LANGLEY PARK, MD -- An immigrant activist group in Maryland believes many in the Langley Park community have ties to those detained at the border. They're not waiting for the government to help reunify families with their kids.
"I even got a call the other day from Public Defender in El Paso, Texas who's representing an immigrant though his criminal trial (criminally charged for crossing the border)…and his child has already been separated,” said George Escobar. “The Public Defender somehow found out that he's in a shelter in Maryland."
Escobar said that confusion is the reality and it hits home even harder in Langley Park, Md. The area has one of the largest Central American populations around Nation's Capital, with several ties to those detained at the border.
Since there's no government timeline on family reunification, “it is kind of a grassroots effort,” said Escobar.
He and colleagues at with the activist group, We are Casa, started cold calling to find out whether any of their members are related to the more than 2,300 kids separated from May to June.
"We've seen dozens if not hundreds of family members coming to us here locally, right? With various stages of this situation,” said Escobar.
WUSA9’s Stephanie Ramirez asked, “This is since when?”
“This is since, I would say that this is since earlier, since late last year, because this isn't a new phenomenon,” said Escobar.
It's not. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Settlement keep track of the number of undocumented minors they’ve placed with sponsors across the country over the past few years.
Fiscal Year 2015, Maryland took-in 1,794 unaccompanied minors; 3,871 in Fiscal Year 2016, 2,957 in Fiscal Year 2017 and 901 in Fiscal Year 2018. However the “901” number does not completely account for the most recent separation of kids because of the “Zero Tolerance” policy.
Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) visited separated mothers at the border on Father’s Day hoping to stop the policy of family separations. The Senator said he’s reached out to HHS to see how many of the kids recently separated have been transferred to Maryland. His office said they are still waiting to get that answer.
"The president just has to pick up the phone and call the Department of Homeland Security to track down the moms and try to reunite them with their kids,” said Van Hollen in a remote interview Thursday.
Separately, on Thursday the senator announced that he “successfully secured language as part of the Fiscal Year 2019 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill to help Members of Congress better serve constituents who are looking for information about family members who have been detained at the border and potentially separated from their children.”
The language, his office said, would ensure anyone taken into DHS/ICE custody would be provided a privacy waiver form. This would allow family members to more easily gain access to information on where those detained are being held.
