On what Planet are Policies like these possible ...

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Words fail me.

But I will try to find them, anyways ...

US lost track of 1,500 immigrant children, but says it's not 'legally responsible'

[...]

CNN reported earlier this month that, in his testimony, [Steven] Wagner said during the last three months of 2017, the ORR [the Office of Refugee Resettlement] lost track of nearly 1,500 immigrant children it had placed in the homes of sponsors.

  

Wagner's statement has attracted more attention amid reports that immigrant children are being separated from their parents at the US border.

  

Wagner [a  top official with the Department of Health and Human Services] said the Department of Homeland Security referred more than 40,000 immigrant children to the ORR during the 2017 fiscal year.

  

[...]   [Emphasis added]

[...]

As of March 2018, we are operating one temporary influx facility at a Department of Labor site. ORR now has its largest permanent shelter capacity at over 9,800 beds, and we continue to maintain the majority of our shelter capacity along the southern border.  

  

[...]

In FY 2017, 94 percent of ORR’s referred children came from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.  So far in FY 2018, the number of children referred from those countries is 93 percent.  Teenagers made up 83 percent of referrals in FY 2017 and 87 percent in FY 2018. Children from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico who migrate to the U.S. are particularly vulnerable to being exploited by human traffickers en route and at their destination.

  

In FY 2017, children typically stayed in ORR custody for 51 days and so far in FY 2018 (through March) average length of stay has been 56 days. ORR releases the majority of UAC [unaccompanied alien children] to sponsors. In FY 2017, ORR released 93 percent of children to a sponsor.  Of those, ORR released 49 percent to parents, 41 percent to close relatives, and 10 percent to other-than-close relatives or non-relatives.  

   

[...] 

From October to December 2017, ORR attempted to reach 7,635 UAC and their sponsors.  Of this number, ORR reached and received agreement to participate in the safety and well-being call from approximately 86 percent of sponsors. From these calls, ORR learned that 6,075 UAC remained with their sponsors.  Twenty-eight UAC had run away, five had been removed from the United States, and 52 had relocated to live with a non-sponsor.  ORR was unable to determine with certainty the whereabouts of 1,475 UAC.  Based on the calls, ORR referred 792 cases, which were in need of further assistance, to the National Call Center for additional information and services.

   

I understand that it has been HHS’s long-standing interpretation of the law that ORR is not legally responsible for childrenafter they are released from ORR care. However, considering the importance of the post-release period, we are taking a fresh look at that question as a matter of both legal interpretation and appropriate policy. Specifically, we are exploring the question of ORR’s responsibilities in relation to children who are released to sponsors, and whether the level of responsibility would differ depending on the child’s relationship to his or her sponsor.

  

Based on what we have learned so far, if ORR were to remain legally obligated for the welfare of UAC after their release to a sponsor, or took on additional protective measures even if not legally obligated, those procedures would require a significant expansion of the current program structure and an increase in resources, and possibly additional legal authorities to further clarify ORR’s role.

  

[Text-collated, Emphasis added]

If I am interpreting Mr Wagner’s Senate Testimony correctly — the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR)  is only supposed to be placing unaccompanied child refugees with a verified sponsor. They are NOT authorized to tear an accompanied child refugee from their parent, as some sort of sick sadist punishment for seeking asylum.

Apparently however their “notlegally obligated for the welfare of the child” Policy, may vary…

At a Senate hearing earlier this month, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said similar separationshappen in the US "every day."

  

Nielsen said the policy will refer everyone caught crossing the border illegally for prosecution, even if they are claiming they deserve asylum or have small children. Any parents who are prosecutedas a result will be separated from their children in the process.

    

[CNN Link above, Emphasis added]

That’s some “process”…  as in “processing sheep”, as in no more “catch and release” the fish.

As in, viewing desperate human beings as “animals”— as mere “bargaining chips” to placate a your political base …

Refugees —are not animals.  Border-crossing individuals —are not animals.

These are well-meaning People.  These are Families looking for the American Dream.

These could be your own ancestors, seeking the opportunity and promise of America …

They deserve dignity in how they are treated and “processed”.  And above all they deserve “accountability” under American Laws. 

What American Law authorizes a helpless child, to be torn from the arms of their asylum-seeking mother, and cast to the untraceable winds of “whatever”… ?

IF American Officials are rendering families asunder —

THEN American Officials ARE responsible for whatever happens to those cast-away children,

— basic morality and human decency demands it. 

On what planet are deeds like these possible … probable … acceptable … soon to be the norm?

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