Children in detention camps in the US

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/inside-a-texas-building-where-the-government-is-holding-immigrant-children

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/four-severely-ill-migrant-babies-hospitalized-after-lawyers-visited-border-patrol-facility_n_5d0d3bbce4b07ae90d9cfe4f

twitter.com/reckless/status/1142428101038809088 - includes video of Trump official trying to argue in court that it's within the law not to provide detainees with soap, toothpaste and conditions that make it possible to sleep - good for the judges who are clearly aghast at what she's saying

This is unspeakable. I know I'm not being unreasonable. Nobody could justify the way these children are being treated. I'm sure things are even worse for the adults, but children don't make the decision to cross the border! Where's the UN?

The articles above make it clear that the child detainees don't have enough to eat, they're not warm enough, they don't get clean clothes, they aren't getting prompt medical treatment (several have died), they don't have soap or access to hot showers, they don't have toothbrushes and toothpaste, they aren't given beds to sleep on. Hundreds of them are in a cold air conditioned warehouse with no windows and they have to decide whether to put their one blanket on the concrete floor and sleep on it or sleep directly on the concrete and use the blanket to try to keep warm. In some places the lights are on all night, making it very difficult to sleep. Older children are being asked to look after little children. No education, no play facilities, no kindness. You have to wonder about whether they're safe from predators - clearly some of the guards employed there are totally unfit to work with children, judging by the casual cruelty going on.

Some of the children are there for weeks and as a final sign that the law is being ignored when they're finally moved on the little ones are not put in car seats or booster seats as the law requires.

And worst of all, of course, they've been illegally separated from their families.

Is there anything we can do over here? I've been so distressed reading about this.

It's a harrowing situation. Some of the children are not able to be reunited because of some parents being tricked into signing orders. Parents are not given proper support before they are deported without their children.

Long article covering many of the issues, including children who arrive unaccompanied, and going back to 2016.

Nearly 15,000 migrant children in federal custody jammed into crowded shelters
www.cnbc.com/2018/12/19/nearly-15000-migrant-children-in-federal-custody-jammed-into-crowded-shelters.html

You can be as conservative as you like, cruelty to children is never excusable, and this is exactly what this is, cruel and inhumane treatment.

how can anyone defend this shite?

Agreed! This didnt start with Trump! It's terrible everyone blames Trump for this. Trump has asked for tons of money to help those in these conditions but the Democrats have denied the funds. I'm American. Please research people before you point at Trump.

*IIUC the reason for the children being separated from their parents is because the adults are being charged with a crime (illegal entry) and held in prison, where the children can obviously not be kept with them. This was a deterrent to encourage immigrants to use the proper legal process to enter the US.

They are not being 'deliberately ripped apart'. The parents knew the risk and took it so their children suffer.*

This x 100.

Please remember the vast majority of these people are economic migrants from less desirable but safe countries, very few have a genuine asylum claim.

Good grief. I'm American, watching all of this horror from the UK.
Obama was not separating children from their families as a way of deterring entry into the US, which is exactly what the Trump administration is doing.
Unaccompanied children were held so that they could be processed, family found (either in the US or in their country or origin).

If accompanied children did not have sufficient proof that they 'belonged' with the adults they came in with, they were held separately in the same detention area until evidence was provided, so that the government could be certain that these children were not being trafficked. Once the evidence was there, the families were reunited. Not ideal, of course, and understandably, if families are fleeing in terror, packing the kids birth certificates may be impossible.
Also, IT IS NOT ILLEGAL TO SEEK ASYLUM, AND YOU HAVE TO CROSS THE BORDER IN ORDER TO DO SO...they are not NOT crossing illegally if they are seeking asylum.
Obama was by no means perfect, and I very much did express disagreement with some of his policies...that's normal, I think! However, he was classy, smart and worked his damnedest for our country. Trump does not care about the average American...he has no grasp on the lives of ordinary people who work hard for their success. He demonizes the poor, the marginalised, poc, the disabled... The list goes on.