July 10, 2018
BORDER DISPUTE
While the deadline looms for separated children to be returned to their family, Americans living on the border receive word of a new wall coming through.
FLIP FOR LATEST
Tuesday Deadline to Reunite Children Under 5
- DOJ: Half will be reunitedA by court-imposed deadline.
- Last Friday, DOJ asked for more time – only able to identify, locate & vet 54 parents of 102 kids.
- Past deadline, now what?A Judge can impose fines, but admits more time needed. ACLU, which brought the lawsuit, says it just wants families reunited fast.
Judge Rejects Request to Hold Children Longer
- Decree states children in immigration detention not be held more than 20 days.
- Admin now may have 2 options: release the family or split them up -A which Trump’s June 20 directive pledged to stop.
- Older kids to be reunited by July 26.
elsewhere on border…
Border Wall Land Surveys
- More property owners along S. Texas border are getting notices for a possible border wall.
- Border Patrol: the area, Starr Co., most “volatile” stretch, currently lacks border wall.
- In March, Congress approved $1.6B inA fedlA fundingA for 33 miles of fencing in Rio Grande valley – half of what Border Patrol wanted.
- Pres. Trump has requested $25B.
In Arizona, New Mexico & California, Federal Govt controls 60-foot wide strip of land along the border. Not true in Texas, where almost all property is private. Click for one reason why a fence in Texas’s Starr County has failed in the past.
- At Least 54 Migrant Children Under 5 to Be Reunited With Parents, Justice Dept. Says:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/09/us/migrants-family-separation-reunification.html
A lawyer for the Justice Department told the court Friday that 19 parents of children who are under the age of 5 have been deported. In the case of 19 others, the parents have been released and their whereabouts is unknown, she said. She indicated that the government needed more time to reunify all the families. - Federal Judge Rules that Trump Administration Cannot Hold Migrant Families in Long-Term Detention:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/09/us/migrants-family-separation-reunification.html - ACLU says US will miss deadline to reunite migrant families:
https://www.apnews.com/25528d4880b541b798ba26ba645627aa/ACLU-says-US-will-miss-deadline-to-reunite-migrant-families - More South Texas land owners getting letters on border wall:
https://www.kens5.com/article/news/special-reports/at-the-border/more-border-residents-receiving-letters-to-survey-their-land-for-possible-border-wall/273-571493460 - GO DEEPER: Budget Deal Saves Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge From Border Wall (FROM MARCH 2018):
https://www.mystatesman.com/news/state–regional/budget-deal-bring-miles-border-fence-rio-grande-valley/D7kplfIkA9e5yTlMFXAk4H/
Border Patrol agents have called Starr County the most volatile stretch of border. There, flooding concerns and local opposition have stymied previous plans to build a border barrier. The county”s largest cities sit in flood plains and local officials worry that border fencing could trap floodwaters in places like Roma after heavy rains.A It”s not clear where in Starr County the border wall would go, but Border Patrol leaders have told the Statesman that the 500 or so agents who patrol the county are woefully understaffed.
by Jenna Lee,
