For far too many families, the nightmare is far from over

When people across the U.S. realized President Trump was intentionally separating children from their parents as a “deterrent strategy” at our southern border, millions of our fellow Americans stood up en masse and forced him to back down. For the sake of every mother and father who fled horrific violence in their home country only to be forcibly removed from their child on U.S. soil, I’m grateful President Trump buckled under public pressure and curtailed his cruel order.

But for far too many families, the nightmare is far from over.

On Friday, I went to a federal detention center in my home state of Washington, where I met women who were detained in the past few months after turning themselves in at the southern U.S. border. Many of these women have already demonstrated to U.S. officials they have a credible fear of persecution or torture in their home country. Now, separated from their families, they are locked up for hours a day, with little to no answers about what comes next. It’s hard to fathom the trauma of being forced to leave everything behind, only to end up behind bars in a foreign land. It’s outrageous that some of my colleagues in Congress see permanent detention as a reasonable option.

When I first saw the women in a common area between jail cells, the women were quiet. But once an interpreter explained we were not there to use the details of their stories against them, the stories came quickly. One woman choked back tears describing the gang violence terrorizing her home country of Honduras, and the fear she had for her 9-year-old daughter who is now with family in Los Angeles. She said they talk by phone, 15 minutes at a time, as the rules go in this facility. You could sense this woman’s desperation to comfort her daughter, who she reports cries every day. “She needs her mother,” she said in Spanish.

Another woman from El Salvador described unspeakable violence against her two daughters — ages 13 and 6 — and described how she and her husband each took one girl to seek safety in the U.S. With her 13-year-old at her side, she found an agent, hoping to seek asylum. She said they were not only separated right away but that she didn’t get to hug or even say goodbye to her daughter; it would be another 24 hours before she found out her daughter had been sent away. This mom called it her “worst moment.” As a mom myself, my heart hurt hearing those words.

Those are just two stories I heard that day — I could go on and on about the stories of death threats, gang violence, sexual assault, domestic violence, and corrupt governments that have wreaked havoc on so many families, including babies and young children.

My heart aches for these women, and for everyone targeted by President Trump’s cruel and heartless policies over the past year and a half. His choice to target these women and their children and treat them as nothing more than criminals should infuriate every American. I was glad to hear that each of the women I met were in touch with their children, but we know that is not the case for all parents who’ve been detained. And until we know every single child is given the chance to be reunited with their parent, we cannot rest.

You know three years ago, when Donald Trump descended his own golden escalator to declare his candidacy for president, it was hard to imagine how low he’d really go. There should be no question now. But we won’t give up. We can’t give up. And I’m so proud of the countless people in Washington state and across the country who refuse to remain silent as this president attempts to treat asylum seekers as subhuman or merely a tool to pander to the hard right. As long as President Trump chooses to scapegoat the men, women, and children fleeing horrific violence, I will do everything in my power to shine a spotlight on how cruel and heartless this is, and hold this Administration to account.

-Patty

Note: Last week, after Sen. Murray led colleagues on an official request for an investigation into the Administration’s treatment of separated children and their parents, the Inspector General announced it would investigate the Trump Administration. You can read more here: https://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ID=17428DB7-799B-404A-86BA-A8A4DF9FABA5