May 26, 2018

The federal government did not lose 1,475 migrant children.

Speaking of headlines... did you notice "The feds lost — yes, lost — 1,475 migrant children" (in USA Today)?

Here's Rich Lowry (National Review) asking "Did the Feds Lose 1,475 Migrant Children?"
[T]hese children weren’t in HHS custody. They were placed with sponsors that HHS vetted. It’d obviously be better if HHS could locate all of the sponsors in its follow-up. Some of them surely moved, and perhaps others, if they or family members are illegal immigrants, may not want to be in further contact with authorities.

61 comments:

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Rich Lowry said...
It’d obviously be better if HHS could locate all of the sponsors in its follow-up.


Obviously.

Oso Negro said...

I guess the coffee is on at Meadehouse this morning! Perhaps they were taken on an National Lampoon-style Orphan's Holiday - all dressed up in rubber socks and buttered like corn.

Ralph L said...

Someone lost a verb in her post title this morning.

Oso Negro said...

@Ralph L - Maybe the coffee is NOT on, as yet.

Matt Sablan said...

I'm pretty sure that being unable to find a bunch of things or people you were responsible for is the definition of losing. Here, let's try a test!

[T]hese billions of dollars weren’t in DLA custody. They were placed with construction programs that DLA vetted. It’d obviously be better if DLA could locate all of the money in its follow-up.

Ralph L said...

Perhaps there's a new Underground Railroad for migrant children.

Matt Sablan said...

I also note that Lowry doesn't bring up this part of the testimony: "Another step in improving the safety of releases is to contact the child and the sponsor shortly after release, which is a critical adjustment period."

Losing the children isn't about just not, you know, losing children -- it is for their safety too. One of ORR's new efforts is working to remove children from dangerous situations; they don't have that legal obligation (yet), but... you know, a sort of moral obligation not to let children disappear into abusive homes, human trafficking or just, you know, disappearing forever.

Right before explaining WHY not being able to find the children is concerning, the testimony explains why they like to be able to find them: "In addition, ORR has expanded the services of its National Call Center, which was stood up in September 2014. The National Call Center is a resource for all children and sponsors postrelease. It is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and provides referrals to community assistance and other guidance to sponsors and children seeking help, including those with safety concerns." (Citations omitted).

The whole point of that section of the testimony is that Wagner is concerned they can't find those kids, and that they're being denied the services that the National Call Center provides. Wagner explicitly says that they don't have a legal obligation, but that they're rethinking that *because so many kids are missing and that it is important to protect kids after releasing them*:

"I understand that it has been HHS’s long-standing interpretation of the law that ORR is not legally responsible for children after they are released from ORR care. However, considering the importance of the post-release period, we are taking a fresh look at that question as a matter of both legal interpretation and appropriate policy."

Matt Sablan said...

(Well, he brings it up, but doesn't understand it. I should've been a bit more clear.)

Matt Sablan said...

Something Lowry DOES completely ignore, not just misunderstand: He skips the whole part about how the government sometimes gives kids to human traffickers.

Matt Sablan said...

"It’d obviously be better if HHS could locate all of the sponsors in its follow-up."

-- True. It would be better if we could find out whether or not the government accidentally paid people to take children and sell them into human trafficking. But, hey, FAKE NEWS.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

Maybe a dingo ate your babies.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Mr. Lowry, you lost me at "It'd." The contraction is imprecise. It could mean "it had" or "it would." You have caused the reader to interrupt the flow of reading to pause and disambiguate.

"It'd" does not flow easily from the tongue. We read the news aloud over breakfast, and stumble over each contraction.

The first word in your article is more apostrophe abuse, the contraction "That's." The antecedent of the pronoun "That" is not immediately clear. The reader must refer to the title of the article, then re-phrase the question as a statement.

Become a clarity crusader, Rich. Abjure the apostrophe.

Ralph L said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ralph L said...

Althouse was lose-fish this morning, but she got faster.

Fernandinande said...

Those angelic Central American children with their curly blond hair need "the blanket" when temperatures plummet into the 60s, and apparently one of them wrote this caption to the dishonest picture accompanying the article:

"Locals and other humanitarian organization bring the blanket, clothing, and food after being turned away Sunday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials on April 30, 2018."

They brought the blanket after being turned away!

