Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) is releasing a statement on President Trump’s executive order concerning the Administration’s cruel policy of ripping migrant children away from their parents:
“It is long overdue for President Trump to amend the most egregious element of his cruel and inhumane policy of ripping migrant children from their parents. But substituting a lesser form of cruelty for a greater form is still cruelty. Family detention is far from the only or best solution for the majority of families at the border. In addition, for thousands of children the damage is already done. Nearly 2,000 children have been subjected to what the American Academy of Pediatrics has called, ‘toxic stress’ and ‘amounts to child abuse.’ These medical experts have said that the long term impacts of this barbaric treatment could be lifelong health problems, such as heart disease and substance abuse disorders.
The Administration, aided by the complicity of extreme congressional Republicans, made a proactive decision to enact a policy that has harmed children, told falsehoods about the origin and scope of the policy and for days held the fate of these children hostage in order to extract policy concessions. This hellish policy was a choice and there must be a full measure of accountability for those officials who ordered it, defended it and carried it out.
The Administration has an obligation to ensure that children whose health has been adversely impacted by this policy receive appropriate medical services. Congress must demand that the Administration take steps to reunite every child that has been separated from their parents. There are no excuses. Every child that was cruelly separated from their parents, from months-old babies to young teenagers, must be reunited with their families.”
