Few things have marked President Trump’s penchant for deflection, lies and deception more than his policy of separating children from parents accused of entering the country illegally.
He and his people repeatedly have blamed Democrats specifically, and Congress and the law generally, for a disgraceful practice Trump could end just by giving the order. As a Washington Post’s Fact Checker sub-headline said: In Orwellian fashion, the Trump administration repeatedly claims its own policy doesn’t exist or was written by others.
With photos and audio recordings of frightened youngsters fueling a national firestorm against him, Trump is facing pressure to back down because Republicans don’t want to pay the political price. It’s a story that has been marred by accusations of a cold don’t-hug, don’t-touch approach to dealing with traumatized children.
For now, children and families will continue to suffer, as will the nation’s reputation.
To a lesser extent than the families to be sure, federal employees and contractors also suffer. They are trapped between a policy that is morally and ethically bankrupt and their duty to follow it.
Antar Davidson (no relation to this writer) was in that predicament as an employee of a federal contractor. He quit his job as an instructor of Capoeira, the Brazilian marshal art, at Estrella del Norte, a Tucson, Ariz., shelter for migrant children run by Southwest Key Programs, an organization based in Austin.
Davidson said the shelter had a policy against allowing children to hug each other. A no-touch policy is particularly harmful to children caught in a painful ordeal such as the one engendered by Trump.
“There was an organization-wide policy that the kids were meant not to touch each other,” he said in an interview with the Federal Insider. “It was something that was always pressed very hard on the kids – ‘no touch, no touch’ … always constantly being reminded that they weren’t allowed to touch each other.”
That’s in line with what Colleen Kraft, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, told The Washington Post after she went to a South Texas detention facility: “But the first child who caught the prominent pediatrician’s attention during a recent visit was anything but happy. Inside a room dedicated to toddlers was a little girl no older than 2, screaming and pounding her fists on a mat. One woman tried to give her toys and books to calm her down, but even that shelter worker seemed frustrated … because as much as she wanted to console the little girl, she couldn’t touch, hold or pick her up to let her know everything would be all right. That was the rule, Kraft said she was told: They’re not allowed to touch the children.”
” ‘The really devastating thing was that we all knew what was going on with this child. We all knew what the problem was,’ Kraft said. ‘She didn’t have her mother, and none of us can fix that.’ ”
Devastated by his experience, Davidson quit Estrella del Norte last week after less than four months on the job.
“I can no longer in good conscience work with Southwest Key Programs … ” his resignation letter said. “I am feeling uneasy about the morality of many practices happening at the facility … the direction the organizations is taking is one I no longer want to be a part of.”
Cindy Casares, a Southwest Key spokesperson, said that “hugging has always been allowed at Southwest Key Programs. We hire experienced, trained staff to provide comfort and counseling and to help the children feel more comfortable.”
Trump’s departments of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services or the federal Administration for Children and Families did not respond to requests for comment. Also silent was the often-vocal American Federation of Government Employees. Its Border Patrol and Immigration and Custom Enforcement units endorsed Trump’s candidacy, to the consternation of the parent union that opposed him.
Trump’s immigration turmoil can leave federal employees and contractors in a tough spot, if they, like reasonable people, think his policy is an abomination. Their options are only bad – obey orders to take children from their parents or quit, as Davidson did.
“This is a situation that federal employees find themselves in on a regular basis, perhaps not so dramatically as the current policy involving migrant children, but their responsibilities are very clear,” said Bill Valdez, president of the Senior Executives Association. “If it’s a lawful order they have two choices: One is to obey it or, second, to resign from public service.”
Seeking a transfer also is a possibility. But after refusing a boss’s direction, getting a new assignment could be difficult.
Orders can be questioned, Valdez added, but “you cannot refuse a direct order from a superior.”
Taking a stand on principle is one thing. Being jobless is another. Speaking against Trump’s policy is a risk most can’t afford or are unwilling to take.
Many of the workers at the Southwest Key facility “are economically vulnerable,” Davidson said. “They need the money … these people need their jobs.”