April 6, 2018: ZERO TOLERANCE IMMIGRATIO

Friday, April 6, 2018:
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the “zero tolerance policy” which prohibits both attempted illegal entry and illegal entry into the United States.
This meant that when individuals/families are stopped by Border Patrol, they are taken into Department of Homeland Security custody.
Illegal entry is considered a misdemeanor for first time offenders. After conviction of an illegal entry, it allows the government to deport the individual/family.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order that
allows the Department of Homeland Security to deport
individuals with misdemeanors more easily than before.
The government no longer has to prioritize the deportation of dangerous criminals, gang members or national-security threats.
Individuals and families then have one of two paths they can go down. One path leads to deportation. The other path does not because individuals who are charged with the misdemeanor and are being processed for deportation, may seek asylum or another protection.
During the detention period, children are placed in the custody of Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). They spend about 51 days in one of their shelters before being placed with a sponsor. They are required to place children with family members if possible, even if the family member might be undocumented. When there are no relatives, they are kept in shelters for longer periods of time until they find a sponsor.

Psychological Impact

Mental health professionals believe that the children and families in these detention centers are at an increased risk for mental health illness like post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, among others. Colleen Kraft, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, says that children are forced to sleep on cement floors with open toilets, have constant light exposure, insufficient food and water, no bathing facilities, and extremely cold temperatures, which can be extremely traumatizing to them.
While at these detention centers, these children also face the sexual abuse/harassment. Two workers at Arizona migrant children shelters were arrested for sexually assaulting teenagers. Both female and male teenagers were assaulted. Their arrest came days after federal prosecutors gave the public information on another man, whom is HIV positive, and assaulted children at a different shelter.