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I had to ask myself if this was the correct category. Are criminal parents entitled in some way, by any law, able to keep their children .....

.....until it is determined that the children will be safe?

I used to work with drug abusers, and later, with homeless families with children. If a woman came into our shelter and we caught her with drugs or endangering her child in any way, we were required to call CPS or lose our license to operate. Child endangerment could not be tolerated, by law. Protecting children and keeping them safe was our ultimate responsibility. It sucked at times. It certainly wasn't popular. But it was SO much better than allowing a drug addicted mother to escape out a window and take her three year old, after accusing the other residents of the shelter of being the devil. I think, in that instance, you had to examine the actions of the parent, and examine what might happen to the child. In that instance, we never found out. She just disappeared, and only God knows what happened to that three year old little boy. I certainly called CPS when she disappeared....but it was SO unpopular to do that, that I questioned my decision for years afterward. It just haunted me.

All the heartbreak I felt then is coming into play now. How can we keep the children of people who break the law by trying to come into our country illegally safe, and still obey our own laws? Our law is very, very clear. If a parent breaks the law, CPS must take custody, and the children must be placed in a group home if no relative exists who will take the child, or with a close relative who can prove that they are reliable. It sucks so hard it broke my motor.

BUT!!!!!! There is no freaking way that American law breakers are treated any differently than law breakers from anywhere else. Wow. What a concept for todays' age. No special treatment. One rule for all. Immigrants and Americans BOTH have to obey the same law. I know. It just sounds so........alien!!!!

The donkey brained people who are calling group homes for children "concentration camps" almost make me insane, just because I have had to deal with these child issues myself.

If I could go back to the year 2014 when Obama was president and do something to stop those photos we all saw of children lying on the hard ground in cages, I would. But in 2014 I don't remember those photos were ever televised. It was all on the down low. Secret.

In my opinion, the only way to keep these children totally safe is with a state sponsored DNA test. We have coyotes bringing them in to traffic them, claiming to be their parent. We have so called "Aunts and Uncles" showing up to claim them. The kids are threatened and terrified. If I were a little kid and someone told me that if i didn't say they were my father, they would slit my throat.....I think I would lie.

Before these kids are "given back" or "given to" any relative, I want DNA evidence.

We also have a giant posterior orifice psychologist weighing in, saying that these children will suffer permanent lifelong damage because of the stress of what is going on NOW.

I want her to be the same psychologist who has to treat any of these kids who are trafficked.....that's if any of them live.

I mean....the brainlessness...it just boggles me.

Am I wrong there? Maybe I have seen too much "stuff".
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Heartlander · 80-89, M Best Comment
This is so complicated.

Some of these poor children are/were used as "stay out of jail" tokens by parents or drug traffickers. On the other hand their are villages in Mexico and Central America being raided by drug gangs where the children are snatched up and turned into children-soldiers for the drug gangs. So to save their children some women are fleeing and trying to sneak into the US.

On one hand, an illegal border crossing is like most other crimes. If the parents get caught and incarcerated, the safety of the child falls into the jurisdiction of the courts and family services. If I get caught DUI and go to jail, having a 3 year old child won't serve as a good reason for keeping me out of jail. On the other hand many are fleeing Mexico and Central America to save their children.

There's no way to tell which are which.

There are really only 3 viable steps ...

1 - Build safe holding camps in the US where the people can be sorted out and where families can stay together in safety. There are numerous old military bases along the border that can be secured and locked down. This is the way refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos were handled, as well as Africa.

2 - Build the wall. Sad that it comes to this, but when everyone's safety is at risk the doors have to be locked and entry has to be controlled.

3 - Set up internal safe zones in Central America, operated by the UN that will provide safety while Mexico and other central American countries fix their crime problems.

Our church group has worked with groups in central America that somewhat do what I mentioned as #3. They support protected cooperatives that hire armed guards, and provide shelter and security for single women and their children. There is no welfare system, no health care, no safety for single women that have no supportive family.