in my book, this is a crime against humanity.

nt

but they are just holding their hands behind their backs.

but yes, it is disgusting overall.

Well......sorta...sometimes...if you qualify...

and yes that was my thought looking at the pictures

Upon seeing the first photo, my first thought was "it looks like something for stray animals, except for the cages."

The second pic showed us the cages. Those poor children are expected to sleep next to porta-potties?! I can't stand being near those things in open outside air!

As Isaac Asimov said in the Robots of Dawn series, (paraphrasing) the first thing to do is to redefine human. We're seeing it here.

... on a factory farm, but ,yes, those children are caged like animals.

We must be able to do better than this.

by ...a well known DU member ...of whom I will never respect ever again.

But nobody has mentioned it. In all 50 states we have numerous foster parents that can be called upon to take these children. They have already be background checked and fingerprinted. That is the solution right there. Done!

solution to this problem? Are there other facilities that could be used instead. As bad as these conditions may seem, they are safer in these centers than they would be wandering in the desert or sleeping rough on city streets. I cannot imagine what the situation that they are escaping must be like if they are willing to take such a risk at such a young age in order to survive.

Or are they being sent by someone? Parents ???!!!! say it ain't so !

If they are crossing of their own volition, perhaps parents are absent for one reason or another. If the parents are sending them at that age, conditions at home must be very bad. I don't know what the long term solution to this problem would be.

That's hilarious.
Corrupt governments? You mean like in countries where our policies wrought havoc for decades? No, those governments won't be forced to clean up, because our corrupt government supports them.

I have a fair amount of knowledge on this, so I'll just ignore the other poster.
But thanks for the link.

have deteriorated so horribly that families feel the only way to save them is to put them on top of trains heading north, trusting their fate to people they paid to get them across the border with little thought of how they'd get to parents or even distant relatives.

Wandering in the desert, sleeping rough, being picked up by pimps, all seemed better than what they were facing at home.

and the ones removed from homes for abuse and neglect. Would sure cut down the budget, and hey, they're safe! Better than where they came from!



Seriously. Yes, this country can do better then jail children in such horrid conditions, no matter the reason. You can't think up any solutions so there aren't any?

I am not aware of any facilities available that are prepared to handle this many children on short notice. Obviously, the centers are not the best solution, but they are better than living on the streets.

All they need are orange jumpsuits

for whatever reason this is occurring we seem to be "for it". I am a social worker going on 5 years. I have many families that are undocumented. I look at the current issues regarding minimum wages and certain service industries and occupations and will say this. With such an influx of families coming into the US, we can kiss any substantial minimum wage increase goodbye. This entire thing benefits Wall Street.

By undocumented, do you mean people who are crossing our borders without legal papers?

That's what no one is asking, or explaining.

Except for the second to last one, which looks like a kennel.

Apparently the word is out in their countries that the US is going to implement immigration reforms so parents are sending their kids while the sending is good. If some have families here that's good, but hopefully the others wouldn't be stranded on our streets starving or turning to prostitution and petty crime if they have no place in America to go. Still, these are mere children and to me prison-like facilities are a bit harsh for the richest country on Earth. Technically, they are not refugees until they've been adjudicated as such by the immigration authorities based on proof of a well-founded fear of persecution. Mere economic struggle doesn't qualify as a valid reason to come here. Every country has a right to control its borders including theirs and our own. Otherwise, there would be literally millions coming over. They need to implement strict birth control in their countries of origin including abortion and their parents who can't support these children have no small responsibility to share here. It's utter cruelty to bring children into the world when there is no hope. Their countries need to clean up their act, providing jobs, opportunities, and education for young people and stop gang violence, if it requires a revolution to dethrone the tyrants. And the U.S., in its own self-interest, needs to help these countries solve their economic problems and also force off-shoring corporations who set up shop in third world countries to pay back their fair share without exploiting the locals.

Of course as a socialistic leaning individual, I hope for a day without borders, flags, or immigration laws. I guess that to me means a one world government where we can not only accept any and all refugees in our own back yard but also directly force people in these other regions to act in a humanitarian manner vis-a-vis providing health care, education, and economic opportunity so that children don't have to engage in this kind of risky behavior.

we didn't invite them here. Most of them have paid smugglers to get them at least part of the way here. The smugglers are telling them the U.S. will not deport them if they are with their children.

