Infants not yet a year old are in West Michigan after being separated from their parents at the U.S. southern border, reports Tresa Baldas of the Detroit Free Press.
Two boys, ages 8 and 11 months, arrived in Grand Rapids in recent days and were turned over to foster care provided by Bethany Refugee and Immigrant Services, now coordinating care for about 50 such children.
In a separate Free Press column, Nancy Kaffer suggests some or most of the foreign youngster smay remain split indefinitely from their mothers and fathers:
Some parents have already been deported without the children they were separated from. And the difficulty child care agencies have experienced locating the parents of kids in their custody suggests that some of those children may not see their parents again.
That is the unconscionable reality of Trump's immigration enforcement. . . .
Parents detained on the border report difficulty locating or contacting the children from whom they have been separated, and caregivers for children currently housed in Michigan say they are unable to locate parents whose voices, even at a long distance, could ease their children's trauma. . . .
If the parent is deported, the challenge becomes significantly greater.
"Depending on the facts of the case, reunifying the child with the parent abroad might not be what happens," said Susan Reed, managing attorney of the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, which represents undocumented children in immigration court.
The Grand Rapids nonprofit, working with local churches and community agencies, seeks additional volunteers in response to "an urgent need for foster parents willing to open their hearts and homes to refugee and immigrant youth," it posts Tuesday on Facebook.
Baldas writes:
"These kids are arriving between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Not only are they being separated from their family, they are being transported to a place that they don't know in the middle of the night," said Hannah Mills, program supervisor for the transitional foster care program at Bethany Christian Services, which is currently assisting the displaced children. "We have found on many occasions that no one has explained to these children where they are going."
According to Mills, some of these displaced children got picked up right at the airport by a foster family, while others wound up at a foster care center, begging to talk to their parents. Many have gone 30 days or more without talking to their parents because their parents can't be located, she said.
Michigan was also the destination of a 5-year-old Honduran boy, whose journey through the system was detailed by The New York Times earlier this month. Bethany Christian Services was also the organization handling his care and placement here.
Outreach by the Grand Rapids agency.
The arrivals come as President Trump is said to be about to sign an executive order reversing his administration's earlier policy of separating parents from children at the border as they cross to seek asylum.
Bethany, the Grand Rapids foster care agency, criticizes the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" deterrent policy to criminally charge anyone entering the U.S. without documentation. It posts:
This policy means that children are taken away from their parents, classified as unaccompanied minors, and turned over to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Bethany’s mission is to protect and enhance the lives of children and families around the world – keeping families together and bringing families together – because children are best cared for and protected in families. Since it became official U.S. policy to routinely separate children from their parents, hundreds of children have been ripped from their families. . . . No one benefits from creating more orphans."
Dona Abbott, director of Bethany's refugee and immigrant program, tellsold The Washington Post: "Children should not be used as a deterrent."
The social service nonprofit accepts donations here.
