‘Zero Tolerance’ Crackdown Was Riddled With Communication Failures, Planning Shortfalls And Chaos, Watchdog Finds
HHS investigators describe a poorly coordinated interagency process that left distraught parents with little or no knowledge of their children’s whereabouts, according to an unpublished internal watchdog report obtained by The Washington Post. Meanwhile, the government is now moving detained children in middle-of-the-night journeys to a tent city in Texas, and an official downplays the impact of the administration's expanded "public charge" policy.
The Washington Post:
Trump’s Family Separation Policy Was Flawed From The Start, Watchdog Review Says
The Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” crackdown at the border this spring was troubled from the outset by planning shortfalls, widespread communication failures and administrative indifference to the separation of small children from their parents, according to an unpublished report by the Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog. The report, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, is the government’s first attempt to autopsy the chaos produced between May 5 and June 20, when President Trump abruptly halted the separations under mounting pressure from his party and members of his family. (Miroff, Sacchetti and Kim, 10/1)
The New York Times:
The Government Is Moving Migrant Children To A Texas Tent City. Here’s What’s Behind It.
More than 1,600 migrant children have been sent with little notice on late-night voyages to their new home: a barren tent city in West Texas, where they do not receive schooling and have limited access to legal representation. The Trump administration opened the facility because shelters that house migrant children have been overflowing. Here’s a look at what’s happening. (Dickerson, 10/1)
The New York Times:
For Private Prisons, Detaining Immigrants Is Big Business
Thomas W. Beasley had something for sale, and figured he could market it the same as any other merchandise. “You just sell it like you were selling cars or real estate or hamburgers,” he told an interviewer. That was three decades ago. Only Mr. Beasley wasn’t hawking new wheels, beachfront property or beef patties. His stock in trade was prison bars. As a co-founder of Corrections Corporation of America in 1983, and with a get-tough-on-crime spirit ascendant in the country, he sold lockup space to federal and state governments that were jailing people faster than they could find room in their own institutions. (Haberman, 10/1)
The Hill:
Top Trump Immigration Official Downplays Impact Of 'Public Charge' Proposal
The Trump administration’s top immigration official downplayed the attempted impact of a new proposal that would restrict green cards and visas for immigrants who use public benefits. Francis Cissna, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the proposed “public charge” rule is very specific in the scope of benefits it targets, and the number of immigrants who are eligible for those benefits, or who could become eligible for those benefits, is limited. (Weixel, 10/1)