is married to Zina Bash. The two met when both were law clerks for Brett Kavanagh.

Isn’t that interesting?

And in reviewing the transcript (2:39:34) of Larin’s response to Rep. John Sarbanes, **the words “El Paso” and “sector” have been left out, leaving only “Border Patrol.” ** Huh.

So there’s an added dimension to this fuckery, which I thought I would share because I haven’t seen it anywhere else.

Me, either. Thank you for this. (emphasis mine.)

Doesn’t look like an accident that those words were left out. Fuckery indeed.

[JKellyMap]

@Eva_Luna

Read the SPLC lawsuit, folks.

Thanks for that (and for all you do). After a quick scan, the money quote for me so far: “63. ORR’s family reunification process is riddled with due process violations.”