More Than 300 Migrant Children Separated From Their Parents Are In New York

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

About 311 migrant children who were separated from their parents remain in shelters and detention centers in the Bronx, Yonkers, Westchester and Long Island, sources said Tuesday.

The minors are some of the creatures that were separated from their parents after crossing the border between Mexico and the United States following the "zero tolerance" policy of President Donald Trump.

Andrew Cuomo, governor of the entity said Tuesday at a press conference that the government of his state is already preparing a lawsuit to demand respect for the rights of minors and their families. "There has been a lot of talk about the moral aspect of this practice, but we also believe that it is illegal and we intend to bring a lawsuit against the federal government," he said.

At that conference, Cuomo confirmed the presence of more than 70 children in different locations in New York State. However, sources told the New York Daily News that the number is much higher and that it amounts to more than 300 children. The governor explained that the children are housed at Dobbs Ferry, Lincolndale, Yonkers, Irvington, three centers in the Bronx, Syosett (Long Island) and Kingston.

"This is a violation of a father's constitutional rights to be able to care for, guard, and supervise his children," Cuomo said. "It is appalling government conduct." Cuomo added that the children were removed from parental custody without a prior hearing or consent, which is a fault.

The news comes after videos began to circulate this weekend that captured the crying of some children separated from their parents and captured in Texas detention centers, where most of the little ones are housed. Nearly 2,000 children are found without their parents in different locations in the United States, according to different sources.

On networks, Julián Castro, former director of the nation's Department of Housing and Urban Development - under the mandate of former President Barack Obama - shared a video showing how his attempts to bring comfort to children by donating toys to them in the centers where they are being held were frustrated.

Witnesses have described that the children are "in cages" and monitored 24 hours. Some centers allow hours of outdoor play, but in general, the future of these hundreds of children - mostly of Central American origin - remains in the air.

Activists, celebrities and figures from all walks of life have raised their voices to demand justice. People en Español started the movement "Where are my children" on Tuesday inviting Latino celebrities to ask for help for these children through networks.

Private individuals have also been put into action, such as Charlotte and Dave Willner, a California couple who started a Facebook fundraising campaign to help coastal legal defense of these minors. Initially they were looking to raise $ 1,500, but the campaign was such a success that until this Tuesday it accumulated more than $ 5 million, which will be donated to the Center for Education and Legal Services of Refugees and Immigrants (RAICES), in Texas.