Zero Tolerance Policy - what it is and what is happening.

Dear Fans - I rarely get time to blog these days...2 children, 2 businesses, and a job...I'm tired.  BUT, I'm now really angry, upset, and it's high time I laid out all the facts that I have found....because this issue, and how it is being handled, disturbs me greatly.
Edit: A new executive order has been signed and I'll address that at the end of the post.

This issue, in various forms has been happening for years, though I have only been recently made aware of the severity of it.  If you believe that fighting for childrens' well being now, is somehow bad, because I wasn't fighting it before, you are welcome to stop reading here.  Know better, do better.

We know we need better immigration laws.  I am not arguing for open borders.  I'm not a liberal, Democrat, and or a Republican(not that it should matter).

Let's discuss the new "zero tolerance" policy and surrounding issues.

So here are the bullet points:

• It is not illegal to be an undocumented immigrant in the US. (source)
• It is illegal to cross the US-MEX border without being inspected, and crossing at proper locations. (source)
• In order to apply for asylum, you need to fill out a form, in person, at a specific location - US soil(not an embassy or consulate in foreign countries), or port of entry into the US.  Even if you entered the country illegally, you can apply for asylum.  (source)  You can apply for refugee status, which is quite similar, in foreign embassies.  (source)
• There is quite a bit of turmoil in Mexico, Honduras, Venezuela, El Salvador, and so on.
• If you cross the border illegally, you are generally charged with a misdemeanor, fined $50-250 and/or put in jail for up to 6 months.  (source)  It is considered a civil penalty - not a felony.
• A NEW policy, enacted by the Trump administration, called the "zero tolerance" policy, criminally prosecutes 100% of people crossing the border illegally - meaning, everyone gets jail time.  This is not a law.  It is a new policy.  It started April 11, 2018. (source)
• This new policy means that anyone crossing the border illegally get separated from their family, if they came with one.  There's plenty of stories floating around the internet, from nursing infants, to young children being ripped from their mother's arms.  I urge you to research and read these stories.  This family separation violates international law.  (source, source1)
• Families are being separated for quite some time, four instances here in 2017, and not only were these families legally seeking asylum, their kids were taken AND 2 of the children's whereabouts are unknown.  Three of the four families entered the US legally, as well.  (source)  Immigration reporter says they are indeed being separated - those who are here legally!  (source)
• When children are separated, they are sent to detention centers where the average time spent there is roughly 50 days.  They get two hours of free time, 4-5 children to a "room".  After this, they are sent to live with a sponsor or foster care.  (source)
• To be a sponsor, you have to be a legal citizen or permanent resident.  A video is flying around the interwebs saying that illegals are becoming sponsors - that is not true.  (source)
• A noteworthy article on parents being deported without their children (source).  
• Children separated from families is meant to be a deterrent, the children are placed in "foster care or whatever" and these parents aren't criminals - they simply didn't enter the US through the correct means.  They are often poorly educated, as well.  (source)
• There are plenty of instances where these children who were taken are not cared for properly.  (source)
• There are new tent cities started, where temperatures will be near 100 degrees F that will be housing children.(source)  Somehow, it is unsafe for me to leave my children in a locked car with windows down, but it is safe to put hundreds of children in tents in temperatures above 100 degrees.
• The American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation for immigrant children. (source)
• These separations could end up permanent, or extremely long term.  (source)
  
  Now before you say, "Well then don't break any laws."
  
  Have you ever broken a law?  Was your child immediately taken from you?  Have you ever driven 1 mile over the speed limit?  Not used a crosswalk?  Eaten food at a grocery store before you paid for it?  Used your blinker EVERY time?  Glanced at your phone while driving with your kids in the car?  What about walking near or on someone's lawn, even briefly, and was your child taken from you, because you trespassed?!  This illegal border crossing should revert to a civil penalty again, and allow families to stay together.
  
  A. these people are in desperate situations.  Some of them are poorly educated and may have heard whispers of America being the help they need.  Many may not be able to read their own language, let alone English.  A Honduran girl, who was detained, no one could help her, because she didn't even speak Spanish - she spoke her tribal language - K'iche. (source)  They are confused, traumatized, and exhausted.
  
