Separated Children

Eve Meltzer-Krief MD, FAAP

Eve Meltzer-Krief MD, FAAP

(Dr. Eve Meltzer-Krief MD, FAAP is a pediatrician in Huntington and member of the NYS AAP Chapter 2 Legislative Committee and Suffolk Pediatric Society.  She is the founder of the organization called Long Island Inclusive Communities Against Hate.)

It was so incredibly heartening to see so many people come out for our third protest in 6 weeks on Long Island, of what continues to be a humanitarian crisis of this administration’s own creation.

Hundreds of children still remain separated from their parents, many of whom have already been deported. Many of those deported parents were unaware they would never see their children again when agreeing to deportation. Some of these parents were forced to choose between never seeing their children again or bringing them back to a country where their lives would be in danger.

Some of the families that have been reunited are being held in detention centers in conditions which are inappropriate for children. We know that even short periods of time in detention can have harmful long term consequences for the physical and emotional health of these already traumatized children. The reunited families should not be held in detention. They need legal counsel to make their plea for asylum. In the past, immigrants who are set free all return for their hearings and do not need to be detained.

The children who remain separated as well as those reunited need trauma counseling. There needs to be medical oversight of their physical and mental health as we have heard of many instances of abusive and negligent care in the facilities where children have been detained. There needs to be congressional oversight of the reunification process to ensure transparency.Our country needs to remain a beacon of hope and we once again need to welcome those fleeing for their lives from gang violence and domestic abuse.

Everything about this country’s immigration policies are morally reprehensible at this point in time and based in xenophobia. From the separation of these poor children, to TPS holders being forced to return to their home country without their US born children after having lived here for decades, to the threats to our DACA community with their lives in the balance, to the criminalization of undocumented individuals, and to the closed door refugee policy where during the worst world refugee crisis since WW2, this country has seen fit to take in the fewest number of refugees in decades.

We have much to fight for. I would disagree with the judge that said the “government should be proud” of reunifying 1500 of these children. They should be ashamed that they could conceive of the cruel and heartless policy that led to this disaster in the first place. Furthermore there must be accountability from this administration. They are responsible for reunifying children with the parents they deported. Not NGOs like the ACLU. We will continue to fight for immigrant justice as long as it takes.