As of May, 2018, 10,773 Children in U.S. Detention Centers

Hold your breath.  According to this piece in the Washington Post cited in this snopes.com piece below, a staggering number of 10,773 migrant children are in U.S. custody, representing an increase from 8,886 in April  despite Trump's "zero-tolerance" policy.

This means that other factors like the economic crises and lack of security in specific places within sending countries like Guatemala, El Salvador, Brazil, Mexico, and other countries are more at play in parental decision making than U.S. policy about which all are certainly aware from news they receive on the matter in their own countries.

One can only imagine what it's like for parents from these countries to opt for this clearly horrific option, but which at least guarantees survival—or at least nearly so. After all, even if we already know that these children will be inescapably scarred and traumatized for life, we as a society do not yet fully know the long-term implications of detention for these 10,000-plus children on our society.

Unless we address these root problems of violence, poverty, and failed economies, this number will continue to grow. Is there no imagination? Is there no political will?

Border policy is therefore more theater than genuinely invested in arriving at solutions. Moreover, it's cruel and unsustainable. And remember, my friends, these are our tax dollars at work.

Get woke, everybody!

-Angela Valenzuela

Are More Than 10,000 Children in U.S. Detention Centers?

The Department of Health and Human Services announced that 10,773 unaccompanied immigrant children were indeed in detention facilities as of May 2018.

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CLAIM

As of May 2018, there were more than 10,000 unaccompanied children in United States government immigration detention centers.

RATING

 TRUE

On 29 May 2018 the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a significant increase in the number of unaccompanied children held in U.S. government detention centers compared to the prior month, as reported by the Washington Post:

The number of migrant children held in U.S. government custody without their parents has surged 21 percent in the past month, according to the latest figures, an increase driven by the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” crackdown on families who cross the border illegally.

Although the government has not disclosed how many children have been separated from their parents as a result of the new measures, the Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday that it had 10,773 migrant children in its custody, up from 8,886 on April 29.

This increase in detentions follows a 6 April 2018 Department of Justice announcement that the Trump administration would be taking a new “zero tolerance policy” regarding border crossings that explicitly include child separation. This policy has been controversial both for the child separation issue as well as its assertion that it requires the Department of Justice to prosecute “100 percent” of border crossing cases, which would deny a person’s right to request asylum. Standing next to a segment the border called Friendship Park on 8 May 2018, Sessions said:

People are not going to caravan or otherwise stampede our border. We need legality and integrity in the system. That’s why the Department of Homeland Security is now referring 100 percent of illegal Southwest Border crossings to the Department of Justice for prosecution.  And the Department of Justice will take up those cases.

I have put in place a “zero tolerance” policy for illegal entry on our Southwest border.  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.