Paco Wové said...

Frankly, I don't give a damn.

Birkel said...

The federal government did not lose 1475 children.

The federal government did adopt another 1475 Democrat voters.

n.n said...

Collateral damage from immigration reform a.k.a. refugee crises a.k.a. CAIR (Catastrophic Anthropogenic Immigration Reform) forced by social justice adventures.

Gahrie said...

Something Lowry DOES completely ignore, not just misunderstand: He skips the whole part about how the government sometimes gives kids to human traffickers.

Their parents did first...how do you think the kids got here? Mom and Dad just pushed them out the door with a few pesos and a knapsack and pointed north?

We should fly the kids back to the capital of their native country and turn them over to their governments. Letting them in, especially when we give them to family members, just promotes increased illegal immigration. These are our future "dreamers".

Ignorance is Bliss said...

I see a technological solution. Attach GPS trackers to all the children, and create a cell phone app that helps find the children. Offer $5 for anyone claiming a lost child.

It would be like free moneh lying on the sidewalk...

Fernandinande said...

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...
Maybe a dingo ate your babies.


May 26 is "National Sorry Day" in Australia - "Sorry we tried to be nice!"

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Soon they will be adults, with big plans. Perhaps some will go to flight school.

Levi Starks said...

Well, at least we know none of them are being exploited.

Ann Althouse said...

It was a lose "lose" situation.

Darrell said...

They're not lost. They are on Pedo Island with Democratic donors and bigwigs.

Michael K said...

We should fly the kids back to the capital of their native country and turn them over to their governments. Letting them in, especially when we give them to family members, just promotes increased illegal immigration. These are our future "dreamers".

No they are present day "Dreamers" except they may not have received their MS 13 tattoos yet.

Wince said...

I blame the Orphans, and this guy...

"Get laaawst."

Bad Lieutenant said...


Something Lowry DOES completely ignore, not just misunderstand: He skips the whole part about how the government sometimes gives kids to human traffickers.


I hope this information is widely publicized in their countries of origin. Perhaps in a letter format:



Dear Jose and Maria,


You thought the USG would take good care of your spawn, right? You didn't send half of them up here to be fucked to death and then chopped up and sold out of the back of lunchwagons as tacos al pastor, right? Well, amigos, you fucked up. You trusted us!


Oops,

HHS


PS Thanks, Joselito was delicious, please send more. No tattoos please, it makes the wallets look funny.

MayBee said...

The modern day orphan trains.

Whomever organizes and encourages these migrant caravans should face human trafficking charges.

Unknown said...

1500 children? foster parents validated? Validation takes at least six months. Assistance goes to an address. Go visit these in order of new additions. See if the Girls are being sold into the sex trade or worse. Are they healthy and happy? Are there three or more per room? Or worse, sleeping on the floor or in the car? Long ago I suggested to DHS and the CDC that as part of basic health screening for anyone we have not seen before, or being placed into foster homes, we vaccinate them and take a cheek swab to screen for disease, criminal, and related. Given the nature of DNA libraries not only can birth parents be found but all blood relations. A Joyous reunion for the child. The technology is in hand at a fraction of Foster care. Create a world wide library and we should be able to slow or stop the slavery and trade in children. We’ll supply equipment and networks for all countries without. For those that don’t participate, we’ll sanction and embargo. We must do this for the children. Else we’re complicit and have their blood on our hands. Crickets after I dropped this into the DHS online suggestion box.

ga6 said...

I agree with Ignorance's comment above: micro chip the urchins, track them and make the adults present them to be scanned before the monthly checks are cut.

BUMBLE BEE said...

IT IS GOOD TO BE OLD!

Bad Lieutenant said...

Crickets after I dropped this into the DHS online suggestion box.


You've got it the other way round. If the parents know this will happen, or may well happen perhaps they will send fewer children.

OTOH, they must know the odds of this happening en route, but send them anyway.

Ray - SoCal said...

How do you know that...

1. the “children” don’t lie about their age? And are actually under 18.

2. They Don’t have there MS-13 tattoos yet?

3. Are not regarded as adults in their culture and sent here for economic reasons?

4. Were sent as a cheap and guaranteed way of border crossing by their illegal parents already here?

Items ignored in both pieces...

Amazing what the election of Trump is exposing.

wwww said...


