Judge Orders Timely #Housing for #Migrant #Children Waiting at Southern #UnitedStates #Border
The decision established that minors at open-air sites were in #legal custody of the DHS & thus must receive #safe #shelter, even if they had not yet been formally processed.
#law #immigration #Humanitarian #HumanRights #Security
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/04/health/migrant-children-border-housing.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb
The ruling comes amid a fierce #political & #cultural debate over the rights of #immigrants — including #children — who enter the #UnitedStates w/o permission. Because of an influx in crossings at the US-Mexico border, #immigration processing centers in southern #SanDiego County are strained, & *migrants* [people] have waited for hours or sometimes days at makeshift camps to be taken into custody.
The outdoor areas where migrants have been waiting lack #shelter, #food & #sanitation, which has given way to an array of #PublicHealth concerns for the most vulnerable. Unaccompanied #children & young #families sometimes arrive in poor #health, acc/to #aid workers & #medical volunteers at the sites, suffering from #traumatic injuries or chronic health conditions that require #medications that have long since run out.
#UnitedStates #law #immigration #humanitarian #HumanRights #CivilRights
The judge cited #BorderPatrol #control over minors’ ability to leave sites —& their #power to affect whether the #children have #access to #aid & #medical treatment….
“The ability to exercise discretion over, & make decisions affecting, a child’s #health & #welfare is indicative of maintaining #legal custody of the child, regardless of whether that decision is to provide or withhold care,” the 12-pg order read. “Juveniles, unlike adults, are always in some form of #custody.”
Nonilex