Separate the families and then deport the children in a different proceeding from their parents. Damn, that’s cold.
The document was circulated between high level officials at DHS and the Justice Department, at least one of whom was instrumental in writing the first iteration of the administration’s travel ban.
The plan, and the comments written in the margins, provide a window into the policy discussion thinking at the time, how far officials were willing to go to deter families seeking asylum and what they may still be considering.
In one comment, the Justice Department official suggests that Customs and Border Protection could see that children who have been separated from their parents would be denied an asylum hearing before an immigration judge, which is typically awarded to children who arrive at the border alone.
Instead, the entire family would be given an order of “expedited removal” and then separated, placing the child in the care of HHS in U.S. Marshall’s custody while both await deportation.
“If CBP issues an ER [expedited removal] for the entire family unit, places the parents in the custody of the U.S. Marshal, and then places the minors with HHS, it would seem that DHS could work with HHS to actually repatriate [deport] the minors then,” the official wrote.
“It would take coordination with the home countries, of course, but that doesn’t seem like too much of a cost to pay compared to the status quo.”
It is unclear from the official’s comment whether the government planned on reunifying children with their parents before they were deported.
Didn’t we learn anything from the 