The Truth about Separating Kids: just the facts, ma'am

A fact-based explanation well worth the read by Rich Lowry @ National Review.

Why try to hold adults at all? First of all, if an asylum-seeker is detained, it means that the claim goes through the process much more quickly, a couple of months or less rather than years. Second, if an adult is released while the claim is pending, the chances of ever finding that person again once he or she is in the country are dicey, to say the least. It is tantamount to allowing the migrant to live here, no matter what the merits of the case.

.... The option that both honors our laws and keeps family units together is a swift return home after prosecution. But immigrant advocates hate it because they want the migrants to stay in the United States. How you view this question will depend a lot on how you view the motivation of the migrants (and how seriously you take our laws and our border).

So true, so true.

Notes:

1st offense misdemeanor: Separation of less than one day while the violation is being processed. "The migrants generally plead guilty, and they are then sentenced to time served, typically all in the same day, although practices vary along the border. After this, they are returned to the custody of ICE."

2nd offense: felony. Criminal proceedings apply.

Appeals for asylum:  "In that scenario, the adults are almost certainly going to be detained longer than the government is allowed to hold their children." "Flores Consent Decree from 1997...  unaccompanied children can be held only 20 days. A ruling by the Ninth Circuit extended this 20-day limit to children who come as part of family units. So even if we want to hold a family unit together, we are forbidden from doing so."

Why hold adults at all? "... if an asylum-seeker is detained... the claim goes through the process much more quickly, a couple of months or less rather than years. Second, if an adult is released while the claim is pending, the chances of ever finding that person again... are dicey, to say the least. It is tantamount to allowing the migrant to live here, no matter what the merits of the case.

Lowry ends by saying, "Congress can fix this". See my post on Chuck Schumer -- not interested in a fix by Congress.