Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Federal Immigration Crackdown Threatens California’s Historic Housing Reforms

2 hours ago

US House Clears Procedural Hurdle on Cryptocurrency Legislation

2 hours ago

Fresno County Lifts Evacuation Order for Max Fire Near Pine Flat Lake

3 hours ago

Newsom Calls Trump a ‘Son of a B***h’ Over ICE Raids and Guard Deployment

3 hours ago

Trump Indicated to Republican Lawmakers He Will Fire Fed’s Powell, CBS Reports

5 hours ago

Wall Street Steadies as Investors Assess Inflation Data, Earnings

5 hours ago

Trump Administration Sued by US States for Cutting Disaster Prevention Grants

5 hours ago

Open Mic Contest Offers Fans a Chance to Perform at Outside Lands 2025

7 hours ago

PBS and NPR Mount Last-Ditch Fight to Save Federal Funding

1 day ago
Humane Enforcement of U.S. Border Laws is Possible
GV-Wire-1
By gvwire
Published 7 years ago on
June 26, 2018

Share

The Trump administration’s reversal of its family separation policy for immigrants crossing the border illegally is less than meets the eye, according to a June 22 opinion published in the New York Times.


Sonia Nazario
“On Wednesday, President Trump said in an executive order that he planned to keep families together by jailing parents and children together during the course of their immigration hearings.,” writes Sonia Nazario, an author and board member of Kids in Need of Defense.
“Most immigrant children apprehended with their families on our southern border are from Honduras, El Salvador or Guatemala, three of the most violent countries on earth.”
Nazario continues, “prisons are bad for kids, even if they have their parents with them.” More humane and cost-effective options for enforcing immigration laws are available when families are involved, she argues.
Research shows that the effect of detention can be especially damaging to kids who have previously experienced violence in their lives, Nazario says. Incarceration retraumatizes those who are already suffering.
“About six in 10 girls are raped on the journey north. Thousands upon thousands of Central Americans are kidnapped each year in Mexico; girls are prostituted, boys are enslaved, migrants are killed, their organs are harvested.”
“Most immigrant children apprehended with their families on our southern border are from Honduras, El Salvador or Guatemala, three of the most violent countries on earth,” she says. “Many children know of, or have witnessed, a family member or friend murdered by the gangs that control their neighborhoods. They force boys to join them or be killed. They force girls to have sex with them or be killed.”
Even as they flee violence in their home countries, the dangers do not abate, Nazario says.
“About six in 10 girls are raped on the journey north. Thousands upon thousands of Central Americans are kidnapped each year in Mexico; girls are prostituted, boys are enslaved, migrants are killed, their organs are harvested. (This is the journey that President Trump on Thursday said was like “walking through Central Park.”)”
Nazario says the conditions migrant families face in American detention centers are harsh. “These are not places where we should want more children to go.”
“Law and order can go hand in hand with humanity. It’s the American way.”
Instead, she says the government should expand on the success of a 2016 pilot project that used caseworkers to monitor immigrant families, under supervised release, while their cases were pending. Utilizing that approach, Nazario says, nearly 99 percent of immigrants showed up for their hearings.
Other alternatives to prison confinement include the use of ankle monitors, voice-recognition software, unannounced home visits, telephone reporting and GPS tracking. All of these approaches, Nazario says, are more cost-effective solutions and less harmful options.
“Law and order can go hand in hand with humanity,” she says. It’s the American way.”
You can read the full commentary, There’s a Better, Cheaper Way to Handle Immigration, at The New York Times.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Open Mic Contest Offers Fans a Chance to Perform at Outside Lands 2025

DON'T MISS

So Your Doctor Is a DO. Does That Matter?