  B. Some jails allow for babies to stay with the mother and these have good sucess. (source)
  
  C.  It is very expensive treating them separately.  Since the separation, no matter how short, will be extremely traumatic, there will be loads of extra medical care involved for the parents and the children.  Since the children will be in our detention center/foster care, and the parents in our jails, that's all extra money!  (source, source1)
  
  D.  Melania Trump and Barbara Bush are against this policy (source).
  
  E. Trump says he won't sign any immigration compromise bill unless it allows for funding for "the wall".  (source)
  
  F. Religious leaders, including Southern Baptist Convention and Franklin Graham, are against this cruel policy.  (source)
  
  G. While human trafficking is always a problem, it is not a reason to remove every child from every alleged parent.  Actual parents DO sell their children to sex traffickers, and there may abuse or risk of sex trafficking in any home in America - that is no reason to remove every child.  This new policy makes it worse and harder to catch them.  (source) Government officials have been caught in sex trafficking rings, so I personally cast doubt on our government to not exploit this situation...but I am not super trusting of the government, in general.  (source, source, source)
  
  Now, you say, "Well, American families are separated for crimes and jail all the time."  Well there are a few huge differences:
  1. If I go to jail, I get a hearing the next afternoon before the judge, who may or may not let me out on bond, and I will likely get to go home, depending on the severity of the crime.
  2. It's my language and my culture and my court system.
  3. My children would be sent to immediate friends or family(or inspected and certified foster home) - not a detention center, possibly hundreds of miles away.
  4. I would be given gobs of paperwork showing where they are staying, with whom, be privied to their court hearings, weigh in on their cases, speak with case workers, and work on my case plan for reunification.  Many "jailed" parents even get to meet the foster care parents, if it isn't a family member or friend.  
• So I could go on with more issues, but I feel as if I have given you more than enough to think about for the time being...
  
  My thoughts:
  I think that the border should be militarized - I do not agree with "the wall".  There's hazardous natural implications of a structure that big, let alone the immense amount of money to built it and upkeep with it.  Trump promised that Mexico would pay for it, then that we the people will pay for it.  There is currently nothing in the books for it, at all. This punitive measure of this zero tolerance policy is expensive and taxing the American people, as well as the severe harm to the immigrants.  We are essentially taking children from parents who are ultimately getting deported and putting them in our already burdened foster care.  Keep the family together. <<<please read that sentence again.  If there is ONE thing you take from this, KEEP THE FAMILY TOGETHER.  That is my ultimate goal!  This is the least traumatic for everyone.  If we end up deporting everyone, fine, I guess.  But this separation thing has to stop.  In roughly six weeks, 2000 - yes TWO THOUSAND children were removed from their parents.  There are a few other laws at play, instituted by previous presidents: Flores Settlement Agreement enacted by Clinton, which prevents us holding children more than 20 days, and the DACA from the Obama era.  Previous presidents weren't good about enforcing immigration laws at all, but Obama was the best about deporting.  Either way, there are new laws being presented to help keep the family together - releasing the major burden on the shelters, foster system, and the pain and trauma to those families.  One bill is brought to the table from Senator Cruz which will allow for extra judges and better family facilities to expedite the asylum process.  Another bill is brought to the table by Senator Feinstein to prevent children from being removed from their rightful parents.

          I believe what is lacking here, is a serious lack of empathy.  Everyone who thinks, "But they are breaking our laws!  Those nasty criminals!" has never been placed in a situation where you feel like death(or worse) is on the legal side, but a shot at life means breaking a law or two(one where no one is harmed) but you won't die! When you are in a traumatic situation, you do not think clearly, you probably haven't slept, and you may make decisions you wouldn't otherwise make, because you are desperate.  Most of you reading this, have probably eaten 2-3 proper meals every day, for your whole life....most of you have never had to flee any kind of persecution...have you ever run out of drinkable water?  been pressured to sell your children?  I honestly think the average American has no comprehension on the situations these families are coming out of and we are judging them. Harshly.  Many of my pro-life friends, who insist that a mother not have the choice to abort a baby when she doesn't want it, are also arguing we forcibly take babies from mothers who want their children....because they crossed a border, looking for help.  A worthy article from the NY Times for those who are pro-life and anti-immigrant children.

         To the Christian, or even Bible respecting person, there are a wealth of Bible verses talking about kindness to people.

Col 3:12 Therefore, God's chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,

Ps 145:9 The Lord is good to everyone; His compassion [rests] on all He has made.

Luke 6:35 "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men."

1 John 3:16-18 16 This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has this world's goods and sees his brother in need but shuts off his compassion from him-how can God's love reside in him? 18 Little children, we must not love in word or speech, but in deed and truth;Leviticus 19:33-34 (HCSB)
33 “When a foreigner lives with you in your land, you must not oppress him. 34 You must regard the foreigner who lives with you as the native-born among you. You are to love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.
Is 10:1-3 Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees,
and the writers who keep writing oppression,
2 to turn aside the needy from justice
and to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be their spoil,
and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
3 What will you do on the day of punishment,
in the ruin that will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
and where will you leave your wealth?