The government is forcibly removing infants from parents at the border. The system is loosing them? OK, so not INS but DHS looses the kid? No one can tell us if they're being killed? Or sexually trafficked?

They can't be reunited with their parents? What life awaits these children? They are stateless and without parental protection.

Southpaw posted legal testimony of a mother being separated from an infant at the border. She was applying for asylum status. The toddler was crying for mother as the child was literally ripped away from her.

I do not understand how anyone can be comfortable with the pain of a baby or toddler.

Another case where they separated a 18 month old from a father. They were apart for months. They deported the father back without his son. They did not know where he was, and told him, "he's somewhere in Texas." Article in the Houston Chronicle.

The experience of Romania and orphans showed us how the developing brains of infants need a level of care, or the kids can be permanently brain damaged. The government is separating toddlers and parents in the name of the people. There is a moral obligation to give these infants, toddlers and young kids quality care. They'd better not be exposing these kids to sexual exploitation or neglect, or physical harm. They have an obligation to notify the parents of their whereabouts and reunite babies with their mothers and fathers.

wwww said...



“My son was crying as I put him in the seat. I did not even have a chance to try to comfort my son, because the officers slammed the door shut as soon as he was in his seat. I was cry, too. I cry even now when I think about that moment when the border officers took my son away.”

wwww said...



18 months old her son. Military teargassed their home. Applying for asylum status. Took away her 18 month old son.

It's now official policy to separate infants from mothers at the border. Even mothers who are legally permitted to apply for asylum status.

Jeff Sessions better be running a damn good child care center for these toddlers.

wwww said...



I assume that people know the policy has been changed to separate toddlers from mothers at the border? They get separated. The parents are not told where the toddlers are going.

18 month olds aren't toddling up by themselves from Honduras, after the military tear-gasses the house of their parents.

This is a new change. They must protect those kids. They must not let them be given to child traffickers. It has happened in the past. We know this because they found children work slave labor at a chicken farm after they had been given to traffickers by the government in 2014.

Sessions and Trump changed the policy to one of official separation from parents at the border -- even for 18 month olds. The babies are forcibly removed from parents. The Americans are morally responsible for the health and safety of these infants.

Sam L. said...

Naaaah, they're just "temporarily misplaced".

Ralph L said...

Honduras is bigger than a bread box, and there's a whole lot of Mexico nearby where they speak Honduran.

Michael K said...

"The Americans are morally responsible for the health and safety of these infants."

And if the parents had stayed home?

wwww said...



Ralph,

There is an asylum process. The government can deny asylum.

What is unacceptable is to separate an 18 month old from an asylum seeker. To not tell the mother where her baby is. To loose track of the baby. To keep them separated. For the government to NOT monitor the care of the baby to the point that some children are released to traffikers and lost. to deport the mother without her child. Which is what happened to a father with an 18 month old son, as reported in the Houston Chronicle. And they couldn't tell the father where his 18 year old baby was!!! The told him his baby was "somewhere in Texas."

I'm horrified by the incompetence and depravity of the government processes. The separation of babies from parents is intentional punishment. That's already pretty depraved -- to knowingly hurt a 18 month old to deter immigration. But, then, to NOT monitor the care of the infant? To loose the infant? For the government to loose track of 18 month olds and be UNABLE TO TELL THEIR MOTHERS AND FATHERS WHERE THE BABIES ARE?

TO DEPORT THE PARENTS AND LEAVE THE BABY IN THE USA? THE PARENTS ARE NOT TOLD WHERE THEIR CHILDREN ARE.

WTF IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO THE UNDOCUMENTED 18 MONTHS OLD INFANT LEFT IN THE USA WITHOUT PARENTS?

wwww said...

"The Americans are morally responsible for the health and safety of these infants."
And if the parents had stayed home?


NOTHING EXCUSES HURTNG BABIES!!!!!

Unknown said...

Bad Lieutenant. Agree but as an investigator if when I sat down with my first cup of the day, the computer had already prepared for me a list of blood relations of the opioid kingpin I'm chasing, and their possible addresses on google maps with the shortest path to visit them all, loaded into my phone, rather than me working usually not so helpful sources, even when paid significant change. I might do some good, save a few children from the terrors of addiction and trafficking and much worse. So we must do this for the children. (tm).

