Cuomo Sheds Light On New Services To Aid Immigrant Children

RIVERHEAD, NY — After the Trump administration incited outrage among many by separating immigrant families at the border — with some saying the tactic would impact children emotionally "forever" — New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo fired back.

On Monday, Cuomo announced that New York State will be providing an array of services and resources for unaccompanied minor children, "including immigrant children that have separated from their parents as a result of the inhumane federal Government zero tolerance policy," a release said.

Trump later reportedly signed an order to end border separation, but Cuomo is still working to provide help to immigrant children.

Services will include dispatching personnel, resources and services to foster care providers that are caring for the children, including medical supplies; providing services for immigrant children discharged from facilities to family members, including education, mental health and health care services; providing the same support to children being released to private foster care providers in New York, including from other states; demanding that United States Department of Health and Human Services release information about all unaccompanied immigrant children in New York State, including those who were first sent from the border to other states before being placed in New York; taking actions to support family reunification, including working with counsel generals at facilities to provide immediate support; and providing resources and protection to bolster public safety at facilities caring for immigrant children.

The federal government has said that there are at least 1,292 unaccompanied minors currently being cared for in New York, but the information "is not comprehensive and remains unverified," the release said.

"The Trump administration's separation of immigrant families is either an historic example of gross incompetence of government or a political tactic that would make Machiavelli blush," Cuomo said. "New York is intervening to do everything that we can to help the children who are separated and the larger populations of immigrant children in our state."

Resources for children placed with foster care providers will include medical resources and support and enhanced mental health services for the children at the facilities.

For children that have been discharged from New York State facilities to families and private foster care providers that might not have adequate resources to care for them properly, the state will dispatch social workers to provide group and individual counseling; information and referral services to assist families with meeting their needs, including health and mental health services; peer support groups; assistance with educational and language services; and education and prevention activities related to human trafficking and gang violence, the release said.

In addition, New York State will expand services under the first-in-the nation Liberty Defense Project to ensure that all children who have been separated and discharged to family or sponsors in New York State have access to legal representation, Cuomo said.

Resources will be targeted to community based organizations to help guardians enroll the youth in schools, and provide continued support on how to support the child's educational progress, "regardless of their own linguistic abilities, literacy, or educational background," Cuomo said.

Cuomo, who previously demanded that HHS release information on immigrant children being housed in New York as a result of the Family Separation Policy, ordered HHS this week to immediately provide the comprehensive number of children that have been placed in foster care facilities, foster families or with sponsors, including those who were first sent to other states before being placed in New York.

New York State will engage the facilities' counsel generals to provide immediate support in reuniting children with family in the United States, Cuomo said. Cuomo previously announced a lawsuit to stop family separation and ensure due process for immigrant families.

Cuomo is also spotlighting public safety at the facilities where children are placed, he said.

"As a result of failed federal immigration policies under the Trump administration, innocent children are being torn apart from their families at the border and many are being placed in facilities in New York," said Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. "We are committed to providing these facilities with the funding and resources they need to properly provide and care for these children as they face this difficult situation. New York will not tolerate the Trump administration's violation of immigrants' constitutional rights, and we will continue to fight against these inhumane measures to end this tragedy."

Many supported Trump's decision to separate the families at the border, countering that parents should not be bringing their children to the border to cross it illegally and endanger them. If they did not want to be separated from their children, many said, they should not attempt the crossing, which, they reminded, is illegal.

Kirstjen Nielsen, the secretary of homeland security, claimed the administration did not create the policy and said Congress must change the law for families to be detained together.

Patch file photo.