[Vision2020] "How is it possible that none of us knew that there were 239 kids right here in our city?" an outraged de Blasio demanded.

[Ted Moffett]

Quote in subject heading enlarged in body of article copied below.  I
wonder why New York City mayor de Blasio was surprised that the federal
government would operate without informing him or his city administration
about the children in question?   De Blasio's politics are not "Trump"
friendly, to put it mildly, and the Trump administration's "heavy handed"
immigration policies view many state and city governments as in the way of
their agenda.
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Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
https://www.amny.com/news/immigrant-children-detained-nyc-1.19324371
East Harlem shelter detaining immigrant children visited by de Blasio
The Cayuga Center has processed over 350 kids affected by the family
separation policy.

*By Ivan Pereira and Lauren Cook*ivan.pereira at amny.com, lauren.cook at amny.com *
@IvanPer4 * <https://twitter.com/IvanPer4>* Updated June 21, 2018 8:33 AM*

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*They were separated from their parents, shipped across the country and,
for the last two months, secretly spent their days in an East Harlem foster
care center.*

*But now, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city will work hard to get the 239
separated immigrant children being cared for by the Cayuga Center on Park
Avenue back to their parents as soon as possible. *

*“These children are coming here, and the professionals we met with made
clear, that this has been a traumatic process for a lot of these kids,” the
mayor said. “The mental health issues alone, they made clear to us, are
very real, very painful.”*

De Blasio spent 40 minutes visiting the facility on Wednesday afternoon
following an NY1 report
<http://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2018/06/20/children-at-nyc-immigration-foster-care-center->
from earlier in the morning that showed Latina children entering and
exiting the facility around midnight.

The nonprofit, which appeared to be kid-friendly with drawings and stickers
posted to a corkboard in the building’s window, does not house the children
overnight but does provide services during the day.

The children were placed in foster homes by the federal government without
the city’s knowledge, according to the mayor’s office.

The center is one of several undisclosed nonprofits in the city contracted
by the federal government to supervise the separated children. It has taken
in 350 kids since the policy began in April, according to the mayor, who
added the youngest child to be brought there was just nine months old.

Children have arrived at the nonprofit not just with mental health issues
but physical ailments as well, including lice, bedbugs and chickenpox.

“What is happening here? How is it possible that none of us knew that there
were 239 kids right here in our city? How is the federal government holding
back that information from the people of this city and holding back the
help that these kids could need?” an outraged de Blasio demanded.

Cayuga didn’t return messages for comment; de Blasio said it is cooperating
with the city.

“This is an organization that we know and the city of New York has worked
with them all of the time . . . but we want to monitor the situation
closely,” the mayor added.

The City’s Administration for Children’s Services said the agency only
oversees foster care and foster homes due to child abuse and neglect in the
city and not cases conducted through federal contracts.

ACS Commissioner David Hansell, who toured the facility with the mayor,
said because of that arrangement, they did not know as of Wednesday evening
when or how the displaced children residing in the city will be reunited
now that the president has signed an executive order reversing the child
separation aspect of the zero-tolerance immigration policy.

“This is something that’s determined by the federal government. We have no
involvement in the unaccompanied children program,” he said.

Twenty-three members of the City Council, meanwhile, signed a letter sent
to the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, the Lutheran Social Services
and Catholic Guardian Services on Wednesday demanding a tour of three
facilities in the Bronx suspected of housing immigrant children who were
taken from their parents.

The Trump administration has faced severe backlash in recent days over its
policy to separate immigrant families caught trying to enter the United
States illegally at the Mexico border.

While Trump has defended the policy on multiple occasions, he signed an
executive order on Wednesday that allows the families to be detained
together and gives parents with children precedence in immigration
proceedings.

De Blasio, who was headed to the Texas border town of Tornillo Wednesday
afternoon to meet with other mayors from around the country, said he will
believe Trump’s policy has been reversed when all of the families affected
by it have been reunited.

“That’s the simple measure, when every single family is reunited, then I
will believe in the executive order,” he added.
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