On Saturday night, the Trump administration released a plan to reunite the more than 2,000 children separated from their parents under President Trump's "zero tolerance" border policy, but immigrant advocates and shelter operators say that will be no easy feat. The children, some barely old enough to speak, are spread around the U.S. in groups as small as 10, "in Michigan and Maryland, in foster homes in California and shelters in Virginia, in cold, institutional settings with adults who are not permitted to touch them or with foster parents who do not speak Spanish but who hug them when they cry," The Washington Post reports. Already, "the children have been through hell," the Post says:
And now they live and wait in unfamiliar places: big American suburban houses where no one speaks their language; a locked shelter on a dusty road where they spend little time outside; a converted Walmart where each morning they are required to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance, in English, to the country that holds them apart from their parents. Why must they say those words, some of the children ask at the shelter in Brownsville, on the Mexican border in Texas? "We tell them, 'It's out of respect,'" said one employee. [The Washington Post]
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.
-
There is a 'third state' between life and deathUnder the radar Cells can develop new abilities after their source organism dies
-
Is it worth getting an interest-only mortgage?The Explainer Your monthly payments may be cheaper but the full mortgage amount will need to be paid back eventually
-
Crossword: March 6, 2025The Week's daily crossword
-
Trump touts early wins in partisan speech to CongressSpeed Read The president said he is 'just getting started' with his sweeping changes to immigration, the economy and foreign policy
-
Trudeau blasts Trump's 'very dumb' trade warSpeed Read Retaliatory measures have been announced by America's largest trading partners following Trump's tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China
-
Trump pauses military aid to Ukraine after public spatSpeed Read Trump and J.D. Vance berated Volodymyr Zelenskyy for what they saw as insufficient gratitude
-
Trump's Mexico and Canada tariffs begin, roiling marketsSpeed Read Stocks plunged after Trump affirmed that the tariffs would take effect, sparking a likely trade war
-
Judge tells White House to stop ordering mass firingsspeed read The ruling is a complication in the Trump administration's plans to slash the federal workforce
-
Trump vows 25% tariffs on EU at Cabinet meetingSpeed Read The tariff threats serve to enhance a growing suspicion that the president views Europe as an adversary, not an ally
-
Trump proposes 'gold card' visas for rich immigrantsspeed read The president claimed the US will begin selling $5 million visas offering permanent residency
-
House passes framework for big tax and spending cutsSpeed Read Democrats opposed the GOP's plan for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and $2 trillion in spending cuts, citing the impacts it will have on social programs