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Found Dead After Hike Near Courtright Reservoir

DON'T MISS

Former US Army Soldier Pleads Guilty in Phone Company Hacking, Extortion Case

DON'T MISS

Fresno City Attorney Briefly Ineligible to Practice Law, Cites State Bar Error

DON'T MISS

Grass Fire East of Sanger Contained at 21 Acres, CalFire Says

DON'T MISS

Age Is Just a Number: 80-Year-Old Conquers Death Valley to Mt. Whitney Ultramarathon

DON'T MISS

What to Know About the Epstein Files, a Perfect Recipe for Conspiracy Theories

DON'T MISS

US Military to Remove 2,000 National Guard Troops From Los Angeles

DON'T MISS

Mexico Pledges Action Should US Talks Fail by August Tariff Deadline

UP NEXT

Valadao, Other California GOP Members of Congress Might Regret Backing Trump’s Megabill

UP NEXT

Diplomacy or Submission? The Zionist Grip on US Political Power and Trump’s Uneasy Alliance With Netanyahu

UP NEXT

Why Measure C Is Not Measured

UP NEXT

Nathan Magsig: Why Our Second Amendment Resolution Matters to the People of the Central Valley

UP NEXT

Lawrence Summers: This Law Made Me Ashamed of My Country

UP NEXT

Israeli Guilt Over Gaza Lurks Beneath Silence and Denial

UP NEXT

California’s Politics Drifts Right While New York’s Leans Left

UP NEXT

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

UP NEXT

July 4th Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of the Founding Fathers

UP NEXT

Presidential Election Reveals Big Shift in California Voting Patterns. Will It Last?

Federal Immigration Crackdown Threatens California’s Historic Housing Reforms

2 hours ago

Fresno Fire Destroys Vacant Building on Blackstone Avenue

2 hours ago

US House Clears Procedural Hurdle on Cryptocurrency Legislation

2 hours ago

Madera County Launches New Team to Tackle Homelessness, Mental Health Crises

2 hours ago

US Senate Pushes Toward Aid, Public Broadcasting Cuts Sought by Trump

3 hours ago

Authorities Seek Answers After Man Found Dead Near Rural Fresno County Road

3 hours ago

Fresno County Lifts Evacuation Order for Max Fire Near Pine Flat Lake

3 hours ago

Newsom Calls Trump a ‘Son of a B***h’ Over ICE Raids and Guard Deployment

3 hours ago

Governors Should Be the Face of the Democratic Party

4 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Ryan Joseph Enos

4 hours ago

Bains Is Challenging Valadao. An Early Look at Fundraising.

Jasmeet Bains made it official Wednesday morning, challenging Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, for Congress. And you can well expect Medi-Cal ...

34 minutes ago

34 minutes ago

Bains Is Challenging Valadao. An Early Look at Fundraising.

U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services' sex offender registry March 28, 2017 and obtained by Reuters July 10, 2019. New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
50 minutes ago

Trump, White House Race to Stem Epstein Conspiracy Fallout

1 hour ago

Wired Wednesday: Judge Gives Green Light to 4-Story NW Fresno Apt. Complex

Elk Grove California Housing Construction 2022
2 hours ago

Federal Immigration Crackdown Threatens California’s Historic Housing Reforms

A vacant building on North Blackstone Avenue in Fresno was destroyed by fire Tuesday, July 15, 2025, night, though firefighters prevented it from spreading to nearby structures. (Fresno FD)
2 hours ago

Fresno Fire Destroys Vacant Building on Blackstone Avenue

A general view of the U.S. Capitol dome in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)
2 hours ago

US House Clears Procedural Hurdle on Cryptocurrency Legislation

Madera County has launched H.E.A.R.T Madera, a multi-agency team focused on compassionate outreach and crisis intervention for people experiencing homelessness and behavioral health challenges. (Shutterstock)
2 hours ago

Madera County Launches New Team to Tackle Homelessness, Mental Health Crises

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) walks to the Senate floor as Republican lawmakers struggle to pass U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping spending and tax bill, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 1, 2025. (Reuters File)
3 hours ago

US Senate Pushes Toward Aid, Public Broadcasting Cuts Sought by Trump

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend