U.S. Policy towards Immigrant Children is not Policy, it is Cruelty
By César Chelala
October 09, 2018 "Information
Clearing House"
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On June 16 2015 Donald Trump
announced his candidacy to the presidency
and set the tone of his priorities. The
elimination of illegal immigration to the
United States, mainly from refugees fleeing
from poverty and violence in Mexico and
Central America was one. He didn’t say at
the time that his policies included
separating children from their parents, some
of whom might never meet again.
Immigrants come to the U.S. from Mexico and
Central America try to escape abject poverty
and food insecurity in their own countries.
In Mexico, 2016 data reveal that 52.3
percent of children over 11 years old live
under the poverty line, and 9.7 percent live
in extreme poverty. Among indigenous
children, the figures are more startling.
Near 80 percent of them live under the
poverty line, and 18.9 percent show symptoms
of chronic malnutrition, a reflection of
their unhealthy quality of life.
In Guatemala, indigenous populations in
rural areas are affected by lack of food and
economic burden. Guatemalan children have
the third-highest rate of stunting
worldwide, an effect of chronic
malnutrition. It is estimated that 49.8
percent of Guatemalan children are
undernourished, a figure that increases to
69.5 percent in children living in rural,
indigenous areas.
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As in other
Central American countries, stunting and
malnutrition in Honduras children are major
concerns, particularly for those living in
rural areas. It is estimated that 75 percent
of the Honduran population live in extreme
poverty and 12 percent of households are
food-insecure. In rural areas, chronic
malnutrition can be as high as 48.5 percent.
In El Salvador, 16.3 percent of rural
Salvadoran families cannot cover the costs
of basic needs. 18.9 percent of children
under age 5 experience chronic malnutrition,
a figure that increases to 25.6 percent for
those children living in rural areas. In
addition, El Salvador is one of the
countries with the highest presence of
violent juvenile gangs called “maras”.
Nicaragua, which is going presently through
a time of considerable social unrest, is
considered one of the poorest countries in
Latin America. Approximately 29 percent of
households live in poverty, and 8.3 percent
live in extreme poverty. The highest rates
of child chronic malnutrition occur in what
is called the northern Dry Corridor, with
rates of almost 30 percent. According to the
World Food Programme, 300,000 people are in
need of food assistance.
Poverty in Central America is due to factors
intrinsic to the countries themselves such
as a modern form of feudalism, profound
inequality, rampant government corruption,
and to foreign interference. The U.S. has
influenced their political and economic
situation by helping to overturn democratic
governments, as in Guatemala and Honduras,
or supporting anti-democratic elements, as
in the case of the death squads in El
Salvador and the “contras” in Nicaragua.
This dismal picture of poverty and violence
explains the desire of those people to seek
better conditions for them and their
children. “We leave our countries under
threat. We leave behind our homes, our
relatives, our friends. We are not
criminals, we are people living in fear in
our countries,” told Maritza Flores, a
Salvadoran woman, to the BBC.
It is in this context that families come to
the U.S., where children are separated in
the border from their parents, in some cases
permanently. More than 2,300 children were
removed at the border between 5 May and 9
June 2018. Children are placed in shelters
where they do not always receive the care
they need. Separating from their parents
produces considerable anguish and depression
in those children, many of whom become
violent and suffer psychological effects.
The president of the American Academy of
Pediatrics calls these policies “child
abuse”.
President Donald Trump doesn’t hide his
dislike for immigrants, both legal and
illegal, and forgets the contributions
immigrants have made, in all fields of
activity, to the U.S. In the meantime,
children become pawns for his policies on
immigration. In his infantile view of the
world, President Donald Trump doesn’t seem
to realize that his decisions on immigrant
children are not a policy, they are cruelty.
César Chelala is a co-winner of an Overseas
Press Club of America award and two national
journalism awards from Argentina.
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