Midnight Journeys To Move Immigrant Children To Texas Tent City Play Out Across Country
To deal with the surging shelter populations, which have hovered near 90 percent of capacity since May, a mass reshuffling of detained immigrant children is underway and shows no signs of slowing. Hundreds of children are being shipped from shelters to a West Texas tent city each week, totaling more than 1,600 so far. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is seeking authority to block abortions sought by undocumented immigrants under 18.
The New York Times:
Migrant Children Moved Under Cover Of Darkness To A Texas Tent City
In shelters from Kansas to New York, hundreds of migrant children have been roused in the middle of the night in recent weeks and loaded onto buses with backpacks and snacks for a cross-country journey to their new home: a barren tent city on a sprawling patch of desert in West Texas. Until now, most undocumented children being held by federal immigration authorities had been housed in private foster homes or shelters, sleeping two or three to a room. They received formal schooling and regular visits with legal representatives assigned to their immigration cases. (Dickerson, 9/30)
The New York Times:
Do Migrant Teenagers Have Abortion Rights? Two Volatile Issues Collide In Court
The Trump administration is claiming broad new authority to block access to abortions sought by undocumented immigrants under age 18 who are in its custody. In a case that brings together two of the most volatile issues in American society, immigration and abortion, the Justice Department argued this past week before a federal appeals court that the government “has a strong, legitimate and profound interest in the life of the child in the womb.” (Pear, 9/29)
In other news —
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. County Could Join Fight Against Trump Immigration Rule
The ink isn’t yet dry on a controversial Trump administration proposal that could deny permanent residency or citizenship to immigrants who use public assistance programs, but some Los Angeles County officials are readying their opposition. The Board of Supervisors is expected this week to consider sending a letter to federal leaders asserting that the proposed rule would cause “significant harm” to the county and its residents. (Stiles, 10/1)