Trump Administration Demonizes Refugees Seeking Protection In US - Rights Group

The Trump administrations' decision to end a 1997 agreement that limits the detention of migrant children in US custody is part of the administration's campaign to demonize and dehumanize refugees seeking protection in the United States, Human Rights First Refugee Advocacy Director Jennifer Quigley said on Thursday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd August, 2019) The Trump administrations' decision to end a 1997 agreement that limits the detention of migrant children in US custody is part of the administration's campaign to demonize and dehumanize refugees seeking protection in the United States, Human Rights First Refugee Advocacy Director Jennifer Quigley said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced that it will implement a new rule allowing for the termination of the 1997 Flores Settlement Agreement that regulates the detention of migrant children and imposes the 20-day detention limit.

"The inhumanity of this administration knows no bounds," Quigley said in a press release. "Children should not be incarcerated... This is just the latest in this administration's years-long campaign to demonize and dehumanize refugees seeking protection.

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Quigley said detaining migrant children for prolonged periods of time, which will be possible under the new rule by the Trump administration, may cause long-lasting physical and mental health consequences.

Trump administration officials have called the Flores Settlement Agreement a "loophole" that encourages migrants to bring children with them when they cross the US border so that they are more likely to be released in the United States after a brief detention and less likely to face deportation.

Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan said the new rule would deter the heavy flow of US-bound migrant families that are straining Federal sources at the US-Mexico border.