Inside detention centers and federal buildings like Manhattan’s 26 Federal Plaza, children are separated from their parents, held in undisclosed locations, and left with emotional and physical wounds.
The part about kids being identified by numbers instead of names really landed for me. I remember working with refugee families and seeing how dehumanization compounds trauma in ways that aren't always obvious at first. What's especially troubling here is the double bind for young bilingual kids like Yuanxin beacuse the language barrier doesn't just limit communication but it actively isolates them from any support that might soften the separation. The 90% body search statistic is staggering when we consider its basically teaching children thatsurvival means accepting violation as routine.
This is heartbreaking and necessary journalism. The human cost of these policies is carried by children who never chose any of this.
The part about kids being identified by numbers instead of names really landed for me. I remember working with refugee families and seeing how dehumanization compounds trauma in ways that aren't always obvious at first. What's especially troubling here is the double bind for young bilingual kids like Yuanxin beacuse the language barrier doesn't just limit communication but it actively isolates them from any support that might soften the separation. The 90% body search statistic is staggering when we consider its basically teaching children thatsurvival means accepting violation as routine.
The long term affects into adulthood really needs to be taken more seriously if we want to build a healthy, functioning society.