Immigrant Children Held In Westchester: Lowey Seeks Accounting

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY — Concerned that the Executive Order generally calling for an end to the separation of immigrant children from their parents does not address current conditions, Rep. Nita Lowey (D-Rockland/Westchester) wrote a letter to the administration asking for a formal accounting.

She focused on specifics and on local issues, as children taken at the U.S.-Mexico border have been flown to detention in Westchester County including at the Children’s Village in Dobbs Ferry, Abbot House in Irvington, Rising Ground in Yonkers, and Lincoln Hall in Lincolndale.

She has concerns about the children and their well-being:

• Are these facilities required to provide physical and mental health services to the children, and are they currently meeting this requirement?
• What are the ages of the children?
• What are the genders of the children?

And about whether they are being held incommunicado:

• Are family members of detained children in New York aware of the location of the children?
• Has contact information for the children been provided to a family member?
• Have detained family members been permitted to use a phone to speak with their separated children, and have other family members in the United States or abroad had an opportunity to speak with the children?

She also has specific concerns about the community:

• How many children separated from a family member are being held in shelters, detention facilities, or in foster care in New York?
• How many of these children have been detained in Westchester County and in which facilities do they reside?
• Are the facilities listed above near, at, or above capacity?

And she asked how the administration was ending separation of children and parents:

• What is the Administration’s plan to reunite children with a family member?
• What is the timeline of the Administration’s plan to reunite children with a family member?

Here is the text of the entire letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Michael Azar and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen:

Dear Secretary Azar and Secretary Nielsen:
The Trump Administration’s decision to tear children away from their family members at the U.S.-Mexico border is a cruel and shameful policy that will stain the fabric of our nation for generations. Even after the President signed his Executive Order on June 20, 2018, opening the door to long-term child detention, the Administration has yet to detail a plan on how to reunite children with a family member.

I have been gravely concerned by reports that some of the separated children have been flown roughly 2,000 miles from their families to shelters in Westchester, New York, including but not limited to The Children’s Village in Dobbs Ferry, Abbot House in Irvington, Rising Ground in Yonkers, and Lincoln Hall Boy’s Haven in Lincolndale, a hamlet in Somers.

I am requesting an immediate and formal response to the questions below.

• Since the Administration’s so-called “Zero-Tolerance” policy began in April, how many children separated from a family member are being held in shelters, detention facilities, or in foster care in New York?
• How many of these children have been detained in Westchester County and in which facilities do they reside?
• What are the ages of the children?
• What are the genders of the children?
• What is the Administration’s plan to reunite children with a family member?
• What is the timeline of the Administration’s plan to reunite children with a family member?
• Are family members of detained children in New York aware of the location of the children?
• Has contact information for the children been provided to a family member?
• If so, have detained family members been permitted to use a phone in order to speak with their separated children, and have other family members in the United States or abroad had an opportunity to speak with the children?

The Administration’s cruel actions have already caused lasting trauma from which many children may never fully recover. It is imperative that these misdeeds are rectified without delay so children and their family members can begin to heal from these unconscionable policies.

I await your response,

Nita M. Lowey
Member of Congress

SEE: 4 Westchester Facilities Holding Immigrant Children: Cuomo

PHOTO: Children in detention in McAllen, Texas on Sunday, June 17. Photo from U.S. Customs and Border Protection/Flickr