© 2024 MICHIGAN PUBLIC
91.7 Ann Arbor/Detroit 104.1 Grand Rapids 91.3 Port Huron 89.7 Lansing 91.1 Flint
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Democratic women in Congress: "Where are the girls?"

Detainees being housed inside fenced rooms at a government facility.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol
The government has only released photos of older, male minors, like in this photo from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.

Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell and 50 female Democratic colleagues are pressing the Secretaries for Homeland Security and Health and Human Services to explain where the government is keeping the girls who've been taken from migrant parents. 

So far, the government has only released photos of older boys in make-shift detention centers.  The government has also sent some children to foster agencies in other states, including Michigan.

Over 2,300 children have been taken from their parents after the Trump administration announced a zero tolerance policy for illegal immigration.

Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell says DHS and HHS should explain the precautions being taken so the girls are not exploited. She says she also wants to know the agencies' plan to reunite all the children with their moms and dads.

Dingell says foster agencies in Michigan have custody of about 50 migrant children.

"We got, yesterday, a four month old and a six month old came in, in the middle of the night," Dingell says.  "Do you think that a tiny baby - they need to be held, they need to be hugged, they need to be loved -- this just isn't okay."

President Trump signed an order Wednesday night that purports to end the practice of separating children from their families.

Tracy Samilton covers energy and transportation, including the auto industry and the business response to climate change for Michigan Public. She began her career at Michigan Public as an intern, where she was promptly “bitten by the radio bug,” and never recovered.
Related Content