Watch a mother's horrible realization of her 3-year-old son's trauma from Trump's family separation policy
"My love, I'm your mommy," a Honduran mother pleads with her squirming 3-year-old son as they are reunited after three and a half months of separation by the Trump administration's discontinued policy of splitting up migrant families.
The moment of reunion is shown in a gutting video released by the ACLU. The boy refuses eye contact, crawling away from his crying mom. "What's wrong with my son?" she asks her husband. "My son is traumatized."
As the ACLU report accompanying the video explains, the Reyes-Mejia family (a pseudonymous name for the sake of safety) came to the U.S. from Honduras to escape spiking violent crime. They did not enter the country illegally but presented themselves at a border crossing facility to seek asylum.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The father, Ever, was told he could briefly leave his son alone at a detention facility while he completed some paperwork. When he returned, the boy was gone. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents had shipped him to foster care in Michigan.
Because the boy is just 3 years old, the Reyes-Mejia family was given priority for reunification when the family separation policy was shut down. His response at reunification with his mother is emblematic of the "traumatic psychological injury" mental health experts warned the separations would produce, especially for young children.
As of Thursday, the ACLU says, 528 migrant children remain separated from their families in federal custody.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Is this the end of cigarettes?
Today's Big Question An FDA rule targets nicotine addiction
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
A beginner's guide to exploring the Amazon
The Week Recommends Trek carefully — and respectfully — in the world's largest rainforest
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
What is the future of the International Space Station?
In the Spotlight A fiery retirement, launching the era of private space stations
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Trump starts term with spate of executive orders
Speed Read The president is rolling back many of Joe Biden's climate and immigration policies
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump pardons or commutes all charged Jan. 6 rioters
Speed Read The new president pardoned roughly 1,500 criminal defendants charged with crimes related to the Capitol riot
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Will Trump's 'madman' strategy pay off?
Today's Big Question Incoming US president likes to seem unpredictable but, this time round, world leaders could be wise to his playbook
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
DeSantis appoints Florida's top lawyer to US Senate
Speed Read The state's attorney general, Ashley Moody, will replace Sen. Marco Rubio in the Senate
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Pam Bondi downplays politics at confirmation hearing
Speed Read Trump's pick for attorney general claimed her Justice Department would not prosecute anyone for political reasons
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Biden warns of oligarchy in farewell address
Speed Read The president issued a stark warning about the dangers of unchecked power in the hands of the ultra-wealthy
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Hegseth boosts hopes for confirmation amid grilling
Speed Read The Senate held confirmation hearings for Pete Hegseth, Trump's Defense Secretary nominee
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden removes Cuba from terrorism blacklist
Speed read The move is likely to be reversed by the incoming Trump administration, as it was Trump who first put Cuba on the terrorism blacklist in his first term
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published