Ralph L said...

AG Jeff Sessions:

If you cross this border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you. It’s that simple.
If you smuggle illegal aliens across our border, then we will prosecute you.
If you are smuggling a child, then we will prosecute you and that child will be separated from you as required by law. If you don’t like that, then don’t smuggle children over our border.

Me: who wrote the law, and why hadn't we heard about it, and why haven't prospective illegal parents?

wwww said...


I feel sick. Thanx Althouse. We're not allowed to have fun watching a wedding, but we get to talk about how AWESOME it is that kids under the age of 4 are removed from their parents. I want to throw up thinking about those kids crying for their mothers.

Watching the royal wedding was so BAD for us, but this is uplifting? I feel sick thinking about these kids that may never find their mothers again. I feel sick thinking of them in government facilities. A 18 month old infant cannot get proper care away from parents or outside of a pre-qualified, monitored home environment with sufficient ability to care for a infant or toddler.

More then 100 UNDER THE AGE OF 4. SEPARATED AT THE BORDER . "Operators of these facilities say they are often unable to locate the parents of separated children"

OFTEN UNABLE TO LOCATE PARENTS AFTER THEY GET SEPARATED. "There is no firm process to determine whether they have been separated from someone who was legitimately their parent"


"On 20 February a young woman named Mirian arrived at the Texas border carrying her 18-month-old son. They had fled their home in Honduras through a cloud of tear gas, she told border agents, and needed protection from the political violence there.

Her 18 month old IS BEING HELD AT A DETENTION FACILITY IN SAN ANTONIO. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? AN 18 YEAR OLD NEEDS ROUND THE CLOCK CARE.

She had hoped she and her son would find refuge together. Instead, the agents ordered her to place her son in the back seat of a government vehicle, she said later in a sworn declaration to a federal court. They both cried as the boy was driven away."

"But new data reviewed by The New York Times shows that more than 700 children have been taken from adults claiming to be their parents since October, including more than 100 children under age 4."

"Children removed from their families are taken to shelters run by nongovernmental organisations. There, workers seek to identify a relative or guardian in the United States who can take over the child’s care. But if no such adult is available, the children can languish in custody indefinitely. Operators of these facilities say they are often unable to locate the parents of separated children because the children arrive without proper records."

"Once a child has entered the shelter system, there is no firm process to determine whether they have been separated from someone who was legitimately their parent, or for reuniting parents and children who had been mistakenly separated, said a Border Patrol official, who was not authorised to discuss the agency’s policies publicly."

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-border-mexico-agency-texas-wall-trump-ice-migration-america-a8315781.html


"Her son asked about her and “cried all the time” in the days after he arrived at the facility, the case worker said, adding that the boy had developed an ear infection and a cough. “I had no idea that I would be separated from my child for seeking help,” Mirian said in her sworn statement. “I am so anxious to be reunited with him.”


wwww said...

Rich Lowry said...
It’d obviously be better if HHS could locate all of the sponsors in its follow-up.



We'd love to think that all of these kids are somewhere safe.

Let's not be naive. Some are going to be in dire situations. Some have been trafficked. Some have been lost to their parents forever. Some are being held in sexual slavery.

We know the government is doing a poor job. Loosing 20% of the total is not a good job.

The government placed some children with traffickers in 2014. They recovered the kids being held in a state of slavery at a chicken farm.

Now the admin has an official policy of separating infants from parents. The number of lost will grow higher unless there is a LOT of pressure on the government to track, care for these babies, and return babies to parents.

Rabel said...

"The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) has policies and procedures in place to ensure the care and safety of children who are apprehended in the United States without a parent or legal guardian available to provide care and custody and without immigration status."

The minors in question entered without a parent. That's why they are called unaccompanied alien children or UAC's. wwww has fallen for the propaganda. Fallen hard.

wwww said...


Rabel,

18 month olds are not entering without parents.

I quoted above from a legal document that gives evidence of the of a mother from her 18 month old child at the boarder. She was seeking asylum.

I read two newspaper articles with descriptions of 18 month olds being separated from parents at the border. The parents were seeking asylum. That's not illegal to do. Read about one of these cases in the Houston Chronicle, if you want to see how a father was separated from his 18 month old. They deported him without his son! They kept his son in the USA, somewhere in Texas. The father has no idea where to find his son.

