Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported some parents between July 2017 and July 2018 without giving them the opportunity to bring their children, contradicting claims made by the agency and the Department of Homeland Security, according to a newly released watchdog report.
During the Trump administration, officials claimed that some parents who had been separated from their children at the US-Mexico border opted to leave their children in the United States. But the Department of Homeland Security inspector general report released Monday found that ICE removed at least 348 parents without documenting that those parents wanted to leave their children in the US. “In fact, ICE removed some parents without their children despite having evidence the parents wanted to bring their children back to their home country. In addition, we found that some ICE records purportedly documenting migrant parents’ decisions to leave their children in the United States were significantly flawed,” the report says.
The DHS inspector general findings contradict what senior officials said at the time. For example, in December 2018, then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told lawmakers: “Every parent had the choice to bring the child back with them when they were removed. The ones who did not bring the children with them made the choice not to have the child accompany them.” Immigrant advocates and attorneys have said that some parents weren’t given the opportunity to reunify with their children before removal, prompting the inspector general’s review. Before July 12, 2018, prior to the Trump administration distributing a form to memorialize decisions, migrant parents “did not consistently have the opportunity to reunify with their children before removal,” the report found.
READ MORE UNBIASED NEWS AT FBANEWS.ORG
ARTICLE: PAUL MURDOCH
POLITICS EDITOR: CARSON CHOATE
PHOTO CREDITS: THE NEW YORK TIMES
