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In this week’s episode of our podcast, “A is for America”, we spoke with Susie Haslett, a policy associate at Fwd.us, who is currently in Phoenix, Arizona working as part of a massive effort to help reunite families separated by the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” policy. Susie, along with colleagues and partners including our own Juan Escalante, have been helping migrant families adjust to new lives, helping with social services, and coordinating flights for families to reunite with loved ones. Our interview with her begins at 13:00.
The Trump Administration missed a second deadline to reunite separated children back with their families, and some experts say it could take years before all children are back with their families. Hundreds of children remain apart from their parents, and it’s been up to groups working on the front lines to help bring families back together, and do the work that the Trump Administration refuses to. (Find out where to donate here and here.)
Even though this is completely unacceptable, Congressional Republicans have done worse than nothing. The House Appropriations Committee actually passed a 2019 DHS funding budget this week that included more money for detention beds and enforcement agents.
In politics, Brian Kemp won the Republican gubernatorial nomination in Georgia on Tuesday, which means that yet another race this fall is sure to be ugly. Kemp has already run on ‘rounding up criminal illegals’, and his Democratic opponent, Stacey Abrams, is trying to mobilize a coalition of young, multi-cultural, and progressive voters. Meanwhile, Latino Decisions has released their latest polling of battleground states, which finds that voters are amped up about voting in this year’s midterms, blame Donald Trump for sowing division and hostility, and are very against the child separation policies that Trump and his Republican Party have pushed.
“A is for America” is a podcast which tells stories from the front lines of a changing America. Each week, we’ll be talking to advocates and experts working in immigration reform, immigrants’ rights, immigration politics, and the forefront of what it means to be a new American. Tune in next week for more.
https://soundcloud.com/aisforamerica/episode-21-susie-haslett-fwdus