People are getting deported back to Latin America with no idea how to find their babies.

I read how the administration has a new policy of separating parents from children at the border. That woman in the administration Trump was yelling at with the Swedish name. She was against the policy. The policy is to separate all children, even babies, as unaccompanied minors.

They are reclassifying babies as unaccompanied minors. Once reclassified and separated, they are more likely to be LOST.

A baby who was torn away, screaming, from his mother?? The government needs to track these children and give them back to their mothers and fathers.


Rabel said...

wwww has fallen for the propaganda. Fallen hard.

Gahrie said...

NOTHING EXCUSES HURTNG BABIES!!!!!

Except a woman's right to chose.

wwww said...



DO YOU THINK I AM HAPPY TO KNOW THIS IS HAPPENING? I'M NOT. I KNOW BABIES ARE KILLED AND BEATEN EVERY DAY.

BUT THIS IS BEING DONE IN MY NAME. LEGAL DOCUMENTS ARE BEING POSTED ON MY TWITTER FEED. IT'S ON THIS BLOG. MULTIPLE NEWSPAPER ARTICLES.

I WOULD RATHER NOT KNOW HOW THEY ARE HURTING 18 MONTH OLD BABIES.

I DO NOT WANT TO THINK OF HOW THESE CHILDREN ARE BEING SEPARATED FROM PARENTS. SOME OF WHOM ARE BEING DEPORTED WITHOUT THEIR BABIES AND THEY DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE.

I DO NOT KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THESE BABIES WHO ARE BEING KEPT IN DETENTION CENTERS.

I THINK OF ALL OF THE THINGS I DO FOR MY BABIES. I KNOW A DETENTION CENTER CANNOT GIVE THE SAME LEVEL OF CARE THAT A PARENT CAN GIVE TO A BABY.

BUT NOW I KNOW. AND IT'S BEING DONE IN MY NAME.

Rabel said...

You seem a bit hysterical.

wwww said...



I am terrified for these children. I can't believe they're doing this to kids under the age of 4, and then loosing track of 20% of them.

I would LOVE to think these babies are somewhere safe and happy. It's not as if they're being taken into good homes with loving foster moms. It's not as if the biological mothers are being well-informed of the placement of their children. These mothers are terrified.

I'm to be a-OK with this knowledge? Of babies in detention centers? separated from mothers? Not telling some mothers where the kids are? deporting some parents without their babies?





wwww said...



The best interest of the child needs to come first.

If splitting a family, the government takes on a profound moral responsibility. The government must put the best interest of the child before all else and Do No Harm.

If the government chooses to take a baby from a mother, the government MUST control the after effects. The government cannot release the infant to whomever and say "oh well" it's not my responsibility. NO-- you took custody of the infant away from his mother or father! You must assure the safety and well being of the infant! You cannot loose 20% and think this is no big deal. You must be able to reunite the mother and child.

Charlie said...

Someone needs a nappy.

Jason said...

What is it we do with the children of U.S. citizens who are incarcerated for whatever reason? Let's do the same thing.

Oh, wait. We do.

Michael K said...

wwww, Losing a child is a tragedy. Losing 1400 children is suspicious.

I agree with you. When the parents and child appear at the border, immediately send them home.

All this immigration court nonsense is risking children. Send them home immediately, if not sooner.

See ? We agree.

Bad Lieutenant said...

WTF IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO THE UNDOCUMENTED 18 MONTHS OLD INFANT LEFT IN THE USA WITHOUT PARENTS?


THEY SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE THEY INVADED MY COUNTRY!

Bad Lieutenant said...

I agree with you. When the parents and child appear at the border, immediately send them home.

Exactly. Have all the interpreters needed at the border to make sure every one of them hears and understands :

Hey mamacita. Take one more step and you will never see your rugrat again. You wanna go home, we can do that. But do NOT come here without permission. OUR permission, not whoever sent you.

But at the border is too late for best results. This should be in ads saturating every channel of media in these pestholes, from radio to the rumor mill.

Jason said...

This was Obama's doing. His fecklessness led to this soup sandwich by encouraging Central Americans to head to the border by the thousands. He tacitly encouraged it. And Trump gets to be the adult who cleans up after him.