Washington, DC – Below is a column by Maribel Hastings from America’s Voice en Español translated to English from Spanish. It ran in several Spanish-language media outlets earlier this week:
By now, one has grown numb to Donald Trump’s outbursts. But the extent of his cruelty is shocking even by his standards, especially when that cruelty is aimed at children.
It is heartbreaking to see the images and hear the testimonies of children traumatized by the violent ICE and CBP raids across the country where their parents have been arrested or deported, or where they themselves have been detained, as in the case of Liam Conejo Ramos who, according to his parents, lives in constant fear that ICE will return to take him and his family away.
Then there are the children languishing in detention centers—alone or with their families—ripped from their daily lives because their parents, who have no criminal history, were detained even though they are not a priority for deportation. There are also the children who are U.S. citizens, deported with their parents to countries they do not know while in the midst of cancer treatment. “Romeo” was deported from Louisiana to Honduras at age 4 with his mother in the middle of his Stage IV kidney cancer treatment. Another U.S. citizen girl from Texas was deported to Mexico while battling a brain tumor.
Just last week, the Trump administration canceled an $11 million contract with Catholic Charities to house and care for unaccompanied migrant minors entering the United States.
The cancellation comes amid Trump’s verbal war against Pope Leo XIV over his stated opposition to the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran. The Department of Health, which oversees the Office of Refugee Resettlement—the agency responsible for making payments to Catholic Charities—denies that the cancellation of funds is due to Trump’s dispute with the Pope.
They say it is due to a significant reduction in the number of unaccompanied migrant minors arriving in the United States.
But even though there are fewer of them, they still need the services that will cease in three months.
The Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, told the Miami Herald that while it is true that the number of unaccompanied minors entering the country has decreased, “it is baffling that the US government would shut down a program that it would be hard-pressed to replicate at the level of competence and excellence that Catholic Charities has achieved if and when future waves of unaccompanied minors reach our shores.”
The stability of these minors, who have already suffered trauma in the process of arriving alone in this country, is one of the main concerns.
The Miami Herald reported that “there are still children in the care of Catholic Charities in Miami and elsewhere. It’s unclear how many there are, and where they are besides South Florida, or where they will go.”
And although the Trump administration is trying to “tone down” its anti-immigrant rhetoric, nothing changes. Detentions and deportations continue, especially of people with no criminal record, particularly now that the administration has made official its goal of deporting one million immigrants annually.
Another thing that hasn’t changed—and that operates against Trump and the Republicans—is Americans’ rejection of their immigration strategy. They continue to view it as aggressive and excessive.
A POLITICO poll, conducted between April 11 and 14, found that “half of Americans — including one quarter of his 2024 voters — said Trump’s mass deportations campaign, including his widespread deployment of ICE agents, is too aggressive.”
And with good reason, as the operations became increasingly violent, to the point of resulting in the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of immigration agents in Minnesota. Aside from being violent, the detentions are indiscriminate, as the use of racial profiling leads to the arrest of citizens and legal residents.
Among Latinos, the rejection has been evident. Sixty-seven percent disapprove of the president’s handling of immigration, according to a new poll by Third Way and UnidosUS, eroding Trump’s gains among that segment of the electorate.
Another poll by Somos Votantes in eight states found that by a 62-28% margin, Latino likely voters in those states are more likely to back a candidate who supports “reforming ICE to put stronger accountability and oversight measures in place.”
But Republicans want to allocate more funds to ICE and CBP without the reforms demanded by Democrats regarding accountability and oversight. And they want to do so through the budget reconciliation process, which passes by a simple majority.
In other words, they want to continue funding chaos and abuses, demonstrating a callousness with serious humanitarian consequences and potential electoral repercussions for Trump and the Republicans.
The original Spanish version is here.
