Exclusive: Listen to separated moms beg for their kids in court
By Tal Kopan and Nick Valencia, CNN
Washington (CNN)Newly obtained audio reveals the anguish of parents separated from their children, as it pours from them in immigration court while a judge finds them ineligible to stay in the United States.
In recordings of two court proceedings obtained by CNN, two women who have been separated from their children plead with an immigration judge to reunite them, as he asks them if they have any evidence to back up their asylum claims.
Their attorneys also ask the judge to give them another chance to make their cases, citing their mental health after the prolonged separation from their children.
In both cases, however, the judge denies the requests, and orders the women deported from the country. CNN has received permission from the women to share the audio of their hearings, but is not identifying them for their protection.
While the hearings are just two of thousands of similar proceedings regularly held across the country, they are an indication of the struggles of parents who have been separated from their children for weeks or longer in their quest to stay in the United States. Thousands of parents were separated from their children at the border under the Trump administration’s now-reversed “zero tolerance” policy that prosecuted all adults caught crossing the border illegally, including parents with their children.
Advocates for the immigrants broadly say the parents are being rejected for pursuing asylum at record numbers, in part because they are so distraught.
The hearings were conducted before Judge Robert Powell at the immigration court at the Port Isabel Detention Center on two separate days in July. During one of the hearings, the woman is audibly sniffling and distraught, telling the judge she feels too ill to continue. Neither lasts as long as 10 minutes.
“Well I’ll tell you what, ma’am, what I can do, I’ll put you on the back side of the calendar today, give you time to compose yourself,” Judge Powell tells her. “If you think you need to go to the medical unit, you can go to the medical unit. What do you want to do?”
“What I want is to be with my son,” the woman replies, via an interpreter.
More: https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/24/politics/exclusive-audio-separated-parents-in-court/index.html
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Obviously, no Due Process here!
No excuse for proceeding with a hearing of any type under these conditions! Is this how we want to be remembered? If not, what have you done today to promote “regime change” and to force both Congress and the Article III Courts to live up to their responsibilities and stop this abuse of our laws and our Constitution? This is a charade of a “court” system, in prisons, run by scofflaw child abuser Jeff Sessions and featuring some “judges” unwilling to stand up to his abuses and enforce Due Process (not to mention common sense, respect, and human decency).
These folks are entitled to fair access to counsel, a reasonable chance to prepare and document a case, and a fair and impartial judge. That’s not happening right now.
PWS
07-25-18