The Takeaway

Migrant children who suffer trauma as a result of being taken from their parents at the US-Mexico border may never fully recover, according to a pediatric doctor who recently visited a shelter where such children are being held. 

The Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy — in particular, its practice of separating children from their migrant parents or guardians as they are caught trying to enter the US illegally — has come under fire in recent days.

Last week, Mexican congressional candidate Fernando Purón was shot while posing for a selfie with his supporters, and his murder was captured on video.

This past Sunday, Jeff Merkley, a Democratic senator from Oregon, visited Southwest Key Casa Padre, a shelter for migrant children in Brownsville, Texas, hoping to be allowed inside. A few minutes after the senator arrived, officials from the center called the police and requested that he leave the property.

Young voices took center stage on Saturday in the March For Our Lives, a show of force by students unseen, most likely, since the Vietnam War protests.

Children and young adults came out in droves to decry the recent mass shootings in Parkland, Florida, Silver Springs, Maryland, and others. But for many communities of color, the newfound public attention on this issue is bittersweet.