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DEMS: Separation protest

| June 15, 2018 1:00 AM

We protest the fact that, under Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ “zero tolerance policy,” officers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement forcibly separate asylum-seeking parents from their children.

Representative Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, recently visited with 176 female detainees at a detention center near the Seattle Tacoma Airport. The women were from Cuba, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, and fled from rape, gang violence and political persecution.

More than half the women indicated that under detention, they had been suddenly and forcibly separated from their children. None had been given the chance to say goodbye or to explain to the child what was happening. Some of the children, who were as young as 12 months old, could be heard screaming in the next room.

ICE did not provide the women with any plans for reunification.

We condemn this shocking, disgraceful and inhumane treatment.

We call upon our fellow citizens to urge all elected officials to stop it immediately.

UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED BY THE KOOTENAI COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CENTRAL COMMITTEE