Among all the disturbing problems created by the Trump administration’s policy of separating thousands of immigrant children from their parents, it should come as no surprise that no policies appear in place to address the needs of detained LGBT immigrant children.
U.S. Rep. David Cicilline from Rhode Island traveled to Texas earlier this week with a group of Congressmen and Senators to see first-hand exactly what was going on. There, Cicilline asked about the LGBT children who statistically were likely to be among the detained. Kids who may well be shuttled off to foster care where it would also be extremely important to understand how to care for LGBT children.
According to a June 20 Washington Blade report:
Cicilline told the Washington Blade he asked Southwest Key Programs CEO Juan Sánchez if such a policy exists when he visited Casa Padre, a facility in Brownsville, Texas, in which nearly 1,500 boys are currently living.
Southwest Key, which is based in Austin, Texas, operates the facility that was once a Walmart supercenter. Cicilline told the Blade that Sánchez “indicated there were no policies in place that address the needs of LGBT youth.”
“That’s all he said,” said Cicilline. “They did say they attempt to address issues raised by the kids.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement oversees Casa Padre and other detention facilities in which immigrant children who have been separated from their parents are being held. The agency did not respond to the Blade’s request for comment about whether it has LGBT-specific policies in place.
An Immigration Equality spokesperson on Tuesday said their organization is “not aware of any policies” that specifically address “how to treat or help LGBTQ youth or minors living with HIV.”
Statistics from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security indicate 2,342 immigrant children since early May have been separated from their parents under the White House’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy. The Associated Press on Tuesday reported the Trump administration has opened at least three “tender age” shelters in South Texas to house babies and young immigrant children who have been separated from their parents.
Cicilline on Sunday traveled to South Texas with U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and U.S. Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Filemon Vela (D-Texas), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Vicente González (D-Texas) and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas). The lawmakers visited the McAllen Border Patrol Processing Center, the McAllen Border Patrol Station, the Hidalgo Port of Entry and the Port Isabel Detention Center.
Cicilline told the Blade he and his fellow lawmakers met with 10 women who were being held at the Port Isabel Detention Center, which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operates. Cicilline said a woman said her son was taken from her when she asked for asylum at a U.S. port of entry.
Cicilline on Twitter said he saw dozens of “kids by themselves in cages” inside the McAllen Border Patrol Processing Center.
On June 20, Trump, facing overwhelming moral outrage, announced he would sign an executive order stopping the separation of immigrant children from their parents, however there has been no indication of what he plans to do with the thousands currently detained let alone any policy addressing the needs of LGBT youth along with so many other important factors in their care.
