Sunday, September 2, 2018

Reports of sexual abuse of children held in the US increase pressure to expedite reunification





Allegations that three minors were victims of sexual abuse while in the custody of the US government have increased pressure to expedite the reunification of immigrant families who were separated on the southern border.
The Salvadoran government said the victims, aged 12 to 17, were sexually abused in Arizona detention centers, and asked the United States to give priority to their return.
"They should leave the hostels as soon as possible because that is where they are most vulnerable," the vice minister for Salvadorans abroad Liduvina Magarín, in San Salvador, said on Thursday.
The United States government faces strong criticism for its slowness in bringing together more than 2,600 children with their parents. Most were reunited with their families, but hundreds remain separated, more than a month after the deadline imposed by a judge expired.
Before Trump's government suspended the separation of immigrant families, many parents were repatriated, while their children were detained in the United States.
Lawyers for the US government and immigrant families on Friday discussed how to expedite the process during a hearing in San Diego, before federal judge Dana Sabraw, who had set the deadline.
Magarín gave few details about the three cases, although he said that it was "sexual violations, sexual abuse." The official said that her government will provide lawyers and psychologists to help families and said that "the psychological and emotional impact is forever."
"It can not be that these children are fleeing violence and find the worst violence in the United States for a minor," said César Ríos, executive director of the Salvadoran Migrant Institute.
In its attempt to reunite the separated families, the Trump government asked the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to use its "considerable resources" to find the parents in their countries of origin, mainly Guatemala. , El Salvador and Honduras.
The governments of those countries and non-profit organizations have tried to locate families. Those actions have included public notices and phone numbers on billboards with the expectation that an affected parent will see the ad and call.
"Every day these children are separated and staying in government facilities causes them more harm," said Lee Gelernt, an ACLU attorney who represents affected families. "Even if these facilities were palaces, separating children from their parents can cause permanent trauma."
Gelernt told the judge that about 200 cases could be resolved in the next week or couple of weeks.
The cases include families who wish to meet in their countries of origin and those who wish to renounce their right to meet again in order to keep their child in the United States to apply for asylum.
The judge said that the government can expedite cases in which families have expressed their desire for the child to be returned, and not worry about whether this infringes the temporary suspension of deportations of families seeking asylum.
Attorney Scott Stewart of the Department of Justice said the government wants the removal of any obstacle.
More than 300 parents who have been deported expect their children to be sent to their countries of origin.

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