Obama administration announced today that the current policy of not immediately deporting and allowing them to unite with family, if they have any, and have their immigration or asylum matters heard from there is coming to a close.

We definitely need to do more to get at the root cause of this mass migration of people and address it. I know we continue to provide arms to many central american governments and I fear that is only increasing the violence there.

But we cannot take on all of these mothers and children with the facilities and resources we have.

and we have money for a lot of things -- this is a HUGE economy -- we just let the money pass right into the hands of the already wealthy.

Good ideas, but how do we get that through Congress?

It takes 60 votes to get anything through the Senate. Even if Dems win all toss ups, the Senate would still be deadlocked. Also, anything would have to get passed the House where there is an overwhelming GOP majority that doesn't look like it will dissipate.

Turnout is always low in mid terms which benefits Republicans. Throw in the gerrymandered districts drawn up after the 2010 census and....

We be fucked.

Do you think telling the American people that you want to tax the rich for the purpose of allowing hundreds of thousands of immigrant children to stay here is a winning election issue?

"VOTE FOR ME, I WANT ALL THOSE ILLEGAL CHILDREN CROSSING THE BORDER, WITHOUT THERE PARENTS, TO BE ABLE TO STAY HERE. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE CAN SUPPORT THEM ALL, AND I WILL TAX THE RICH TO PAY FOR IT!"

it's bad policy and robbing the middle class.

and part of the problem has always been our own trade policies, migrant labor policies, etc
time to pull up our big boy pants and fix those issues.

there was a government plan to house them on the disused campus of a now-closed college in rural VA, and when word leaked out, the locals went ballistic, screaming and yelling about how they didn't want "illegal aliens" in their town. They're KIDS, for God's sake!

Sometimes I am ashamed to call myself a human being. *smdh*

just now. All he could do was blast Obama over this issue, accusing him of the nebulous activity of encouraging Central Americans to come here illegally and of accusing Joe Biden of promising economic aid to Latin America when Americans need that money more.

The host of the show asked him twice what he would do in this case. Would he send them back? Would he let them stay? Crickets, double-talk, and more crickets. He would not go on the record as proposing any solution. Abbott's campaign ads have been heavily soliciting Hispanic support. He isn't going to suggest they go back home for that. Nor is he going to suggest that they remain here, because the Tea Party would jump down his throat. So all he can do is look blankly into the camera or give us some blah,blah, blah about Obama doing some unidentified activity that encouraged these kids to come here in the first place.

In some of the warehouses while in the military that they are using and thye are fine. The photos show a clean safe facility. And for safety the kids have to be segregated into groups... im sure people would complain about the violence and sexual asssults that would occur if the children were in one big group.

the homeless people in America to me...Sleeping under bridges,skid row,etc..

Both the treatment of these children and the numbers.

Thanks for the thread, xchrom.

than our own homeless children? I wish there were a better solution for immigrants and for our homeless but at this moment there isn't and I'd imagine that some of our homeless families wish the facilities they stay at are as safe as that detention center.

pathetic

What other flag should they see? I'm guessing they hope to become American citizens eventually.

Look at that! Those blankets are filthy, and there's only a tiny mat between those kids and a concrete floor, with no pillow at all. They're in barbed wire holding pens! There are fucking portapotties instead of actual toilets. Who knows where they get to wash their hands or shower, but it looks like a safe bet that they don't get to do either very often. That's a disease outbreak waiting to happen.

And while these kids are being held are they being educated? Or well fed? Or cared for by an adult who appears to give a shit?

If you kept dogs in conditions like that somebody'd call the cops. If you kept prisoners in conditions like that the feds would make you upgrade your facilities and release enough to address the overcrowding. Those kids need to be released to a family member if one can be found or placed on foster care if one can't, because everything about that facility is simply inhumane.

This is how they make money.
http://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/privateprisons


edit: run not rum

At least these kids are out of the elements and have food and water. It isn't ideal, but it is temporary until a better solution can be found.

Really, would any other country have a better solution? If thousands of kids walked into Canada, would they handle it any better?

His members have talked to these children and they say the kids have no intention of returning to court after being released to family members in the US. He also says they aren't talking about the violence in their country but about huge articles in the national papers saying the US is giving amnesty to any children who enter the country.