https://www.wonkette.com/nancy-pelosi-decides-not-to-let-trump-shoot-baby-hostages
ObNancySoldUsOut...!!! ObButObummer...!! (Grouch-Roll-Eyes.gif)
Cheers,
Scott.
[...]
Mike Pence also met with Pelosi earlier in the day to tell her that Trump would only sign the Senate version, repeating a veto threat Trump had made earlier in the week. Pence reportedly promised Pelosi the administration would put in place two of the protections the House bill had demanded: notifying Congress within 24 hours if a migrant child dies while in Customs and Border Protection custody, and limiting stays of minors in "temporary influx" baby jails to no more than 90 days.
Yes, that's far too long, especially given the requirement under the 1997 Flores settlement agreement that minors in "influx" be held no longer than 20 days before being released to a sponsor (usually a parent or other relative in the US). But up to now, HHS has exploited a real loophole in the regulations governing shelters: Flores doesn't apply to "temporary influx" shelters like the awful for-profit baby jail in Homestead, Florida. So a 90-day limit would be a microscopic "improvement" over what's been happening at the Homestead shelter, where about half of the kids have been held well over 20 days -- and some kids for up to 120 days. (Let's not forget: this isn't only due to the increasing numbers of immigrants -- it's very deliberate.)
Now the trick will be to get the administration to actually live up to those very limited commitments (haha, our naive optimism is showing).
The Senate bill does at least have one curb on the abusive practices that have kept migrant kids locked up longer. It would abolish the information sharing agreement between HHS and ICE, which has been a huge factor in slowing placements of kids with sponsors. HHS instituted background checks of every family member of people applying to sponsor the jailed kids, which slowed down placement. Worse, HHS sent that information to ICE, leading to mass arrests of undocumented family members. Big surprise! Applications to sponsor kids dropped sharply, and the numbers of kids in baby jails skyrocketed.
[...]
ObNancySoldUsOut...!!! ObButObummer...!! (Grouch-Roll-Eyes.gif)
Cheers,
Scott.