Separated: Inside an American Tragedy | 
Ok. The rest of the year is icing. #readingchallenge
pick#NonFiction2021 @Riveted_Reader_Melissa
I was reluctant to read this book because I knew the subject matter would anger me. Soboroff delivers a powerful, informative look into the tragedy occurring at the border.
I highly recommend this book to everyone if you'd like to be more educated on this subject.
Another update to my #Separated read group!
Fingers crossed for some good news on this front!!!
@BarbaraTheBibliophage @MallenNC
This is from a few days ago, but I forgot to post it (a lot happening lately), but I thought my #Separated reading group might find this update interesting.
@BarbaraTheBibliophage @MallenNC
So now all of them, even the asylum seekers who have proven credible threats to their lives, are made to wait in Mexico or in the country they came from (where the threat is) until their court date. Trump has used COVID to “immediately expelling virtually all asylum seekers” COVID allowed him to do what he had been trying to accomplish for the past 3 years. 😢
#Separated
We may never know how many they actually separated, because they willfully refused to keep track of those they separated, and deported some in the interim (separately). 😢
#Separated
And when the parents finally got transferred (this one out of a maximum security prison) to an immigrant detention center, finally got to apply for asylum, was approved by a judge...he still had to come up with $2,500 bond before he could be released....and then he could start working on getting reunited with his son. Thank goodness for great volunteers!
#Separated
As soon as they separated children from their families, they immediately labeled them “unaccompanied”, so the goal was to separate, label the kids as unaccompanied and then immediately deport the children ALONE back to their country of origin while indefinitely detaining the parents in US prisons for entering illegally.
#Separated
*Katie Waldman, now Katie Miller
They couldn‘t even reunite them efficiently... leaving children under 5 waiting in vans all day and in some cases through the night.
#Separated
Because they never bothered to keep track, or keep any records.
#Separated
pickSuch a good job reporting on such an important subject. I thought I understood it, but I definitely learned more. How much was neglect & how much was willingly & purposefully done. How much Trump tried to reinstate the policy after it ended, how many were still separated after the policy “officially” ended, how parents were coerced into signing away rights, all while the admin worked on deporting separated kids or parents without reuniting them.
I finished last night and since I saw both @MallenNC and @BarbaraTheBibliophage post their reviews already, I know they‘ve both finished too....so I thought I‘d post this now and just leave it open through the weekend for any discussion.
#Separated
pickI thought I knew the story of family separations from following news coverage, but it was even worse. The author, an NBC News corespondent, continues to follow this story as even more has been uncovered about what he rightly calls an American tragedy. He talks in this about his journalistic decision making too, which was interesting as he learned how bad the situation really was. It is horrifying, and the impact will be long lasting.
pickOh my, this book broke my heart. And it made me mad! The story of U.S. immigration policy under Trump is one that must be told, no matter how cruel the story is. Soboroff makes the complex details clear, and deals well with the emotional aspects too. The story isn‘t over, so I also recommend following him on Twitter for updates.
Full review http://www.TheBibliophage.com
#thebibliophage2020 #nonfictionchallenge2020 #abouthousing
“... most separated children get sent to HHS custody without information indicating “whether or not they were with a parent or adult,” there was in no way, shape, or form “a central database which HHS and DHS can access and update.” There were only simple spreadsheets that, earlier that day, both ICE and HHS admitted they couldn‘t complete. Americans were lied to about the existence of a family separation policy....”⤵️
The HOPE was: it would allow them to detain “families” (he was shipping the separated parents to federal prisons without access to lawyers, a new prison pipeline) & then deport unaccompanied minors directly.
*What‘s unsaid here, is that once children were separated, they were labeled “unaccompanied” so he would have been sending minor children back to their dangerous homelands ALONE - WITHOUT THEIR PARENTS who were in US prisons indefinitely!!!🤯
How are you doing @BarbaraTheBibliophage and @MallenNC ? I‘m caught up this week, and I had a hard time stopping this week after our part. It‘s still a tough read, but I‘m still surprised by how much they knew it would be illegal (their lawyers told them) and that there was no space to care for all those children (but they didn‘t listen), that they hoped the law would be changed to instantly deport them, that they cut off ⤵️
Part 1 is tough, and I‘m still working my way through it (yes, I‘m a bit behind...I‘m at Chapter 4). But the reporting is so good, and the hindsight is heartbreaking, the looking back as a reporter and realizing the huge story right under your nose that you didn‘t see (or in this case literally under his feet). It‘s like watching a tsunami building, the people in the know KNOW, and they don‘t care, and actively lie about it (under oath no less).
So that means all that time they said they didn‘t have information to unite these families, they really did have some and were sitting on it? 🤯 there will definitely be more to this story.
#Separated
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/lawyers-say-trump-admin-has-handed-...
My new listen ... not an easy one. Glad to be buddy reading with @Riveted_Reader_Melissa and @MallenNC — join us if you‘d like. We just started!
It‘s a stretch but I‘m using it for #abouthousing in the #nonfictionchallenge2020 .
Our first #Separated section, it was short, but still very powerful. When he lays out the numbers and the timeline, it‘s still stunning. I had a hard time reading it and a hard time putting it down at the end of our prologue. ⤵️
#Separated
@MallenNC @BarbaraTheBibliophage and anyone else interested in joining in.
And just a reminder, there is still time to jump into the #Separated read. We are just starting with the Author‘s Note and Prologue this weekend and diving into Part 1 next week.
#BuddyRead for #Separated
I know @MallenNC & @BarbaraTheBibliophage were interested, but please feel free to join in if you are interested. If you let me know in the comments below I‘ll tag you going forward.
The first section is just the intro since in know some of us will be wrapping up the #SheSaid read and it‘s the Thanksgiving holiday here in the States. After that it‘s a section (Part) each week, wrapping up before Christmas.
pickThis book is heart breaking—the author tells the story moment to moment, day to day. Such a cruel thing comes from the administration that claims to care about ‘life‘. Remember how scary it was when you were a kid and got lost in the store, separated from your parents, even for just a few minutes? Abolish ICE. Fuck this evil admin.
Planning a group read for #Separated between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Anyone interested in joining in?
“Evil begins when you begin to treat people as things”. - Terry Pratchett
I did not need another book that I HAVE to read this year... but I HAVE to read this one!!!