That is just the tip of the iceberg as far as the Bible telling you to be kind to your fellow man.  Please keep in mind, many churches have ministries for homeless people - many of them break the law in a variety of ways...they are criminals that we strive to help every day. Many churches have prison ministries - again, actual criminals that we help and are kind to.  My church has a foster care ministry - to help kids in bad situations - But Glenn Beck went to take teddy bears to these hurting children, and got slandered by the conservatives.  (source)

For these families, they may see breaking the law as a necessary evil to escape what may or may not be certain doom.  There are plenty of people who broke the law, to achieve what was the greater good - Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Corrie ten Boom, Harriet Tubman....names we all know as noble people, fighting "the good fight" - for love, for kindness, for humanity, for the Lord....and yet, this policy, this is apparently the height of all morality...the height at which we judge all people breaking it to be deserving of the upmost punishment-forced separation from your child.  I daresay, we as a people, have sunk to a depth, I fear, we have not charted.  

• Here's what you can do:
  Contact your representative.  Tell them to support the two bills and stop this family separating nonsense.
  
  Contact your senators and do the same!
  
  
  I have contacted my senators and my representative.  I heard back from Senator Bill Nelson this evening.  Here is an excerpt from his response: "Earlier today, I attempted to check on the welfare of an estimated 1,000 children being held at a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) facility in Homestead, Florida.  The facility operators assured me that I could tour the facility, but HHS denied me entry at the gate. " 
  He also is co-sponsoring the "keep the family together act".
  
  ~~~pray for this situation!!!!~~~
  
  Trump is now cutting foreign aid to these countries whose immigrants are coming here, which I can imagine will only drive more of them here.
  
  Send aid to the immigrants at the border.
  
  If I can any facts wrong or misrepresented here, please feel free to contact me to correct these errors.
  
  Thank you for your time.
  
  
  

  Matthew 7:12(ESV)

  The Golden Rule

  12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."
  

  
  Edit: a new executive order(EO) was signed Wednesday, June 20th. (source).  Trump said he didn't like seeing all the terrible pictures...well, that's nice, but his EO is nothing but a cheap dollar store bandage, on a gaping wound, requiring surgery.  
  
  1. It doesn't have any provisions for reunifying the over 2300 children now taken.  
  2. It does allow for families to be detained indefinitely.
  3. In section one of the EO, the term "available resources" jumps out to me - basically, if we don't have the "available resources", they won't change anything.  
  4.  It actually has this wording in the EO, which I find extremely unprofessional, "It is unfortunate that Congress’s failure to act and court orders have put the Administration in the position of separating alien families to effectively enforce the law."  So basically, STILL blaming Congress, which it is largely their fault, but in a very petty manner I find childish and self-seeking...it was completely unnecessary to the efficacy of the EO.  
  
  Should we be happy now?  We have this bandage...we should be grateful, yah?  Well, I am not.  It actually complicated the situation further and doesn't help the over 2300 children affected.  NYTimes did a great article laying out, objectively, hurdles the EO faces, as well as the border situation. (source)
  
  Now, everyone is saying, "No one is providing answers."  That's actually not true.  Former director of ICE actually has a great answer to the issue.  ACLU has some data on a program that had a 99% success rate on families showing up to hearings (source)
  
  In a radio interview, NPR interviews the former director of ICE.  He recommends a GPS bracelet program. (source)  Now, I have a very interesting perspective on this, as my husband has been the ONLY GPS coordinator of indigent domestic violence offenders in our county, for the last five years.  I was also a digital court reporter for nearly 3 years.  
  
  A GPS program is extremely practical.  It doesn't take that much training to be a GPS coordinator.  You need basic Microsoft Office skills, a court laptop, a cell phone, and a relatively quiet place to work.  My husband does  most of his job from home - even when I am here with the children.  He answers calls, emails appropriate attorneys, keeps case files current.  The only other person working directly with him in the program, physically puts the bracelets on and maintains them.  The two of them have as many as 100 or more people on the program at any given time.  If one of them gets sick, the other does the job of both.  They do an excellent job and have good results.  Neither one of them make a lot of money - my husband is actually a contractor, so he gets paid a flat rate on a monthly basis - no insurance/taxes/etc...that's on us.  The GPS bracelet program could be a really effective and much cheaper way to process these individuals, providing jobs for people, and lessening the burden on all the systems in place.  It also, keeps the families together.  
  
  Again, thank you for your time, and I hope that we can all come together on this issue, that Congress will make some drastic changes for the better, and we can move onward as a country.